The Yacoubian Building: A Novel

Author - Alaa Al Aswany ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Harper Perennial was reviewed on 10-Dec-2008.

Search ISBN:0060878134 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Yacoubian Building: A Novel Reference Book. Classifications : General AAS Qualifying Textbooks Custom Stores Specialty Stores Books Arabic Middle Eastern World Literature Literature & Fiction Subjects Books Contemporary Literature & Fiction Subjects Books Litera . Click the following link to view the cover of The Yacoubian Building: A Novel.

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1) Paperback Book The Yacoubian Building: A Novel by Harper Perennial. I resisted this book for a long time. I heard negative and positive things about it. Then the movie or series came out and again I heard negative and positive things.

I am an Egyptian living in the US. I am specializing in Middle Eastern Studies. My sister sent me a copy of the Arabic version and my husband a copy of the English version.

Today I was bored for an hour or so, that´s when I started reading the book and finished it the same day.

First of all, I can see how it is controversial and how it can be seen as threatening to some people. It deals with characters as a matter of fact and without trying to tip toe. Homosexuality is out in the open. (Though I can see the author believing that homosexuality is a psychological disease or due to trauma. Not as genetic)

The book has a Naguib Mahfouz feel to it, but lacks in complexity of scenario, language (Mahfouz managed to write in classical Arabic and having the reader read dialect). This book was a little awkward sometimes. There was no flow between classical and dialect.

I think the fact that I was raised in Egypt and actually know about the places that he mentioned in the book and how downtown looks like, I can also imagine the characters of the book cause they do exist in real life has made reading this book very interesting.

If you read Arabic, I recommend that you read it in Arabic.¤

2) Paperback Book The Yacoubian Building: A Novel by Harper Perennial. This book was published in Arabic in 2002 and for a few years thereafter was one of the world´s best-selling novels in that language. It was translated into English in 2004. I didn´t open it looking for a masterpiece of style or psychological depth, but for a window into another society´s values, types, behaviors and problems. On that level, it satisfied.

It followed the lives of five main characters who lived or worked in a once-grand, now-decaying building in downtown Cairo: male/female, young/old, rich/poor, devout/secular, educated/working class, straight/gay. The author introduced the five as individuals, then paired them off with each other or with the secondary characters around them. The action jumped back and forth between the pairs as the novel progressed, contrasting the characters´ behavior up through the conclusion.

With this structure, the author was able to touch on many aspects of society, one after another. He depicted political corruption, the scheming for advantage among the powerful and powerless, sexual repression and obsession, the benefits that flowed from money and connections, the lack of democracy and opportunity, the frustration that led to religious fundamentalism, and the search of so many for love and respect.

In interviews, the author has said he saw the majority of the characters in his novel as oppressed, and that he believed in the long run a repressive government would generate terrorism. In the book, one of the protagonists argued that the country´s curse was dictatorship, that it led inevitably to poverty, corruption and failure in all fields, and that a step forward must include progress toward democracy.

I was struck particularly by the book´s ending, where the main characters´ various fates might hint at the author´s view of the way toward a brighter future: joining the tolerant outlook of the old with the aspirations and vitality of the young, in a relationship of mutual trust and respect. And an avoidance of religious extremism and unbridled sensuality, both of which seemed to lead to wasted potential and a dead end.

The story was very readable, and the plot raced along. Toward the end, the pace was sustained at the cost of some believability. I found the characters´ behavior credible or interesting enough a good deal of the time, except for the sudden anger and class scorn expressed by one of the characters that led to violence. Or the love that developed so quickly between a younger character and an older one.

Finally, I was left wondering how the author really felt about the religious beliefs of the sheikh who became the mentor of one of the young main characters. How evolution toward democracy would incorporate people like the sheikh is something I´m still trying to understand.¤

3) Paperback Book The Yacoubian Building: A Novel by Harper Perennial. with few characters, the author depicts contemporean Cairo with a palette of nuances: tragic, nostalgic, cruel and soft at the same time.¤

4) Paperback Book The Yacoubian Building: A Novel by Harper Perennial. Al Aswany populates the Yacoubian Building with a set of socially diverse characters and then relates a set of stories involving various residents. This device allows him to create a portrait of life in Cairo; the injustices suffered by the poor, the corruption of the elite, the political and economic realities of a repressed society and the way religion is used by different players to achieve their purposes.

The main characters are each introduced in some detail and because there are a large number of them, this means that lengthy digressions into the background of characters are still taking place halfway through the book. This tends to almost bog the narrative down in places. The other disadvantage of having so many central characters is that it makes it difficult to develop them in any real way. Though a number of them do emerge by the end of the book as having the necessary depth to make them interesting, others remain close to being stereotypes. The novel is an interesting slice of modern Cairo life and as such is a rewarding read, but it doesn´t quite ever become totally engrossing.¤

5) Paperback Book The Yacoubian Building: A Novel by Harper Perennial. Reading literature about a particular city gives you insight into the mores and character of that community. This is true of Alaa Al Aswany´s novel from 2002, The Yacoubian Building (ImaratYa´qubyan). I found the novel both well written and structured. Using the title building as his center Aswany portrays a diverse group of contemporary Cairenes to demonstrate the experience of living in the world of Egypt today. The author presents the issues of political corruption, class conflict and the "science" of love in a believable narrative; however, I found his portrayal of homosexuality less effective: sensitive at times but ultimately concluding with a stereotypically brutal end for the spurned lover. The difficulties of living in this society are highlighted as the novel moves smoothly from episode to episode building toward a climax that, while somewhat melodramatic, brings the story to an effective conclusion. Overall the complex narrative and view of the city of Cairo made this an engaging and satisfying read.¤

6) Paperback Book The Yacoubian Building: A Novel by Harper Perennial.

This controversial bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption, sexual repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today.

All manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed "scientist of women"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify his desires.

These disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany´s remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world.

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 7-Jan-2009, 00608781349780060878139, 340-640-160-660-140-781-051-ZSB-8

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