Palace Walk

This took me a while to get into it but I have to admit this is Mahfouz's masterpiece. I read two of his books years ago. This is about al-Sayyid Ahmad and his family. He runs a store in town and is a beloved figure but at home he's a bully. He's a complete hypocrite, an adulteror, and a drinker. His son Yasin starts following in these ways and wonders how his father gets the people's respect while he is looked down upon. The book also looks at Ahmad's daughters who are waiting to get married. The most tragic character has to be his son Fahmy whose political activity gets him in trouble. This is probably one of the best examples I've read of the saga of a family, the dilemmas and yet the bond that brings people together. I started the second book and if anything it is getting more interesting. Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize and deservedly so. I can't think of another Egyptian writer that's been as influential. It was the movie Midaq Alley that got me into him. It was interesting seeing an Egyptian book adapted to fit Mexican culture but it worked.