The Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz

This thread is for the group read of Palace Walk, the first novel in The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz, which will officially begin on July 1 and end on September 30. Feel free to start posting comments about the book at any time.

Started this daunting looking tome last night and although it seems enormous, I know already that I will have no trouble keeping my interest up. I just have to keep reminding myself that my volume contains all three books.

I started yesterday, read then and this early morning the first nine chapters in which gradually (and thorougly) the characters present themselves. Beautiful dialogues (sharp). This is certainly a book for “slow reading”.

I was in a used bookshop on Thursday and saw the 3 volumes of The Cairo Trilogy rubber-banded together on sale. I couldn't resist and scooped them up. I'll try to jump in and read soon.

Hello? I just picked up the Everyman's Library edition of the Cairo Trilogy. Is anyone else reading?

I'm reading! I'm almost finished with Palace Walk, a re-read for me, and should finish it up today or tomorrow. When I read these books before I thought they were terrific, and I still do, but I am wondering why I didn't come away with a more lingering impression of al-Sayid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad as a tyrannical hypocrite. I would have thought that would have been the thing that stuck! Instead what I recall most vividly are the details of daily life at home and in Cairo. I plan to move on to Palace of Desire in mid-August.

I finished Palace Walk last night. It was a re-read for me as well, and I'm surprised at how little I remember of the book. I'll write a review of it later today.

I've been side-tracked by A Tale of Love and Darkness, I'm afraid, but I'll get to it in a while. :)

I finished it a little while ago and really enjoyed it as a view of life in Egypt right after WWI. But yes Ahmad's characterization is unforgetable. The fact that he not only browbeats and demeans his wife, but all of his children too. And the fact that Yasin is following in his footsteps is disturbing.

Here's a link to my review of Palace Walk: http://www.librarything.com/review/88190128

Darryl, thank you for giving some historical background in your review. I also appreciate the three sons as metaphors for the changes occurring in Egypt. I was struck by the fact that the Egyptian people are still in a state of flux. Just yesterday I read about the Egyptian women promoting a new talk show on television where they are garbed in full traditional niqabs. Only their eyes are visible...and no men are allowed on the set!

My thoughts on Palace Walk can be found here.

You're welcome, Donna. And thanks for posting a link to your review as well. I'm curious to see how much more of Egypt's history is covered in Palace of Desire and Sugar Street, as the last book was published not long after the Suez Crisis in 1956. I'll like to read literature about this crisis if, as I suspect, Mahfouz doesn't discuss it in The Cairo Trilogy.

I should make a new thread for Palace of Desire.

Almost finished Palace Walk, so I am deliberately avoiding reviews of it until I have finished. This is a first time through for me and I love the feeling of immersion in another place and time.