The Quarter

(Hardback)

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Description

Meet the people of Cairo's Gamaliya quarter. There is Nabqa, son of Adam the waterseller who can only speak truths; the beautiful and talented Tawhida who does not age with time; Ali Zaidan, the gambler, late to love; and Boss Saqr who stashes his money above the bath. A neighbourhood of demons, dancing and sweet halva, the quarter keeps quiet vigil over the secrets of all who live there. This collection by pre-eminent Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz was recently discovered among his old papers. Found with a slip of paper titled `for publishing 1994', they are published here for the first time. Resplendent with Mahfouz's delicate and poignant observations of everyday happenings, these lively stories take the reader deep into the beating heart of Cairo.

Reviews

`A master of both detailed realism and fabulous storytelling' -- The Guardian
`A towering literary figure, and the joyous chronicler of a turbulent Egyptian century' -- The Economist
`Egypt's greatest living writer ... one of the world's most humane literary figures' -- Laila Lalami, The Nation
`The Arab Tolstoy' -- Simon Sebag Montefiore
`Adds yet another essential chapter to the oeuvre of a literary figure of greatness' -- The National
`Smooth reading ... a compelling experiment in sound and echo' -- Qantara
'This new folio of interconnected stories is very much part of Mahfouz's late experiments' -- ArabLit
`A glimpse into a world that seems both ancient and distant ... [Mahfouz's] "simple" characters reveal to the reader not just the brutality of everyday life but also its distorted beauty. They show the complexities and uniqueness of their world and in doing so offer lessons for all of humanity to draw on ... a teasing glimpse of Mahfouz's work ... seek it out' -- Socialist Review
`Masterly ... Unmistakably Cairene ... translated with practised clarity by Roger Allen' -- TLS
`Naguib Mahfouz's legacy as Egypt's greatest novelist is sustained with these engaging short stories ... their themes are timeless' -- New Statesman
Exceptional a charming book Mahfouz plunges his readers into a world gleaming with folktales, moral allegories, and strange, otherworldly occurrences The Quarter is a recommended read for those who want to understand how the Arab worlds most celebrated novelist earned the title The Master. -- World Literature Today

Author Bio

Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. A student of philosophy and an avid reader, his works range from reimaginings of ancient myths to subtle commentaries on contemporary Egyptian politics and culture. Over a career that lasted more than five decades, he wrote 34 novels, 13 short story anthologies, numerous plays and 30 screenplays. Of his many works, most famous is The Cairo Trilogy, consisting of Palace Walk (1956), Palace of Desire (1957), and Sugar Street (1957). Other notable works include The Children of Gebelawi, The Thief and the Dogs, Autumn Quail, Small Talk on the Nile and Miramar. Half of his novels have also been made into films. Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, the first writer in Arabic to do so. He died in August 2006.