Palace Walk

Hello Gentle Reader

Today, as was tomorrow, as it was weeks ago. The Middle East has erupted into an unstable part of the world. Yet one has to question, has it ever been stable for long – and at what cost was that stability brought on? Egypt had erupted into revolution. Demanding that their dictator whose name is Hosni Mubarak, leaves so they can have freedom and democracy, one can sense that there is something in the wind. Something that smells like people demanding a say in their own lives. That is where the first novel in “The Cairo Trilogy,” comes from. We get to see a family, during the First World War – though not explicating stated at first, unless one knows some details of the Egypt in the First World War – I didn’t realize it until, one of the characters I can’t remember which I presume was Fahmy; had mentioned Kaiser Wilhelm II had surrendered. But this means really nothing, to the general book. It gives the novel a time period so to speak, but it’s about that, really, it’s really if anything about this family and its day to day life. The miracles of everyday life, the troubles and trivial events as well.

The edition of the book that I have for “The Cairo Trilogy,” by Egyptian Nobel Laureate in Literature of 1988, is an omnibus edition, that has all three books of “The Cairo Trilogy,” in one complete volume. I have completed book one: Palace Walk. But let’s go through this book for a second shall we. The inside flaps of this book; give a general description of these novels, for you. Which helps in a way review this novel.

The Book Jacket says the following:

“Naguib Mahfouz's magnificent epic trilogy of colonial Egypt appears here in one volume for the first time. The Nobel Prize—winning writer's masterwork is the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain's occupation of Egypt in the early decades of the twentieth century.

The novels of The Cairo Trilogy trace three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. Palace Walk introduces us to his gentle, oppressed wife, Amina, his cloistered daughters, Aisha and Khadija, and his three sons–the tragic and idealistic Fahmy, the dissolute hedonist Yasin, and the soul-searching intellectual Kamal. Al-Sayyid Ahmad's rebellious children struggle to move beyond his domination in Palace of Desire, as the world around them opens to the currents of modernity and political and domestic turmoil brought by the 1920s. Sugar Street brings Mahfouz's vivid tapestry of an evolving Egypt to a dramatic climax as the aging patriarch sees one grandson become a Communist, one a Muslim fundamentalist, and one the lover of a powerful politician.

Throughout the trilogy, the family's trials mirror those of their turbulent country during the years spanning the two World Wars, as change comes to a society that has resisted it for centuries. Filled with compelling drama, earthy humor, and remarkable insight, The Cairo Trilogy is the achievement of a master storyteller.”

(This edition is from the everyman’s library edition, of the trilogy)

When I first read the line: “The novels of [“] The Cairo Trilogy [,”] traces three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd Al-Jawad. I was expecting truly the worst. But going through the pages, of the first chapter, I was surprised to see this “tyrannical patriarch,” acting human. He appeared to be nice and even human, and really didn’t act like, my first preconceived ideas of what he was going to look like. In fact, I was expecting some monster, of a man, beating his wife, and children. I did not see that. But easy come easy go. For the term “tyrant,” I started to see was a bit of understatement if anything, of this man’s character. Consider the following statement:

“If you were forget to wash them before, eating I’ll cut them all off to spare you the trouble of looking after them.” (I hope I got that down right . . . I can see that my late night hand writing isn’t as elegant as I first thought in the dim light of the kitchen in the late night, and early morning hours.) But it doesn’t end there. Al-Sayyid even calls his son (Kamal) a: “son of a bitch.” – a phrase that I can say with a light hearted tone, is used quite often throughout the book.

Needless to say such cruel examples come to quite a shock and a surprise to someone from a different side of the world – in this case the west. However throughout the book, I started to see and in many ways feel that Al-Sayyid is really what a father is, in a normal world, or what is normal portrayed as a father. I mean, it’s traditionally thought of as the father to be the bread winner, and the one that supports the household with his income. Even the threat: “Wait until your father gets home.” Appears to be something of a traditional sense of what a father is: a tyrant, or an unforeseen force that changes the political or normal dynamics of the household. So Al-Sayyid – no matter how shocking his behaviour or words can be, or how his character knows no bounds, really comes off as, a typical father. The person that disciplines, and is feared by the children throughout the household, because he is the unforeseen force, who disappears during the day, and then come back in the evening, and things change, and may disappear again in the night – in this case Al-Sayyid.

Amina is shall we say a sparrow, of sorts. While Al-Sayyid is best described as a falcon or eagle or hawk, Amina is a sparrow, gentle, naive and heart warming. Though throughout the novels, my admiration for Amina staying with Al-Sayyid through thick and thin, forgiving him for his own transgressions, against her, and all the things he stands for. Yet her naivety and good natured love, and religious devotion start to show me, that she is good natured, and a lovely character, but one that I pity not admire any more. Her naivety and her ignorance causes such pity. Her worldview is limited. She’s dutiful and everything else and it’s sad, to watch. She’s admirable because she does everything that is asked of her, and more, and is always worrying about such things, but at the same time, my pity for her, becomes something of sadness. Amina is not a strong willed woman, just a dutiful house wife, who does everything she can and more, and is modest, and lives her life for her family and her husband. Those qualities that make her admirable make her also a source of great pity.

Before I continue with talking about the other characters of this novel, I’d like to say this. Naguib Mahfouz is a readable author, above anything else. He does not make things difficult, his beautiful writing of everyday lives, and his earthly humour, can be seen throughout the novel. He does not make his work more complicated then necessary. In fact this realist novel, is one that truly delves deep into the psychology of the characters. Al-Sayyid’s paradox of the two lives he lives; to Amina’s tragic devotion to her husband and family. Naguib Mahfouz’s characters are people we may even see on the street. This is what makes Naguib Mahfouz such an interesting author. He doesn’t make his book complicated, he doesn’t really experiment with style, which can make a novel really important at times, he uses the traditional narrative really, and it just works. His story telling skills are what keeps me captivated, and I am sure they keep others who read his works captivated as well. It’s entertaining, and is beautifully written, and sophisticated. It appears traditional, it appears, and yet it is a novel of idea’s, and of life, and of people. It truly appears to be a classic to me, and I think it is probably one of the best novels I have read, and I look forward to reading the others, as well. I can truly see why Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize in Literature. When the Swedish Academy announced that Naguib Mahfouz had won the Nobel Prize for Literature for the following reasons, they were not kidding:

“Who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.”

The next characters we meet are the children. In order they go as following Yasin, Khadija, Fahmy, Aisha, and Kamal. First let’s talk about the two daughters. Khadija is the oldest. She is not paticullary beautiful, and her nose is often made fun of, by her siblings – especially Yasin. But where she lacks in beauty, she makes up in with a fierce wit, and a tongue stronger than any sword or pen. In fact, for some reason or another Khadija reminded me a lot of Beatrice from William Shakespeare’s comedic play “Much Ado About Nothing.” (On a quick note I can’t believe that I made that distinction. Seeing as how much I dislike Shakespeare.) She’s not easy on the eyes or the ears in this case, but there is something about her wit, and something about her character, that one finds enjoyable. I don’t think the female characters – more specifically the female daughters, have had as much characterization as I would like to see, accordingly, but at the same time, it’ll do for now. Khadija though a confident woman and a heart as big as or bigger than the world, falls to human emotions like jealousy. Though her duty to her family and her love of them, make her an enjoyable character. Even though she’s quick to love them, she’s just as quick to chide them and point out their short comings. However, perhaps the most enjoyable seen of Khadija was seeing her help taking care of her father, while her mother was, unable to. Her reluctance and even fear, were shown, giving this confident woman great depth, into the soul, and to show just how far, and shall we say legendary Al-Sayyid’s tyranny is and just how far reaching it is in his own household. The other part of real depth we see with Khadija is when she openly admits to herself or to the reader, that she is jealous of her sister Aisha. But fret not, Khadija besides her wit, tongue, is talented at woman in that culture should have. She’s hard worker devoted, house wife. Aisha on the other hand is the complete opposite of Khadija (naturally). Here’s something really interesting though. Aisha has blonde hair and blue eyes, and is naturally beautiful. Though she’s lazy, and vain. However she is good hearted and loves her family and loves to jest with her sister. Though if anything Aisha, is nothing more than a character foil to Khadija.

Yasin is an interesting character. He is in fact not Amina’s child. In fact Amina is his step mother. Now of course, at first I thought, in an Middle Easter country. But it is. What is also interesting is that Amina loves Yasin as her own son, and Yasin is treated as one of the family, so when I found out that he was a child of a or rather the previous marriage of his father, it came as a shock to me. But after a while, that too passes. Yasin also deals with demons with his mother, and her often “shameful way of events,” that poison is own honour and dignity. Yet he also does that quite well on his own. Yasin I would say has a lot of his father’s traits. He goes out at night – in some ways this also a glimpse into his father’s night outings; and often socializes and enjoys a good party. However, his hedonistic pleasure seeking often gets in the way of his life, and unlike his father who has two lives one of his family where he is a tyrant, and one with his friends, where he is soon as a jolly social person; Yasin cannot separate these two lives and this often leads to him getting into large trouble, and putting a great amount of grief and guilt on him, because he cannot control his urges – or rather doesn’t want to.

Kamal, the youngest is perhaps my favourite character. This is where the humour comes from. His childish attitude is his greatest charm, is naivety is not, something to pity but something to smile at. Who could forget some of his memorable lines?

“Darling, when can we go out together again?” (That is Kamal speaking to his mother.)

Kamal however, does not know a lot of things, and this sometimes lack of life like knowledge, such as kissing and where children come from, sometimes leads him to getting into trouble from his mother, when he asks a simple and even innocent question. But because of it being deemed inappropriate, he is reprimanded for it. I pity him for those moments, and wish him the best of luck. Perhaps one of the greatest and funniest moments, I have seen about Kamal is his observations and child like freedom with the world. When the English make camp outside of his home (this is during the Egyptian Revolution) he remarks:

“What handsome faces they have!”

Even though the English strike fear into his family, and resentment to some form or another, he openly admires them, and enjoys them. His first encounter with the English troops was when he sung for them. Something Kamal, takes great pride in, but he fears to do because of his tyrannical father. Which comes to mind that Al-Sayyid denies his family some of the most beautiful earthy pleasures, that he himself enjoys, like wine, music, song and dance. Kamal is the one that probably fears his father the most, but is also the one who spoke out against him, and paid for it as well. However his delight with the English troops, and his love for his mother, and his admiration for the other, and fear for his father, make him an interesting character. Certainly a character that I would like to see age, and become a man, and to see just how different he’ll become. Thought that also become a sad day as well, to see the child that I admire, grow up into a man, and the innocent remarks will leave. But truly Kamal is perhaps the most fun loving character – in a good way, of the novel so far, and one I particularly enjoyed.

The last character is Fahmy the tragic ideological and rather intelligent character. His planning on becoming a lawyer and perhaps a judge. Fahmy’s intelligence however alienates him from his family on many levels. When the Egyptian revolution for sovereignty happens, he immediately takes a firm stance towards the nationalists and openly supports them. However his family members, apathy at times, and desire to stay away from the demonstrations puts Fahmy in a rather awkward position. Because he loves his family, but he feels a duty towards his country to take part in the demonstrations which puts his life at risk, and this causes Fahmy to openly disobey his father. This is all quite a pity really. This idealistic, young man, hopes for the best, but really is isolated and alienated from his family because of his intelligence. It’s sad really. I feel bad for him, and it’s a real pity of what happens. It truly is. I think we all expect it to happen, but it doesn’t lessen the impact that it does have on a person. Fahmy is a tragic character because of his ideals, and his desire to make a difference in the world, and for his country. This separates him from his family who are openly alright with, letting others do the work, and staying away from the fighting and the battling. These causes get strife and anger from Fahmy who think it’s every Egyptians duty as citizens to stand up and fight for sovereignty to fight for freedom, to fight for all these things.

I remember reading a interview that Naguib Mahfouz, did with the magazine “The Paris Review,” which asked a interesting question, and which Naguib Mahfouz, gave an interesting answer that relates to the events of today and back then during the Egyptian Revolution:

Interviewer:

Do you think the Egyptian people are ready for full democracy? Do they really understand how it works?

Mahfouz:

In Egypt today most people are concerned with getting bread to eat. Only some of the educated really understand how democracy works. No one with a family has a free moment even to discuss it.

Perhaps democracy can happen today, in Egypt. Perhaps the people are ready to demand, freedom, and rights, and to live as human beings. That is what Fahmy’s character stood for in “Palace Walk,” he stood for the Egyptians ready to stand on their own, and be ready to finally make their own decisions, and have freedoms. But as today’s events – that is in the present; point out it appears that it is all in vain. Perhaps though now days some democratic solution can be met. Rather than just one dictator handing over the power to another. That is what Fahmy’s character stands for, the people’s right and demand for change, and to be treated like civilized people. Through reading the first book of “The Cairo Trilogy,” I do not see, Naguib Mahfouz, as a political writer. In fact, I see him as a man, who wrote about the family life, and its connection with society as a whole. Truly a great novelist, and one that I have enjoyed so far, now, and look forward to continue to read.

Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read

M.Mary

P.S.

For more information on Naguib Mahfouz please follow the following link:

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1988/

Also “The Paris Review,” interview with Naguib Mahfouz

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2062/the-art-of-fiction-no-129-naguib-mahfouz