Good Example Of “Cairo Modern” By Naguib Mahfouz Book Review

Despite the fact that Cairo Modern was published more than six decades ago, this suspenseful novel still appears to be the matter of great topicality; its entity is absolutely undated, since the author Naguib Mahfouz managed to draw attention to Faustian bargains, which have much in common with modern Egypt. To be precise, the author of this morality work was focused on narrating the highs and lows of Mahgub Abd al-Da’im, a young student from a needy family. Mahgub has three closest friends, and each of them is keen on doing certain things; for instance, Ma’mun Radwan is addicted to reading books, when Ali Taha represents the materialistic imagination. As for Ahmad Badir, he is absolutely engaged in his journalistic activity. It is important that the novel reflects the time of political crusaders as well as religious enthusiasts willing to transform Egyptian social order.
Considering the character of Mahgub, one should take into account the fact that he was targeted on eradicating the deeply-rooted stereotypes among his friends; moreover, he wanted to convince them of the need to liberate oneself from all possible “ belief systems and principles, from social culture as a whole.” Obviously, Mahgub occurs as a sarcastic person against the background of the blackish city in the Middle East. He openly envies one of his closest friends Ali Taha, since this handsome young student has a cute girlfriend Ihsan.
Speaking about Ihsan, it is necessary to make mention that here family is also quite poor. For example, her father wasted all money on such things as drugs. It becomes obvious that the city they live in is full of poverty, and Ihsan’s parents consider their daughter as the only way to overcome the insaneness of Egypt. As a result, the father aimed to find some wealthy suitors for Ihsan.
Meanwhile, Mahgub emerged to descend into much more serious problems; it happened after his father was forced to quit. Subsequently, Mahgub decided to ask Salim al-Ikhshidi for help; and he manages to start working on a journal. After some time, al-Ikhshidi offered Mahgub quite a beneficiary idea; Mahgub had to marry a young girl, whose chastity was lost to Qasim Bey. As a consequence of this marriage, Mahgub was promised to get a position of the secretary; a peculiar thing about this marriage was based on that Qasim would regularly attend Mahgub’s wife and make love with her. Mahgub agrees even though he does not expect that he will be sorry for this marriage. Mahgub’s bargain represents the venality among the highest ranked people in Egypt. Later he figures out that it is about Ihsan who will be his future wife.
Initially, Mahgub and Ihsan attempted to love each other; all in all, regular Bey’s visits made everything impossible, since his poisonous nature makes Mahgub come to terms with the opportunistic construct of Egypt in general and Cairo in particular; nevertheless, he still becomes aware that as he builds his road through the city of sumptuously high standards, the cost of his corrupted deal becomes apparent.
Evidently, Cairo appeared to be a place of numerous social and economic disparities. The city of 1930s represents the period of dramatic changes, including the fists education institutions for females as well as the new group of philosophers from other regions. Cairo Modern is obviously one of the Mahfouz’s greatest works. It portrays a turbulent period when British predominance approaches the final stages. Egyptian nationalists appeared to be ready to disputes on radical changes, which enabled an implementation of a variety of drastic innovations.

Works Cited

Mahfouz, Naguib. Cairo Modern. Translated by William M. Hutchins, (Anchor; Reprint
edition, 2009), 243.