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Carregando... L'Immeuble Yacoubian (original: 2002; edição: 2006)de Alaa el Aswany (Autor)
Informações da ObraThe Yacoubian Building de Alaa al-Aswani (2002)
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Registre-se no LibraryThing tpara descobrir se gostará deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. Anteriormente inmueble lujoso, caído ahora en plena decadencia, el edificio Yacobián está situado en el centro de El Cairo. A partir de las vidas cruzadas de sus habitantes variopintos - aristócratas decadentes, hombres de negocios, políticos corruptos, pobres que ocupan la azotea del edificio, el autor crea un auténtico microcosmo que refleja un país lleno de contrastes y trata temas tan actuales como la discriminación de la mujer, la diferencia entre las clases sociales o el auge del fundamentalismo. I enjoyed The Yacoubian Building by Alaa al-Aswani. It is an interesting collection of stories about the occupants of an apartment block in central Cairo. The inhabitants range from the lowly door keeper to a high-flying businessman with political ambitions, and an old bachelor of style who hankers back to the good-old-days before the 1952 revolution ousted the Egyptian monarchy. The tales of the people whose lives centre on this buidling, which is a relic of former days of granduer, give glimpses into the lives of many different parts of Egyptian society. It highlights the hyporcacy of many and the corruption of state bodies and politicians. it does it in an easy to read style and gives the reader an understanding of the thoughts and motivations of the characters, some motivations not being the most honourable. I have seen this book described as a great book about homosexuality in Egypt. Some of the commentaries I read left me thinking that homosexuality was the only theme in the book. One of the story lines is about a homosexual relationship, but it is only one story line and I think the author did a great job with all the story lines. Would I read another book by thie author? Yes. Would I recommend this book? Yes. Who would I recommend this book to? Anyone interested in learning something about Egyptian society in the years before the Arab Spring. "The Yacoubian Building" is a thick, rich book. In it, readers will meet about ten people who are all connected to a former apartment building for aristocrats that has since been converted into something like a "mixed income" housing project. In the background, the old order of colonial respect and military control is slowly falling apart due to increasing urbanization and threats from Islamic militants. The author, Alaa Al Aswany, has written multiple character studies into this novel. We meet the aging playboy Zaki Bey, his disabled servant whose brother has designs to open a tailor shop in the building, and his sister Dawlat who wants to control their inheritance. There is Busayna, the young woman who works to support her siblings, and her boyfriend from childhood who, after being rejected from the police service and Busayna turns to militancy. There is Hagg Azzam who buys his way into politics only to be be pushed against a wall by the people who helped him. We also meet Hatim Rasheed, a gay newspaper editor whose lover, a family man, is pulled in too many directions while Hatim's secret is more or less in the open. Much like Naguib Mahfouz's "Midaq Alley," which takes place in the 1950's an has a similar setting, Aswany mixes social classes, sex, and politics to create a very real, very believable atmosphere. Like "Midaq Alley," the characters hold numerous internal monologues that can be a bit wordy. The book was a bestseller in many parts of the Arabic-reading world, despite the fact that many authorities tried to ban the book. Efforts to censor it were made ostensibly because of the books depictions of sex, which I found to be quite poetic. In reality, attempts to censor it happened because the book goes after the official policies of corruption supported by the military regime, including ex-president Hosni Mubarak, who is portrayed as a shadowy figure in the book's denouement. The book includes a list of characters and a glossary, neither of which I thought were necessary because Aswany did a fine job keeping details in order. Humphrey T. Davies' translation seems fine and clear to me. "The Yacoubian Building" did not read very quickly for me, but it was still a great book. I enjoyed reading about most of the characters and appreciated all the numerous cultural details. This book has been in my stash for several years. I purchased it after listening to Harriet Gilbert on BBC World Book Club interview the author Alaa Al Aswaney. The book was first published in Arabic in 2002 and translated to English by Humphrey Davies in 2004. The Yacoubian Building is a real building in Cairo, constructed in the Art Deco era but now divided into apartments and offices. This book tells the stories of the characters who dwell in the building during the period of the first Gulf War. The characters are lovingly described and their problems are many. They are able to survive cruelty, corruption, and adversity with humble and optimistic attitudes. It has been a joy to read. sem resenhas | adicionar uma resenha
Pertence à série publicadaMirmanda (43) Tem a adaptação
The Yacoubian Building holds all that Egypt was and has become over the 75 years since its namesake was built on one of downtown Cairo's main boulevards. From the pious son of the building's doorkeeper and the raucous, impoverished squatters on its roof, via the tattered aristocrat and the gay intellectual in its apartments, to the ruthless businessman whose stores occupy its ground floor, each sharply etched character embodies a facet of modern Egypt--one where political corruption, ill-gotten wealth, and religious hypocrisy are natural allies, where the arrogance and defensiveness of the powerful find expression in the exploitation of the weak, where youthful idealism can turn quickly to extremism, and where an older, less violent vision of society may yet prevail. Alaa Al Aswany's novel caused an unprecedented stir when it was first published in 2002 and has remained the world's best selling novel in the Arabic language since. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — Carregando... GênerosClassificação decimal de Dewey (CDD)892.737Literature Literature of other languages Middle Eastern languages Arabic (Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan) Arabic fiction 2000–Classificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos E.U.A. (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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This is a vivid snapshot of what life was like in Cairo, at a time before the demonstrations in Tahrir Square, but when a religious extremism was on the rise, a reaction to the lack of opportunity for those without money or connections. al-Aswany also looks at the treatment of women and how they are expected to keep themselves removed from public life, as well as the stark disparity between the wealthy and those who are struggling to get by. The author treats all his characters, even the most reprehensible, with understanding and a clear-eyed compassion that made me feel invested in even the characters I actively disliked. ( )