This is a beautifully written story told from the perspective of residents of the Miramar - a pension house in 1960s Alexandria. Each resident tells of the same events but from their own perspective. The descriptions of Alexandria are vivid, and the emotions described are raw. ( )

Set in Alexandria, Egypt, in the 1960s, this book tells of the residents of Miramar, a pension run by an aging Greek woman. She hires Zohra to help with serving and cleaning. Zohra has left her family to avoid an arranged marriage to an older man. She is determined to make her own way in life. It basically involves a look at the same set of circumstances through four different perspectives. Several men try to win Zohra’s affections, but she is not interested in being a mistress, and they are not interested in marriage, especially to a person of lower status. The writing is excellent. I think I would have appreciated more of the politics if I had a deeper knowledge of Egyptian history, so I plan to read non-fiction about the region and time period. I have now read three books by Mahfouz, and this one is my favorite. ( )

Tout le charme de l’orient. ( )

Several guests of various ages, backgrounds, political views and social classes converge at a pension in Alexandria, Egypt. The aging proprietress, a couple of old men on the decline, a couple of young men on the make, and a young woman, Zohra, who works there. The younger men vie for her attention and she's the center of some controversy.

Everyone appears to have their sights set on something else, all with various agendas, some legal, some not. Naguib Mahfouz seems to be portraying post-revolution Egypt through the various characters. ( )

Het verhaal van een aantal pensionbewoners, de eigenares en haar jonge dienstmeid.

Hallucinant is de mentaliteit in deze'moslim'wereld die Egypte is en zeker toen was. Kortweg het hele verhaal draait om vouwen en alcohol. Voor wie nog illusies had... ( )