Midaq Alley Review
Sebastian Torres-Torija
Midaq Alley
Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz is the entertaining story of a unique local alley in Cairo who demonstrates on a day-to-day basis the true colors of a quintessential low class Egyptian society, in a contrast with a present day Egypt that hopes to modernize as the end of World War II occurs. It is the characters that inhabit this alley, along with their individual and communal stories and links that they share that excel this novel into a state of utter glory. The relationship that the residents of the narrow alley in the forgotten old part of Cairo hold is stronger than the reader initially perceives, becoming at times the only mean of survival for the alley. Much of the alley’s interaction is based of the gossip that maintains the isolated dead end street of Cairo intact. As a reader one does not understand the overarching story and plot until he meets all the players involved in the novel, including the wide array of characters that cope with one another to make each individual personality and story related to the overall backdrop of the novel.
One of these characters would be Abbas Hilu, known to everyone by his first name. Abbas is good intentioned barber who has fallen victim to love. His sincere humbleness and deep affection towards the valley are corrupted by his life love, Hamida. It is the love affection and adoration that Abbas holds for Hamida, which make him leave the scarce conditions of Midaq in search of better economic condition that can satisfy Hamida’s lavish lifestyle. After finally getting the guts to profess his love to Hamida, and successfully getting an engagement out of it, Abbas enrolls in the British Army as a promise to his love in order to have sufficient money to meet the lifestyle that Hamida yearns. After several months of serving the armed forces at Tell el-Kabir Abbas returns to Cairo only to find that his fiancé Hamida had not only not maintained her loyalty and fidelity to Abbas, but
Midaq Alley
Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz is the entertaining story of a unique local alley in Cairo who demonstrates on a day-to-day basis the true colors of a quintessential low class Egyptian society, in a contrast with a present day Egypt that hopes to modernize as the end of World War II occurs. It is the characters that inhabit this alley, along with their individual and communal stories and links that they share that excel this novel into a state of utter glory. The relationship that the residents of the narrow alley in the forgotten old part of Cairo hold is stronger than the reader initially perceives, becoming at times the only mean of survival for the alley. Much of the alley’s interaction is based of the gossip that maintains the isolated dead end street of Cairo intact. As a reader one does not understand the overarching story and plot until he meets all the players involved in the novel, including the wide array of characters that cope with one another to make each individual personality and story related to the overall backdrop of the novel.
One of these characters would be Abbas Hilu, known to everyone by his first name. Abbas is good intentioned barber who has fallen victim to love. His sincere humbleness and deep affection towards the valley are corrupted by his life love, Hamida. It is the love affection and adoration that Abbas holds for Hamida, which make him leave the scarce conditions of Midaq in search of better economic condition that can satisfy Hamida’s lavish lifestyle. After finally getting the guts to profess his love to Hamida, and successfully getting an engagement out of it, Abbas enrolls in the British Army as a promise to his love in order to have sufficient money to meet the lifestyle that Hamida yearns. After several months of serving the armed forces at Tell el-Kabir Abbas returns to Cairo only to find that his fiancé Hamida had not only not maintained her loyalty and fidelity to Abbas, but
Cited: Mahfouz, Naguib. Midaq Alley. Translation. United Sates: Anchor Books, 1992. 286. Print.