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of the people for more than a brief period of time. Sharing of the wealth occurs briefly but then vanishes. The heroes are benevolent leaders, but it is the leader, good or bad, who makes the rules reflecting Middle
Eastern experience of governing. The novellas show no input from the people (democratic input) in governing. The people are lucky if they get a good and generous leader even if only for a short time Most of the time they get inequality and despotic, violent thugs as leaders.
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of the old man (though he does not directly kill him). The Chief
Strongman guesses the truth and blackmails Arafa into helping him to become the dictator of the whole Alley. The book ends, after the murder of Arafa, with his friend searching in a rubbish tip for the book in which Arafa wrote his secrets. The people say "Oppression must cease as night yields to day. We shall see the end of tyranny and the dawn of miracles."
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The book is pessimistic but as David Frum has pointed out ends on a positive note: "Yet the people bore the outrages steadfastly, taking refuge in patience. They held fast to hope, and whenever they were persecuted, they said, “Injustice must have an end, as day follows night. We will see the death
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and reflects that fact that it originated as a newspaper serial. The good guys vary, but the villains are variation on a theme. Mafouz is reflecting on the
Egyptian experience of hope with a new leader such as Nassar and Sadat that is then dashed. None of the heroes succeed in improving the plight
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from the people. The successive heroes overthrow the strongmen of their time, but in the next generation new strongmen spring up and things are as bad as ever. Arafa tries to use his knowledge of explosives to destroy the strongmen, but his attempts to discover
Gabalawi's secrets leads to the death
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437:(Qasim قاسم). The followers of each hero settle in different parts of the alley, symbolising Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Mahfouz writes"Good examples would not be wasted on our alley were it not afflicted with forgetfulness, But forgetfulness is the plague of our alley."
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review, the reviewer suggests that the book represents "man's attempt to puzzle out the mysteriousness of God and His seeming indifference to human suffering". But the most conspicuous theme is the uphill struggle of the good against the wicked and the
341:. Three Continents Press still had license to publish in the American market, and Stewart wanted to continue publishing quietly in America and to avoid a world-wide relaunch of such a controversial book, but when he refused to sell his
414:. Mahfouz rejected this, saying that he stood for "a certain idea of God that men have made" and that "Nothing can represent God. God is not like anything else. God is gigantic."
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had controlled the world rights since 1976 and had licensed
Heinemann Educational Books to publish Stewart's version, but Heinemann sold back its rights a few weeks before the
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and Muslim alleys. Children of the Alley is set in the alleys of Old Cairo. Its portraits of leaders reflects the political history of Egypt during
Mahfouz's lifetime.
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The first four sections retell, in succession, the stories of: Adam (Adham أدهم) and how he was favoured by
Gabalawi over the latter's other sons, including the eldest
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in 1989, who called on him to repent or be killed. Abdel-Rahman also claimed that "If this sentence had been passed on Naguib
Mahfouz when he wrote
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literature widely and is considered one of the writers responsible for introducing the novel form in the Middle East.
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outside his Cairo home. Mahfouz survived the attack, yet he suffered from its consequences until his death in 2006.
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in 1967. An
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The book is heavily influenced by Arab political experience and by a lifetime spent in Cairo.
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and comes after the prophets, while all of their followers claim Arafa as one of their own.
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It was this book that earned Naguib Mahfouz condemnation from
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643:. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001, p. xxxiv.
681:. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001, p. xlii.
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120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature
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120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature
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120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature
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grew up in a lower middle class, devout Muslim family in
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1988, U.S., Three Continents Press, 1981, paperback (as
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492:of tyranny, and the dawn of light and miracles.”
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
586:1997, U.S., Passeggata Press, 1997, paperback (as
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403:against the setting of an imaginary 19th century
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483:Children of the Alley is really a collection of
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410:Critics claimed that Gabalawi stands for
310:, it was met with severe opposition from
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
1108:A Story Without a Beginning or an Ending
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1341:Novels first published in serial form
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725:"Children of the Alley | David Frum"
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468:. Mahfouz later published a book,
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751:Bernstein, Richard (1996-01-10).
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566:בני שכונתנו, end notes by Prof.
195:1959 (translation 13 April 1981)
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691:Karolides, Nicholas J. (2005).
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780:. Tel Aviv, Israel: Am Oved.
564:Children of Our Neighborhood
447:Central to the plot are the
335:American University of Cairo
16:1959 novel by Naguib Mahfouz
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1040:Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth
1024:The Journey of Ibn Fattouma
778:Beni Shconatinu בני שכונתנו
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466:One Thousand and One Nights
460:Reviews and interpretations
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776:Mahfouz, Nagib (1990).
470:Arabian Nights and Days
1242:Saladin the Victorious
928:The Thief and the Dogs
318:, who was a friend of
122:Children of our alley
58:"Children of Gebelawi"
588:Children of Gebelaawi
574:Children of the Alley
358:Children of the Alley
312:religious authorities
293:Children of the Alley
1266:Chitchat on the Nile
1183:Jamila, the Algerian
920:Children of Gebelawi
542:Children of Gebelawi
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257:Children of Gebelawi
43:improve this article
1346:Novels set in Cairo
1331:Censorship in Islam
433:(Rifa'a رفاعة) and
385:Abrahamic religions
249:(paperback edition)
162:Philip Stewart 1981
149:Original title
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1234:Chased by the Dogs
1151:Your Day Will Come
1092:Whisper of Madness
1074:Qismati and Nasibi
960:Adrift on the Nile
757:The New York Times
366:stay within bounds
316:Gamal Abdel Nasser
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880:Rhadopis of Nubia
679:The Cairo Trilogy
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32:This article
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1199:Allahu Akbar
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864:Other novels
853:Sugar Street
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393:Christianity
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266:أولاد حارتنا
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
1321:1959 novels
1298:Midaq Alley
1218:Adaptations
1159:The Monster
1135:Screenplays
1100:God's World
992:Karnak Café
896:Midaq Alley
837:Palace Walk
560:David Sagiv
401:allegorised
339:Nobel Prize
300:Controversy
1315:Categories
1282:The Guilty
1207:The Choice
952:The Beggar
944:The Search
904:The Mirage
762:2023-09-29
734:2023-09-29
602:References
370:extremists
159:Translator
69:newspapers
1167:The Tough
1116:The Crime
1067:Zaabalawi
818:Works by
511:Old Cairo
343:copyright
271:romanized
226:Paperback
204:Heinemann
200:Publisher
192:Published
1250:Cairo 30
1076:" (1982)
1069:" (1961)
711:56324787
521:Editions
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485:novellas
449:futuwwat
435:Muhammad
379:Synopsis
320:Al-Ahram
307:Al-Ahram
172:Language
99:May 2007
976:Mirrors
968:Miramar
556:Am Oved
478:Western
442:science
407:alley.
405:Cairene
389:Judaism
331:Lebanon
273::
224:Print (
83:scholar
1301:(1995)
1293:(1993)
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1274:Karnak
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534:
515:Coptic
507:Mafouz
395:, and
262:Arabic
206:(1981)
176:Arabic
139:Author
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495:In a
431:Jesus
427:Moses
423:Iblis
419:Satan
397:Islam
233:Pages
215:Egypt
186:Novel
182:Genre
90:JSTOR
76:books
707:OCLC
697:ISBN
659:ISBN
621:ISBN
592:ISBN
578:ISBN
546:ISBN
532:ISBN
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167:1996
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