The Yacoubian Building

The Yacoubian Building presents a surprising survey of contemporary Egyptian society at a time when many people may assume that all Arabs or Muslims are the same. The characters are believable and the story is engrossing. My only complaint is that I wish the book were longer.

I looked for books on Egypt prior to my departure there. I picked a book on ancient Egypt by the Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz and the current volume as it had modern Egypt as its background. I discovered the book by chance in a local bookstore. So naturally I did not place high expectations on it. Nevertheless I was to find the book much more compelling than the particular Mahfouz. The book tells stories of many characters. Though belonging to different strata of Egyptian society, they share the common fate of living in the Yacoubian building, located on Suleiman Basha Street (now called Talaat Harb Street) in downtown Cairo. Stories of the tenants share more than a common residence however. Except for the one at the very end, stories are invariably dark. They depict: corruption (Hagg Azzam, who wins a seat in parliament with bribe; Kamal, an influential political figure who sits at the receiving end of bribery; "the big man" -- Egypt's current president Hosni Mubarak?), unjustified suppression (towards a gay intellectual and editor in chief of a renown newspaper, Hatim), deceit (the brothers Abaskharon and Malik, who conspire to take over their master's property), indecency (Zaki Bey the warm-hearted womanizer), hypocrisy (Sheikh El Samman who advises Hagg Azzam's new wife to go through abortion), and anger (Taha, who transforms himself to a Islam extremist for the social injustice he encounters). On a day during my stay in Egypt I hired a car and a driver. The driver Sameh was in his 40s, was highly educated, and had a good command of English. I brought up the book as a conversation topic to find him noticeably glad. He was surprised when I informed him that the book enjoyed a moderate success in the US, and that I regularly spotted English versions of the book (published by the American University in Cairo) even off the shelves of small tourist shops (apart from books on tourism, such shops typically carry only books by Mahfouz and Al Aswany). The Egyptian government had censored a good chunk of the movie that was based on the book, he informed me, thus he thought it made little sense that the government allowed the book to circulate so widely. We chatted for long, in fact all day long, interrupted by infrequent stops. I had hired the car to visit the pyramids at Saqqara and Dashur, which were far more remote from Cairo than the famous trio in Giza. From our conversation I learned the many facets of corruption, and the frustration they evoke on the working people. Sameh worked as an operations manager for a renowned newspaper before. He singled out corruption as the reason behind the lack of jobs in Egypt, and hence the reason for him having to pick up driving as his occupation. His frustration was palpable. In the shadow of a pyramid I thought I could see why the novel came to be -- could the book not be a variant of investigative reporting, an attempt to capture social injustice, a crystallization of the prevalent frustration?

Bad news first: I found this book a little difficult to get into for a couple of reasons. One, I am not at all familiar with landscape of Egypt. Second, although I am marrying an Egyptian, and have somewhat of a familiarity for Arabic names, it was still a bit confusing to keep track of each of the characters -- especially with most of them having a nickname or title attached to their name in various parts of the story. I found myself having to back track during the first 30 or so pages to keep each character straight, which was a bit frustrating for a seasoned reader with a supposedly high comprehension level. I know, I know: what should I expect from a book translated from Arabic, about Arabic people, and taking place in an Arabic world? Still, I thought that it merited a warning... Good news: This was still an absolutely gripping novel. For those like me who may struggle with the names or places and get a bit frustrated in the initial pages, the story is well worth it. I was soon immersed in the lives of the characters, and began to care for them as if I knew them personally. I was able to relate it to what I know of Egyptian culture, and it opened my eyes to aspects of the culture which I have not personally seen. In the larger scope of things, it really makes you think about the political/religious/ethnic and just general social issues that surround us. It allows one to think outside of the box and experience a life or lives that you ordinarily would not be able to. Although very sad in parts, it also contained great happiness, and allows you to truly see a beautiful culture at its best, at its worst, at its most twisted, and at its most innocent. A very honest, and very enthusiastic 5 stars.

This is one of those books that comes along once in a great while and has the power to take over one's life for the week or so it takes to read through the book completely. The characters are likeable and relatable, the plot both surprising and inevitable, and the writing is poetic and foreign in a beautiful and intriguing way. Recommended.

This is a great book. An exciting read. My wife and I fought for our single copy. We ended up by reading it to one another. I found the language beautiful. (Of course, I realize that this is the work of the translator. I have not read the book in Arabic.) Scenes and characters on the pages are just like many of the people we see on the streets and some we know in Cairo. It's also full of insights into Egypt's modern political history and culture. I recommend anyone traveling to Cairo, especially those coming to work here, to read this book ahead of time. Along with Naguib Mahfouz's Respected Sir. My wife and I give The Yacoubian Building a very high five-star rating. John and Mary Lyn Villaume Cairo