Albert Cossery (1913–2008)
Autor(a) de Proud Beggars
About the Author
Image credit: Albert Cossery, 1931
Séries
Obras de Albert Cossery
Het huis van de wisse dood 1 exemplar(es)
L'intégrale. Coffret de 8 volumes 1 exemplar(es)
A Room in Cairo 1 exemplar(es)
Les Hommes oubliés de Dieu 1 exemplar(es)
Les hommes oublis de Dieu 1 exemplar(es)
Boje beščašća 1 exemplar(es)
Siroti i gordi 1 exemplar(es)
Den vissa dödens hus 1 exemplar(es)
Associated Works
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Data de nascimento
- 1913-11-03
- Data de falecimento
- 2008-06-22
- Sexo
- male
- Nacionalidade
- Egypt (birth)
France - Local de nascimento
- Cairo, Egypt
- Local de falecimento
- Paris, France
- Premiações
- Grand prix de la francophonie de l'Académie française (1990)
Membros
Resenhas
Listas
Schwob Nederland (3)
egypt novels (1)
Prêmios
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Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 24
- Also by
- 2
- Membros
- 915
- Popularidade
- #28,031
- Avaliação
- 3.8
- Resenhas
- 30
- ISBNs
- 91
- Idiomas
- 12
- Favorito
- 6
Near the beginning of the narrative, a young prostitute is murdered in nearby brothel in what appears to be a motiveless crime. Into the picture comes police inspector Nour El Dine who feels in the solving of such crimes and punishment of their perpetrators not any compassion for the victims but instead a maintenance of order, a defense of the status quo. Our three heroes take him on gleefully as a worthy if not particularly threatening adversary. And Nour El Dine has his own dissatisfactions and doubts.
The language and tone of the novel I found entertaining throughout. The characters' caustic takedowns of society's power structures I found often hilarious, and Cossery's powers of description and observation are rewarding, as well. His descriptions of the street life of this poor Cairo neighborhood reminded me sometimes of Isaac B. Singers' descriptions of the Jewish quarters of pre-war Warsaw.
Proud Beggars is in a way a comedy of manners, a sly attack on the mores of middle class society and the ruling class and a celebration of the daily joys of life. On the other hand, it's easy to see the flaws in the worldview, at least as presented here by Cossery. As noted above, all three of the protagonists have chosen their status, and none of them have families to support, adding to their freedom. They are all men, of course, and the murder of the young girl--her very humanity and the tragedy of her death--is for the most part shrugged off by all concerned. She is disposable, not just by the characters but, if Waters' introduction is accurate, by Cossery himself. Especially this last factor made Proud Beggars less enjoyable for me overall. Or perhaps through this factor, Cossery has in fact added a level of unfortunate and unintentional realism to his story.… (mais)