The beginning and the end

by Mahfouz Naguib

Paper Book, 1985

Status

Available

Genres

General Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Publication

New York : Doubleday, 1989, c1985.

Description

First published in 1956, this is a powerful portrayal of a middle-class Egyptian family confronted by material, moral, and spiritual problems during World War II.

User reviews

LibraryThing member triminieshelton

Story of a Cairo family in the 1930s suddenly plunged into a life of poverty after the unexpected death of their father. Who among this family of mother, three sons and one daughter survives this reversal of fortune and who succumbs, and the effect societal expectations and mores on their fates,

makes this a psychological page-turner.

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LibraryThing member Gypsy_Boy

The more Mahfouz I read, the more confounded I become. He has written some works I find absolutely remarkable (such as Children of Gebelaawi) and others that were nearly a waste of time (such as The Harafish. I cannot recall another author whose work I have read who I find so uneven. It doesn’t

help that the English translations often are not well done. This particular book was translated by Ramses Awad and, in my estimation, badly needs a new translation. The plot is simple: the father dies and the mother together with her three sons and one daughter are left to carry on as World War Two erupts. Although the story only incidentally involves contemporaneous developments, a knowledge of Egyptian politics in the 1930s (though not necessary) enriches the reading. Each of the children is almost impossibly different from the others and each contributes to the family’s descent into poverty and isolation in his or her own way. Awad did, however, contribute an interesting introduction discussing Mahfouz’s development as a writer and I think he describes this work quite well: “a masterpiece of human compassion. So striking is its humanitarianism and sensitivity to human suffering that its tragic vision of life transcends the Egyptian locale and assumes universal significance…. More often than not, critics focus their attention on the social, political, and documentary aspects of Mahfouz’s work, reducing him to a mere producer of sociopolitical commentary. They very regrettably ignore his powerfully tragic vision of life.” (My emphasis.) A book well worth your time.

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