Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as Palace Walk
Review: A continuation of Palace Walk, the story seemed to drag on. I found Kamal's intellectual transformations interesting, but quickly tired of Yasin's escapades and the focus on men and their indiscretions with women. Mahfouz also used analogies sometimes to excess.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Palace Walk
Review: A continuation of Palace Walk, the story seemed to drag on. I found Kamal's intellectual transformations interesting, but quickly tired of Yasin's escapades and the focus on men and their indiscretions with women. Mahfouz also used analogies sometimes to excess.
Rating: 
Summary: tedious
Review: A marvellous sequel to "Palace Walk". It's a book about love, religion, despair, love, life and love once more. Moreover, the Kamal character gives signs of young Mahfouz who passed first half of his life unmarried. The best and most disturbing Mahfouz novel I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Enter through the imagination
Review: As a college teacher trying to help American students to understand why we are not universally popular in the Middle East, I have found that fiction works better than any number of cogent analyses of Shariah or Militant Fundatmentalism. What is required--and this is really no surprise--is an honest effort to enter the minds and hearts of a culture not our own. The novels of Mahfouz are absolutely invaluable, and particularly this centerpiece of the trilogy, in which modernization (i.e., the encroachment of Western values, the reaction against them, the struggle for a Western-style nation state: all these are illuminated on these pages.
Rating:
Summary: tedious
Review: I absolutely LOVED Palace Walk, and couldn't wait to read the second book of the trilogy. But unlike the first, I found myself reading the same page over and over again until I finally gave up. I don't understand it, because people I respect recommended this highly. But I just couldn't get into it..about halfway through, I realized that I had had enough of Al Saed Ahmad's philandering and Yasin's arrogance and Kamal's whining. Nothing seemed to change from the first book, it was just more of the same, so I wondered why did Mahfouz bother? What am I missing here?
Rating: 
Summary: Unique window into Arabic culture and Arabic weltanschauung.
Review: I do consulting in the refining and petrochemical industries and have, as a result, struck up several friendships with Arabs and Arab-Americans working in those facilities. Once I asked several acquaintances if there were are well-regarded Arab writers with good English translations available that could help me as an American better understand the modern Arab experience and worldview. Several recommended The Cairo trilogy (Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street) by Naguib Mahfouz. It covers a time period that would provide an excellent overview into 20th century Arab experience both politically and socially, especially vis-à-vis Arab/Western interaction. It is a family saga and therefore provides a good view of modern Arab family life and the affects modernization has had on it. It's urban setting and action would be more familiar to Americans than a more rural tale. The books are written from a genuinely Arabic sensibility language-wise-a sensibility not overly degraded by translation. And, finally, it would be a "less difficult" introduction to Arabic culture than other possibilities. It should be noted that "less difficult" is not that same as "easy" or "easier". This marks an important distinction, one underscored by these books. Arabic language, society and sensibilities are colored much more by nuances and multiple permutations on a few basic themes than is true in Western society. Naguib Mahfouz is a Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist who adeptly and adroitly captures these nuances and evokes a genuine feel for-if not true understanding of-their intrinsic roots within the Arabic weltanschauung. Clearly, based on the reviews to date for this book, there are many who have difficulty with this dynamic. These are the folks who probably are unable to split hairs and see the distinction between "less difficult" and "easier". If you are that sort of person I have to say quite honestly that you are going to be both frustrated and bored by this book or any of the series. If you are the sort who relishes a challenge, truly wants to try to get a feel for and understand Arabic social and political views and don't mind putting a bit of effort into that undertaking, you will find reading any or all of these books a rewarding experience indeed.
Rating:
Summary: The Saga Continues
Review: In this, the second novel of the Cairo Trilogy (although I hesitate to call it that, since I now see the "trilogy" more as a novel in its entirety, which is what Mahfouz apparently preferred it to be), the movement of the narrative is more toward introspection, as we enter the mind of the youngest member of the family, Kamal. Kamal is a philosophically and romantically minded young man, an idealist who wants to be a teacher in spite of his father's strong opposition and the fact that the profession he seeks to enter gets little respect from his friends and the society in which he lives. His openness to the new ideas (such as evolution) stands in direct opposition to his father's staunch defense of the old ways and the old religious beliefs. While sometimes I found the narrative a bit slow (too much of Kamal's ruminations on the nature of love, for example), I still enjoyed this section of the saga. I got a feel for Mahfouz' world view and a further education on the Middle Eastern mind. Egypt continues in a turmoil which parallels that of the young Kamal. Europe beckons, taking his best friend from him. The Western Influence is a source of pain and curiosity at the same time. More and more the reader comes to see why the Middle East views the West with scepticism and scorn. Kamal's father begins to slide into infirmity, losing physical strength but not inner passion, and the family will soon no doubt have to deal with the problems related to the possible loss of its patriarch. As always, well written, compelling narrative, for the most part. I will continue to complete the trilogy by reading "Sugar Street." This family saga is one I want to complete.
Rating:
Summary: pretty lackluster read
Review: Palace of Desire continues the Cairo Trilogy of Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. Like it's excellent predecessor, Palace Walk, it follows the family saga of the patriarchal merchant al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad and his children in 1920s Egypt. The changes occurring in the family parallel the upheaval in the outside world as a new generation comes to power, challenging al-Sayyid on the one hand and English rule on the other. The particular focus of this installment is Kamal, a nascent writer who is apparently modeled on Mahfouz himself. The book brilliantly evokes the lost world of 20's Cairo and there are some funny set pieces, typically involving sex. But the story is badly under plotted and presents fairly few ideas, two factors which combine to make for a pretty lackluster read. As the story meanders along, we get a richly detailed picture of these peoples lives, but seem to be living them in real time; one longs for something, other than the sort of casual serial adultery which is the staple of the book, to happen. I didn't like it nearly as much as Palace Walk, but it was still worthwhile as a sharply observed portrait of a time and place about which we in the West know fairly little. GRADE: C+
Rating:
Summary: pretty lackluster read
Review: Palace of Desire continues the Cairo Trilogy of Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. Like it's excellent predecessor, Palace Walk, it follows the family saga of the patriarchal merchant al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad and his children in 1920s Egypt. The changes occurring in the family parallel the upheaval in the outside world as a new generation comes to power, challenging al-Sayyid on the one hand and English rule on the other. The particular focus of this installment is Kamal, a nascent writer who is apparently modeled on Mahfouz himself. The book brilliantly evokes the lost world of 20's Cairo and there are some funny set pieces, typically involving sex. But the story is badly under plotted and presents fairly few ideas, two factors which combine to make for a pretty lackluster read. As the story meanders along, we get a richly detailed picture of these peoples lives, but seem to be living them in real time; one longs for something, other than the sort of casual serial adultery which is the staple of the book, to happen. I didn't like it nearly as much as Palace Walk, but it was still worthwhile as a sharply observed portrait of a time and place about which we in the West know fairly little. GRADE: C+
Rating:
Summary: An Egyptian Family, the story continues
Review: The family saga continues in book 2 of the Cairo trilogy, this time with Kamal as a main focus, his earlier childhood devotion to religion has been rejected and he has become a "seeker after truth" searching for meaning in life. It appears Kamal has been modeled after Mahfouz himself, and it is often through Kamal's eyes that we view the other characters in this story. If you enjoyed the "Palace Walk" then "Palace of Desire" is a must read. As the title implies this book is about love & desire, albeit Islamic style. There are some hilarious scenes such as when the father discovers his mistress is cheating on him with his son or when the brothers meet in a brothel. The sisters are not forgotten in this continuing story, you find out how their married lives have gone. For me, this whole trilogy is a really human look into another culture so different than our own here in North America. People are people with similar urges and feelings, and will find ways to express or control desires through whatever outlets happen to be available.
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