A really beautiful short book that explores the joys as well as the frustrations of travelling in search of knowledge and enlightenment. Mahfouz has such a light touch - in the years to come, this fine book will deserve to be mentioned under the same breath as Candide and Siddhartha. ( )

Parable of life as a journey, with the hero stopping in different countries, with his goal of reaching Gebel [Mountain], a sort of Utopia. Each country represents a modern one with differing political philosophies. The last one in which he stops embodies a type of mysticism. Does he reach his goal?
Smoothly reading translation of a slim novel. ( )

A compact fable, published in 1983, with the universal-in-the-particular feel of The Thousand and One Nights or The Caravan of Dreams. A young man loses his lover to the caprices of power and decides to take a journey to the land of Gebel, renowned for the contentment of its people. Along the way, and through a succession of other cities, he encounters a variety of social forms and political regimes, each believed by the local people to be the pinnacle of human achievement. Adventure, philosophy, and cultural critique in a short novel by a great writer. ( )

Quindil, un muchacho apodado 'el hijo de Fatuma', se suma a una caravana que atraviesa diversos países con el fin de adquirir la sabiduría suficiente que le permita paliar los males de su tierra. Como destino final, el misterioso y legendari Gabal, lugar del que todos hablan pero que nadie ha conseguido visitar jamás. Durante su larga aventura, el hijo de Fatuma recorre diversos territorios cuyas costumbres y formas de gobierno anota cuidadosamente en un diario. ( )

enriched list and description by Mahfouz for what you can say the adventurtes of "Ibn Fattouma". ( )