Mention Of Books The Yacoubian Building
| Title | : | The Yacoubian Building |
| Author | : | Alaa Al Aswany |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 256 pages |
| Published | : | August 1st 2006 by Harper Perennial (first published 2002) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Northern Africa. Egypt. Novels. Cultural. Africa |
Alaa Al Aswany
Paperback | Pages: 256 pages Rating: 3.68 | 17443 Users | 1444 Reviews
Explanation Toward Books The Yacoubian Building
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.
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| Original Title: | عمارة يعقوبيان |
| ISBN: | 0060878134 (ISBN13: 9780060878139) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Egypt Cairo(Egypt) |
| Literary Awards: | Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Nominee for Longlist (2008), Premio Grinzane Cavour Nominee for Narrativa Straniera (2007) |
Rating Of Books The Yacoubian Building
Ratings: 3.68 From 17443 Users | 1444 ReviewsCriticize Of Books The Yacoubian Building
It reminded me of Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz in the sense that the author takes an area (an alley in Cairo in the case of Mahfouz, a building in al-Aswani's book) and portrays the lives and souls of the varied characters connected to it. But the author didn't feel as a cheap imitator of Mahfouz --he had his own talent and originality.It is funny that I read it while the Egyptian revolution of February 2011 was going on. The book gave me an insight into the contemporary Egyptians' lives andWeaving together the stories of various inhabitants of a grand building in Cairo from different walks of life - rich and poor, young and old, male and female, straight and gay -, this beautifully written novel explores life in Egypt in all manner of facets. A tale that easily drew me in and kept me reading.
I like reading from authors around the world sometimes meeting different countries, cultures, and writing styles. I really enjoyed this book. And I gave 3 stars instead of 4 just because I was expecting a bit more motion and a better closure to each of the stories, which didn't happen in the end. However, I very much enjoyed the book. I liked the fact that there were so many different characters, and events happening in the same building, but separately. The pace was good most of the time. It
Al Aswany drops the reader into the middle of an Egyptian apartment building and the several characters and story lines that emanate from this location. It's immersive and immediately pulls you in to the characters' lives. The story lines alone are engaging, but together they also provide a kind of window on modern Egyptian society and the inherent contradictions of life.
Narrators tell stories; protagonists tell them; characters in novels do, too. But in The Yacoubian Building, an apartment complex on a downtown street tells the story of a whole nation. This ten-story structure, I found, has a lot to say.The building doesn't talk, of course, but it shelters the many people whose lives the book recounts. Brought together only by their place of residence, these very different people are, by the end, brought together in a second way, by the common experience of
It's Cairo, and nearby the US is launching it's invasion into Kuwait.The author was a dentist and he fills his book with the lives of the occupants of the Yacoubian Building. The poor live on the roof, the rich in once luxury apartments that are now showing signs of wear and tear. The author drills into the lives, extracting all of the sins of humanity. He also uses one character to talk about the rise of Islamic supporters who wish to rid the country of all of it's corruption and Western ways.
Dispiriting. I nearly tossed this into the nearest patch of long grass, as I got so thoroughly sick of the descriptions of boobs and buttocks, so impatient with the fact that ALL the women fell into only two categories: young and therefore luscious and desirable, or old, and therefore no longer desirable. Worst of all is old and skinny - and yes, it says a LOT about me that I'm particularly sensitive to this - because old and skinny means you turn into a screeching termagant. (Somebody better
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