A journey through Central Asia and beyond, Moon over Samarqand is the story of one Egyptian's quest for the truth. Seeking explanations to his troubled past through a long-lost friend in Samarqand, Ali's travel brings him into encounters with the Uzbekistan of today, yesterday, and once upon a time. His tale embraces many tales those of his confounding taxi driver, of Islamic activists, and of the criminal underworld, as well as stories of struggles against authoritarianism in Egypt. Woven among these are legendary tales of gypsies, khans, and madmen, of magic, treasure, and love. Drawing parallels between Uzbekistan and Egypt, the novel shows diverse historical and modern connections between Central Asia and the Arab world. Painting a vivid portrayal of idealistic visionaries and brutal regimes, the novel explores power struggles between opposition currents and governments since the Uzbeki Soviet era and Egypt's Nasser period. Moon over Samarqand received the 2006 Sawiris Foundation Award for Literature.
Shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2010, this finely constructed epic traces the turbulent life of Aisha, an Egyptian girl raised in a Christian convent beyond the reach of a predatory uncle. With her English education, Aisha crosses paths with Lord Cromer, British consul-general of Egypt, and famed archaeologist Howard Carter, with whom she will trek to locate Tutankhamen's tomb. Fate briefly favors Aisha when she falls in love with the Egyptian sculptor Mahmoud Mukhtar, until events conspire to move her life along adarker path. Part allegory, part magical realism, this novel is threaded with aspects of Egyptian antiquity, including semihistorical accounts of the excavations of ancient Egyptian relics and the tortured jealousies that accompanied them. A deftly written journey through momentous occasions in world history, A Cloudy Day on the Western Shore explores questions of Egypt's identity and history, and the implications—for better or worse—of European exploitation of the treasures of pharaonic civilization. Novelist Qandil skillfully allows readers to encounter complex questions of colonialism, gender, and sectarianism—all through the symbolic lens of an unlikely Egyptian heroine.
A journey through Central Asia and beyond, Moon over Samarqand is the story of one Egyptian's quest for the truth. Seeking explanations to his troubled past through a long-lost friend in Samarqand, Ali's travel brings him into encounters with the Uzbekistan of today, yesterday, and once upon a time. His tale embraces many tales those of his confounding taxi driver, of Islamic activists, and of the criminal underworld, as well as stories of struggles against authoritarianism in Egypt. Woven among these are legendary tales of gypsies, khans, and madmen, of magic, treasure, and love. Drawing parallels between Uzbekistan and Egypt, the novel shows diverse historical and modern connections between Central Asia and the Arab world. Painting a vivid portrayal of idealistic visionaries and brutal regimes, the novel explores power struggles between opposition currents and governments since the Uzbeki Soviet era and Egypt's Nasser period. Moon over Samarqand received the 2006 Sawiris Foundation Award for Literature.
Shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2010, this finely constructed epic traces the turbulent life of Aisha, an Egyptian girl raised in a Christian convent beyond the reach of a predatory uncle. With her English education, Aisha crosses paths with Lord Cromer, British consul-general of Egypt, and famed archaeologist Howard Carter, with whom she will trek to locate Tutankhamen's tomb. Fate briefly favors Aisha when she falls in love with the Egyptian sculptor Mahmoud Mukhtar, until events conspire to move her life along adarker path. Part allegory, part magical realism, this novel is threaded with aspects of Egyptian antiquity, including semihistorical accounts of the excavations of ancient Egyptian relics and the tortured jealousies that accompanied them. A deftly written journey through momentous occasions in world history, A Cloudy Day on the Western Shore explores questions of Egypt's identity and history, and the implications—for better or worse—of European exploitation of the treasures of pharaonic civilization. Novelist Qandil skillfully allows readers to encounter complex questions of colonialism, gender, and sectarianism—all through the symbolic lens of an unlikely Egyptian heroine.
Clamor of the Lake begins with the appearance of an old fisherman of unknown origin sailing a black boat. Taciturn and enigmatic, he takes on a woman and her twin boys. While he gives away nothing about his past, his undemanding companionship prompts the woman to narrate her turbulent life. Meanwhile, in a nearby village by the lake, Gomaa and his wife have found respite from the dreariness of their existence in the fantastic objects the sea churns up during gales a sword, alluring panties, a talisman. But when the waves cast up a chest that speaks in a language no one can comprehend, Gomaa is haunted by its voice. As the tumult of the lake drives a wedge between the couple, it turns two neighbors into close allies: Karawia, a café proprietor, and Afifi, a grocer. Eventually, they too will be haunted by the siren song of the lake. In Mohamed El-Bisatie's lyrical novel, the stories of these various figures converge on the mercurial presence of the lake, which in the end proves the narrative's true hero. An accomplished experiment in the poetics of space, Clamor of the Lake won the 1995 Cairo International Book Fair Award for Best Novel of the Year.
It's the dawn of the twentieth century, and Britain's glittering Empire extends far and wide, full of the dangerously seductive promise of untapped riches. Englishman Howard Carter's artistic talent takes him on an expedition attempting to locate Tutankhamen's tomb in Egypt. There, amidst growing unrest between the tyrannical British rulers and the so-called “barbarians,” he meets Aisha. At first glance, modest, stammering Howard has nothing whatsoever in common with Aisha, the young Egyptian whose profile bears more than a passing resemblance to Nefertiti's beautiful face as depicted on the Pharaonic relics Howard loves so much. A bewildering mix of contradictions, Aisha is a village girl, yet she speaks four languages; Muslim, yet she has a tattoo of the cross on her arm; a stranger, yet with an achingly familiar face. A page-turning gallop through some of the most momentous occasions in recent world history, CLOUDY DAY ON A WESTERN SHORE also explores questions of national identity and the implications of European intervention--for better or worse--in the discovery and exploration of some of the most beautiful treasures on earth today.
Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated is a fascinating and highly experimental story based loosely around the author's own experiences in Egypt as a Moroccan student and visiting intellectual. In Cairo the narrator, Hammad, takes us on a deeply personal journey of discovery from the heady days of the 1950s and 1960s, with all the optimism and excitement surrounding Moroccan independence, Suez, and Abdel Nasser, up to the 1990s and the time of writing, revealing an individual intensely concerned with Arab life and culture. Meanwhile, his regular visits to Cairo allow us to watch a culture in transition over four decades. Exploring themes of change, the role of culture in society, memory, and writing, in a text that combines narrative fiction with literary criticism, philosophical musings, and quotation, Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated is among the most innovative works of modern Arabic literature and a testimony to Mohammed Berrada's position as a leading pioneer.
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