The Cairo Trilogy: condensed

Just like consuming too much of a delicious dessert made with condensed milk, reading (or listening to) a condensed book makes me feel guilty. But why? It's not like I'm skipping a homework assignment or skimming through Cliffs Notes... Maybe I feel like I owe it to the author, or literature in general, to read books in their original form. But if that were the case, I would have had to learn Egyptian Arabic pretty darn well and quickly to make it through the epic novels in Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy. Although I aspire to learn Arabic that well some day, this weekend wasn't really a good time for that.

Just seeing this logo makes me feel guilty sometimes...

The drive to Wooster, Ohio two weeks ago was about 6 hours both ways, but it would have felt a lot longer if I tried to read a 500-page novel (not to mention three of them) at the expense of my stomach. I attempted to find a full unabridged recording of Palace Walk, the first novel in the Cairo trilogy, but iTunes failed me--or rather, knew what I wanted better than I. Fifteen dollars later, I had a three-hour dramatized version of the whole trilogy, narrated by none other than Omar Sharif! Not only did I get the plot of the books, but the emotion, sounds, and action of them too. I think that, since this project is intended to give me a better idea of the cultures I'll be experiencing, there really couldn't have been a better way for me to enjoy these literary masterpieces-- at least for now. I loved the music that accompanied the stories, and it was nice to hear the true pronunciations of all the Egyptian names and places because I know I would have butchered them, even if just reading quietly to myself.

The author clearly had ZERO fun in Ohio and was only concerned with literary adventures.

I grew up listening to audiobooks. My parents liked them because they could make commutes to and from work go by much faster, and on family vacations they significantly delayed the inevitable "Are we there yet?" from the back seat. Nowadays, I prefer audiobooks to music on long jogs, and when I'm sick there's nothing better to fall asleep to than Jim Dale's gymnastic voice navigating the delightful events of a Harry Potter novel. So plugging in my headphones and hearing the sounds of Cairo (it was actually recorded there) as the lush green landscapes of Ohio and Indiana (omg another cornfield!) passed me by was a lovely way to experience Mahfouz's masterpiece novels.

Spanning 25 years and 3 generations of one family, the plot of the Cairo trilogy mostly contains itself to a small section of the city where the family's homes are. Although the story follows many, if not all members of the family, the trilogy begins and ends with Amina, the wife of the treacherous al-Sayyid (who I couldn't decide whether to pity or hate) and (grand)mother to the rest of the "cast". Omar Sharif narrates as the youngest of Amina's sons, Kamal, who always seems to be learning the hard lessons of life and love sooner than he should have to.

Funny Girl ≠ Cairo Trilogy

I couldn't help but notice a similar theme in these novels that reminded me of The God of Small Things: generational issues in a progressing society (it probably has something to do with the British too). In the Cairo trilogy, the three generations' different values mix with individuals' personalities to create big disconnects between members of each generation.  Somehow, these conflicts persist despite each generation's (inadvertent) adherence to tradition and the common dream of a free Egypt.

Most of the characters in the novels identify themselves as muslims, yet few of them adhere to many of Islam's core teachings; drinking and sex are prominent themes as the various characters struggle to remain true to themselves and their families. Since the independent Egyptian state observes sharia law, I'm interested to see how Egyptian culture may have changed one way or another since Mahfouz wrote the last of the trilogy books in 1957.

As a political science major, I have to say that the prospect of being in Egypt this fall during their elections is one of the parts of Global that I am most looking forward to and I can't wait to tell you all about it!