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A review by brughiera
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
4.0
The book starts slowly and I found it somewhat difficult to enter this very alien world of a middle class home in Cairo in the early 1900s. Mahfouz meticulously depicts the atmosphere and builds the characters and then the story starts to unfold and one finds oneself more and more drawn in to the lives of the family of Al-Sayid Ahmad. Although the cloistered life of the women is so alien to another woman living in 21st century Europe, Mahfouz' skill is such that one can empathize with their hopes and fears while, at the same time, marvelling at their submission to the restrictions placed on their lives. While Amina's punishment for her crime of the excursion to the mosque is severe, even by the local standards, from what has been revealed of her character and circumstances one can understand why her respect for her formidable husband remains undiminished and the strong bonds between the family members are even strengthened by the incident.
The characters are artfully exposed and developed by the incidents in the story. Al-Sayid Ahmad himself is a complex hybrid of strict father and husband and pleasure-loving friend and lover, whose character is accentuated when his eldest son Yasin unexpectedly catches a glimpse of him with his musician lover. Young Kamal's process of growing up is revealed through the events, such as his sisters' marriages, the excursion to the mosque with his mother and his encounters with the English, which buffet and gradually reduce his childish innocence.
Although focused on one family, the book is full of events characterizing the period, initially on a more domestic and social level and then in the context of the absorbing political events of the time. Through the different characters Mahfouz shows the widely varying impacts on different people of the struggle for Egyptian independence: Fahmy, absorbed and dedicated to the fight for freedom; Yasin, who carries on life as usual but is capable of being moved by the mass celebration; the father, who also carries on life as usual but cannot avoid entering into the discussions about the momentous events and is even picked up for some forced labour; his wife, Amina, fearful of change to the status quo.
Overall, Palace Walk is a satisfying novel whose ending leaves one particularly eager to read the sequel.
The characters are artfully exposed and developed by the incidents in the story. Al-Sayid Ahmad himself is a complex hybrid of strict father and husband and pleasure-loving friend and lover, whose character is accentuated when his eldest son Yasin unexpectedly catches a glimpse of him with his musician lover. Young Kamal's process of growing up is revealed through the events, such as his sisters' marriages, the excursion to the mosque with his mother and his encounters with the English, which buffet and gradually reduce his childish innocence.
Although focused on one family, the book is full of events characterizing the period, initially on a more domestic and social level and then in the context of the absorbing political events of the time. Through the different characters Mahfouz shows the widely varying impacts on different people of the struggle for Egyptian independence: Fahmy, absorbed and dedicated to the fight for freedom; Yasin, who carries on life as usual but is capable of being moved by the mass celebration; the father, who also carries on life as usual but cannot avoid entering into the discussions about the momentous events and is even picked up for some forced labour; his wife, Amina, fearful of change to the status quo.
Overall, Palace Walk is a satisfying novel whose ending leaves one particularly eager to read the sequel.