The Harafish

I was looking forward to this novel, having enjoyed immensely the Cairo Trilogy, the masterpiece by the same author. I looked forward to the sweeping narrative, the complex twists & turns of the generations of the al-Nagi family. However the depth with which Mahfouz wrote the Cairo Trilogy isn't present here. This is a much more superficial overview - it moves very quickly. Perhaps not less successful, but a very different model.

This book is separated into ten chapters or ten ‘epics' as they are described. The first tells of the life of Ashur, the originator of the family line. Found on the street, raised in a poor family, he grows from humble origins to become a great leader.

In each successive ‘epic' we move down the generations - sometimes one, but more often two or three. Each ‘epic' chronicles a new principal character. None are the same, many share character strengths, more share flaws, because this is not an uplifting, happy novel!

To explain a few aspects a little more for background - events all take place one alley - presumably in Cairo. For the people of the alley - the common people (known as harafish) and the well-to-do notables, the alley is their place, and the alley is led by a chief. Before Ashur, the chiefs were generally rogues who taxed the harafish, and were paid off by the notables. The chief quickly becomes overly greedy and is is soon conspired against by one of his henchmen, who looks to replace him with brute force. There is a translators note in the book which says “The historical meaning of harafish is the rabble or the riffraff. In the novel it means the common people in a positive sense, those in menial jobs, casual workers, and the unemployed and homeless.”

As I alluded to above, this book rolls out through generations very quickly, often moving 20 years in a sentence. The Arabic names take a little bit of concentration for those unfamiliar with them, and there are some other family lines which also track from epic to epic. For me, while it was an interesting, fast paced novel, I missed the complex interactions and depth of story which were just not possible with the setup here. At times the characters seemed in a downwards spiral of morals and made futile attempts at honesty, but this story showed corruption and personal greed are far more common that any ability to act honestly for the greater good of a community. Should be obvious - modern politics show that.

3.5 stars, rounded up.