Name: Midaq Alley
ISBN: 9780385264761

Naguib Mahfouz

Midaq Alley

azliana aziz

this book is deceptively simple. a multitude of characters with different background and standing in life living next door to each other and news (gossips) spread from mouths to ears in a blink of an eye. sounds familiar, yes?

i feel mahfouz's achievement in lifting his straightforward narrative by lending vivid descriptive prose to serve as the background of his story. you can't help but be swept away by the smell, sound and sight of the living and non living things in the alley. his sprawling characters were ornamentals of the alley but they lived, they had a life, ambitions and perspectives. the commentary on class tension in post colonialism is remarked with such zest. lastly i was vibrating vibrantly due to the dramatic irony observation on faith and life's futility.