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Children of Gebelawi

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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
140: 448:(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." 510:
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
352:. 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 425:. 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." 348:
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.
379:". As a result, in 1994 – a day after the anniversary of the prize – Mahfouz was attacked and stabbed in the neck by two 86: 1336: 922: 711: 673: 635: 606: 592: 560: 546: 257: 119: 487:. Mafouz uses the novel form in this work rather than the story form more common in Middle Eastern writing. He read 383:
outside his Cairo home. Mahfouz survived the attack, yet he suffered from its consequences until his death in 2006.
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Four months after Mahfouz's death, the book was officially released in Egypt, where it became a best seller.
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in 1967. An English translation by Philip Stewart was published in 1981 and is no longer in print; the
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The book version of the material reflects the Middle Eastern story telling tradition dating back to
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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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The protagonist of the book's fifth section is Arafa (عرفة), who symbolises modern
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Originally published in Arabic in 1959 in serialised form in the daily newspaper
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The story recreates the interlinked history of the three monotheistic
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It was this book that earned Naguib Mahfouz condemnation from
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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
764:"BOOKS OF THE TIMES; This Novel Got the Author Stabbed" 291:) is a novel by the Egyptian writer and Nobel laureate 701: 503:of tyranny, and the dawn of light and miracles.” 483:: a Novel, that is based on characters derived from 286: 60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 597:1997, U.S., Passeggata Press, 1997, paperback (as 1347:Works originally published in Egyptian newspapers 414:against the setting of an imaginary 19th century 1323: 494:Children of the Alley is really a collection of 470: 814: 462:(strongmen) who control the alley and exact 295:. Its Egyptian dialectal transliteration is 828: 821: 807: 583:1996, U.S., Doubleday, 1996, hardback (as 138: 761: 663: 625: 537:1981, UK, Heinemann, 1981, paperback (as 421:Critics claimed that Gabalawi stands for 321:, it was met with severe opposition from 120:Learn how and when to remove this message 1119:A Story Without a Beginning or an Ending 786: 14: 1324: 1352:Novels first published in serial form 802: 757: 755: 736:"Children of the Alley | David Frum" 58:adding citations to reliable sources 29: 375:would have realized that he had to 276: 24: 752: 479:. Mahfouz later published a book, 301:. An alternative English title is 25: 1368: 762:Bernstein, Richard (1996-01-10). 1154:The Adventures of Antar and Abla 688:Hafez, Sabry: "Introduction" to 650:Hafez, Sabry: "Introduction" to 577:בני שכונתנו, end notes by Prof. 206:1959 (translation 13 April 1981) 34: 702:Karolides, Nicholas J. (2005). 664:Karolides, Nicholas J. (2005). 626:Karolides, Nicholas J. (2005). 45:needs additional citations for 1135:Stories from Our Neighbourhood 780: 728: 695: 682: 657: 644: 619: 310: 144:First English-language edition 13: 1: 1043:The Day the Leader Was Killed 612: 601:- Stewart's version revised) 524:with its medievil alleys and 791:. Tel Aviv, Israel: Am Oved. 575:Children of Our Neighborhood 458:Central to the plot are the 346:American University of Cairo 27:1959 novel by Naguib Mahfouz 7: 1051:Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth 1035:The Journey of Ibn Fattouma 789:Beni Shconatinu בני שכונתנו 531: 485:One Thousand and One Nights 477:One Thousand and One Nights 471:Reviews and interpretations 389: 287: 10: 1373: 247:355 p. (paperback edition) 1301:The Beginning and the End 1237:The Beginning and the End 1228: 1145: 1094: 1069: 923:The Beginning and the End 874: 837: 587:- Theroux's translation) 555:- Stewart's translation) 541:- Stewart's translation) 251: 243: 231: 221: 210: 202: 192: 182: 169: 159: 149: 137: 1337:Novels by Naguib Mahfouz 1202:Between Heaven and Earth 569:, Hebrew translation by 340:It was first printed in 1027:Arabian Nights and Days 787:Mahfouz, Nagib (1990). 481:Arabian Nights and Days 1253:Saladin the Victorious 939:The Thief and the Dogs 329:, who was a friend of 133:Children of our alley 69:"Children of Gebelawi" 599:Children of Gebelaawi 585:Children of the Alley 369:Children of the Alley 323:religious authorities 304:Children of the Alley 18:Children of the Alley 1277:Chitchat on the Nile 1194:Jamila, the Algerian 931:Children of Gebelawi 553:Children of Gebelawi 539:Children of Gebelawi 268:Children of Gebelawi 54:improve this article 1357:Novels set in Cairo 1342:Censorship in Islam 444:(Rifa'a رفاعة) and 396:Abrahamic religions 260:(paperback edition) 173:Philip Stewart 1981 160:Original title 134: 1245:Chased by the Dogs 1162:Your Day Will Come 1103:Whisper of Madness 1085:Qismati and Nasibi 971:Adrift on the Nile 768:The New York Times 377:stay within bounds 327:Gamal Abdel Nasser 132: 1319: 1318: 1095:Story collections 891:Rhadopis of Nubia 690:The Cairo Trilogy 652:The Cairo Trilogy 365:Omar Abdel-Rahman 285: 264: 263: 222:Publication place 130: 129: 122: 104: 16:(Redirected from 1364: 995:Love in the Rain 856:Palace of Desire 823: 816: 809: 800: 799: 793: 792: 784: 778: 777: 775: 774: 759: 750: 749: 747: 746: 732: 726: 725: 699: 693: 686: 680: 679: 661: 655: 648: 642: 641: 623: 464:protection money 290: 280: 278: 142: 135: 131: 125: 118: 114: 111: 105: 103: 62: 38: 30: 21: 1372: 1371: 1367: 1366: 1365: 1363: 1362: 1361: 1322: 1321: 1320: 1315: 1269:Khan El Khalili 1224: 1186:The Barred Road 1141: 1090: 1065: 1059:The Coffeehouse 870: 833: 827: 797: 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Index

Children of the Alley

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Naguib Mahfouz
Peter Theroux
Arabic
Novel
Heinemann
Egypt
Paperback
ISBN
0-435-90225-3
Arabic
romanized
Naguib Mahfouz
Al-Ahram
religious authorities
Gamal Abdel Nasser
banned in Egypt
Lebanon

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