North Africa
Egypt
Post-colonial
Arabic
Fiction
Set in an Alexandrian pension, the same story told four times by four different residents — a former revolutionary, an opportunist, a communist, a nationalist — each account revealing their moral failings.
Literary Significance
Mahfouz's most formally innovative novel; a critique of Egyptian society under Nasser through polyphonic narration
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Catalog summary
editorial-summarynot primary textSet in an Alexandrian pension, the same story told four times by four different residents — a former revolutionary, an opportunist, a communist, a nationalist — each account revealing their moral failings. Mahfouz's most formally innovative novel; a critique of Egyptian society under Nasser through polyphonic narration
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