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No One Sleeps in Alexandria
No One Sleeps in Alexandria
No One Sleeps in Alexandria
Ebook471 pages

No One Sleeps in Alexandria

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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This sweeping novel depicts the intertwined lives of an assortment of Egyptians--Muslims and Copts, northerners and southerners, men and women--as they begin to settle in Egypt's great second city, and explores how the Second World War, starting in supposedly faraway Europe, comes crashing down on them, affecting their lives in fateful ways. Central to the novel is the story of a striking friendship between Sheikh Magd al-Din, a devout Muslim with peasant roots in northern Egypt, and Dimyan, a Copt with roots in southern Egypt, in their journey of survival and self-discovery. Woven around this narrative are the stories of other characters, in the city, in the villages, or in the faraway desert, closer to the fields of combat. And then there is the story of Alexandria itself, as written by history, as experienced by its denizens, and as touched by the war. Throughout, the author captures the cadences of everyday life in the Alexandria of the early 1940s, and boldly explores the often delicate question of religious differences in depth and on more than one level. No One Sleeps in Alexandria adds an authentically Egyptian vision of Alexandria to the many literary--but mainly Western--Alexandrias we know already: it may be the same space in which Cavafy, Forster, and Durrell move but it is certainly not the same world.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 1, 2006
ISBN9781617971822
No One Sleeps in Alexandria
Author

Ibrahim Abdel Meguid

Born in 1946, Ibrahim Abdel Meguid is an Egyptian writer from Alexandria. He has combined critical and creative writing throughout his literary career, and is the author of numerous novels and short-story collections. He was awarded the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 1997 for his novel The Other Place.

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Arabic point of view of Alexandria during the WWII years, and how the people were affected. It tells the story of two good friends, Magd-al-Din, a devout Muslim peasant, who has been banished from his village and a Coptic Christian, Dimyan, who meet in Alexandria and become as close as brothers. We see the panorama of Alexandrian life. The author intersperses the story of the two friends with descriptions of Alexandria--historical and of other people, then, like reportage: global news about the war, news of Egypt then Alexandria, and pop culture, both American and Egyptian. The two men get jobs for the railroad then are transferred near al Alamein. The bombing by both Germans and Italians in Alexandria is as horrific as the London Blitz. Finally, when fighting in their al-Alamein area becomes so bad, they decide to return to Alexandria. But tragedy strikes.I enjoyed the book for a different view of Alexandria and of her people encapsulated in the two men. I liked the fact that they were very tolerant of each other's religion, questioning each other to learn. They discussed, did not argue. The author made the city come alive for me, but some of the humor was over my head. Fascinating information on "Pompey's Pillar", commemorating Emperor Diocletian. The Copts date their calendar from his accession [because of his Great Persecution]. It occurred mainly in Egypt.

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No One Sleeps in Alexandria - Ibrahim Abdel Meguid

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