The Essential Naguib Mahfouz

The Essential Naguib Mahfouz

Author:

Publisher: American University in Cairo Press

Published: 2011-03-01

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 161797207X

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A selection of the most important works of Egypt's Nobel literature laureate. Naguib Mahfouz, the first and only writer of Arabic to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature, wrote prolifically from the 1930s until shortly before his death in 2006, in a variety of genres: novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, a regular weekly newspaper column, and in later life his intensely brief and evocative Dreams. His Cairo Trilogy achieved the status of a world classic, and the Swedish Academy of Letters in awarding him the 1988 Nobel prize for literature noted that Mahfouz "through works rich in nuance-now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous-has formed an Arabic narrative art that applies to all mankind." Here Denys Johnson-Davies, described by Edward Said as "the leading Arabic-English translator of our time," and the first to translate Naguib Mahfouz into English, makes an essential selection of short stories and extracts from novels and other writings, to present a cross-section through time of the very best of the work of Egypt's Nobel literature laureate.


Essential Naguib Mahfouz

Essential Naguib Mahfouz

Author: Denys Johnson-Davies

Publisher:

Published: 2014-05-10

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 9781306504119

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Naguib Mahfouz, the first and only writer of Arabic to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature, wrote prolifically from the 1930s until shortly before his death in 2006, in a variety of genres: novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, a regular weekly newspaper column, and in later life his intensely brief and evocative Dreams. His Cairo Trilogy achieved the status of a world classic, and the Swedish Academy of Letters in awarding him the 1988 Nobel prize for literature noted that Mahfouz through works rich in nuancenow clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguoushas formed an Arabic narrative art that applies to all mankind.Here Denys Johnson-Davies, described by Edward Said as the leading ArabicEnglish translator of our time, makes an essential selection of short stories and extracts from novels and other writings, to present a cross-section through time of the very best of the work of Egypts Nobel literature laureate.


The Quarter

The Quarter

Author: Naguib Mahfouz

Publisher: Saqi Books

Published: 2019-07-01

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 0863563856

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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.


Thebes at War

Thebes at War

Author: Naguib Mahfouz

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2007-12-18

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0307429679

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Known and loved throughout Egypt as a work that celebrates the national character, Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz’s Thebes at War tells of a high point in Egyptian history–ancient Egypt’s defeat of Asiatic foreigners who had dominated northern Egypt for two hundred years. With a visit from a court official and a provocative insult, the southern pharaoh’s long simmering resentment boils over, leading him to commit himself and his heirs to an epic struggle for the throne. Filled with the grand clash of armies, staggering defeats, daring escapes, and glorious victories, and written at a time when Egypt was again under the sway of foreign powers, Thebes at War is a resounding call to remember Egypt’s long and noble history.


The Dreams

The Dreams

Author: Naguib Mahfouz

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2009-07-14

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0307455076

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In his final years, Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz distilled his storyteller's art to its most essential level. Written with the compression and power of dreams, these poetic vignettes, originally collected in two books, The Dreams and Dreams of Departure, here combined in one volume for the first time. These stories telescope epic tales into tersely haunting miniatures. A man finds his neighborhood has turned into a circus, but his joy turns to anger when he cannot escape it. An obscure writer finally achieves fame-through the epitaph on his grave. A group of friends telling jokes in an alley face the murderous revenge of an ancient Egyptian queen. Figures from Mahfouz's past-women he loved, men who inspired him, even fictional characters from his own novels-float through tales dreamed by a mind too fertile ever to rest, even in sleep. Translated by Raymond Stock


The Dreams

The Dreams

Author: Naguib Mahfouz

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2011-10-05

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0307806774

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In his final years, Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz distilled his storyteller's art to its most essential level. Written with the compression and power of dreams, these poetic vignettes, originally collected in two books, The Dreams and Dreams of Departure, here combined in one volume for the first time. These stories telescope epic tales into tersely haunting miniatures. A man finds his neighborhood has turned into a circus, but his joy turns to anger when he cannot escape it. An obscure writer finally achieves fame-through the epitaph on his grave. A group of friends telling jokes in an alley face the murderous revenge of an ancient Egyptian queen. Figures from Mahfouz's past-women he loved, men who inspired him, even fictional characters from his own novels-float through tales dreamed by a mind too fertile ever to rest, even in sleep. Translated by Raymond Stock


The Essential Yusuf Idris

The Essential Yusuf Idris

Author: Denys Johnson-Davies

Publisher: American University in Cairo Press

Published: 2009-05-01

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1617971677

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Yusuf Idris (1927 91), who belonged to the same generation of pioneering Egyptian writers as Naguib Mahfouz and Tawfiq al-Hakim, is widely celebrated as the father of the Arabic short story. He studied and practiced medicine, but his interests were in politics and the support of the nationalist struggle, and in writing and his writing, whether in his regular newspaper columns or in his fiction, often reflected his political convictions. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature more than once, and when the prize went to Naguib Mahfouz in 1988, Idris felt that he had been passed over because of his outspoken views on Israel. In all, Yusuf Idris wrote some twelve collections of superbly crafted short stories, mainly about ordinary, poor people, many of which have been translated into English and are included, along with an extract from one of his novels, in this collection of the best of his work.


The Essential Tawfiq Al-Hakim

The Essential Tawfiq Al-Hakim

Author: Denys Johnson-Davies

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 9774165926

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The importance of Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898 to 1989) to the emergence of a modern Arabic literature is second only to that of Naguib Mahfouz. If the latter put the novel among the genres of writing that are now an accepted part of literary production in the Arab world today, Tawfiq al-Hakim is recognized as the undisputed creator of a literature of the theater. In this volume, Tawfiq al-Hakim's fame as a playwright is given prominence. Of the more than seventy plays he wrote, The Sultan's Dilemma, dealing with a historical subject in an appealingly light-hearted manner, is perhaps the best known; it appears in the extended edition of Norton's World Masterpieces and was broadcast on the old Home Service of the BBC. The other full-length play included here, The Tree Climber, is one that reveals al-Hakim's openness to outside influences in this case, the absurdist mode of writing. Of the two one-act plays in this collection, The Donkey Market shows his deftness at turning a traditional folk tale into a hilarious stage comedy. Tawfiq al-Hakim produced several of the earliest examples of the novel in Arabic; included in this volume is an extract from his best known work in that genre, the delightful Diary of a Country Prosecutor, in which he draws on his own experience as a public prosecutor in the Egyptian countryside. Three of the many short stories he published are also included, as well as an extract from The Prison of Life, an autobiography in which Tawfiq al-Hakim writes with commendable frankness about himself. Contents: Introduction by Denys Johnson-Davies, The Sultan's Dilemma (full-length play), The Tree Climber (full-length play), The Donkey Market (one-act play), The Song of Death (one-act play), Diary of a Country Prosecutor (extract from the novel), Miracles for Sale (short story), The Prison of Life (extract from the autobiography), Azrael the Barber (short story), Satan Triumphs (short story).


Morning and Evening Talk

Morning and Evening Talk

Author: Naguib Mahfouz

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2009-03-10

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0307455068

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From the Nobel Prize–winning author of The Cairo Trilogy and "a storyteller of the first order” (Vanity Fair) comes an epic novel that portrays five generations of one sprawling family against the upheavals of two centuries of modern Egyptian history. Set in Cairo, Morning and Evening Talk traces three related families from the arrival of Napoleon to the 1980s, through short character sketches arranged in alphabetical order. This highly experimental device produces a kind of biographical dictionary, whose individual entries come together to paint a vivid portrait of life in Cairo from a range of perspectives. The characters include representatives of every class and human type and as the intricate family saga unfolds, a powerful picture of a society in transition emerges. This is a tale of change and continuity, of the death of a traditional way of life and the road to independence and beyond, seen through the eyes of Egypt's citizens. Naguib Mahfouz's last chronicle of Cairo is both an elegy to a bygone era and a tribute to the Egyptian spirit.


The Non-fiction Writing of Naguib Mahfouz

The Non-fiction Writing of Naguib Mahfouz

Author: Naguib Mahfouz

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 1600

ISBN-13: 9781909942523

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A four-volume set of articles and essays spanning the career of a prolific Egyptian writer. This four-volume box set collects newspaper articles and earlier essays of influential Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. Each volume is introduced by Professor Rasheed El-Enany, an expert scholar in Mahfouz studies. Volume I compiles Mahfouz's early non-fiction writings--mostly from the 1930s--that offer a rare glimpse into the development of this renowned author. Volume II is a collection of essays Mahfouz published from 1971 to 1981 in the Al-Ahram newspaper where he had taken up an appointment as a member of the editorial staff after retiring from his job as a civil servant. Volume III consists of newspaper articles published between 1982 and 1988, coinciding with the early years of Hosni Mubarak's presidency, described by Mahfouz as an unhurried democracy. Volume IV brings together Mahfouz's articles written from 1989 through the knife attack in October 1994 that almost ended his life.