Reviews

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

meggles's review

informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia

disasterchick's review

3.0

It was hard to get attached to characters in this novel because there are so many, and the book is rather short. Al Aswany does a good job of giving you the history of the characters so you understand their backgrounds. I was a bit surprised by the drinking and sex because of the Islamic culture. Highly recommend for book discussions because there is a lot of material to discuss among those that are not shy.

njahira's review

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lessidisa's review against another edition

dark lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Disons qu'en soi c'est bien, les destins des personnages sont intéressants à suivre, par exemple il y en a un qui se radicalise et est torturé par la police d'état et veut se venger, comme dans le reportage d'arte sur les talibans d'Afghanistan en ce moment. Même bitin. Le vieux qui aime toutes les femmes est sympathique aussi étonnant que cela puisse paraître. Mais il est temps d'arrêter cette mascarade de positive attitude et de dire ce qu'il en est vraiment : c'est un livre pour homme une fois de plus. Les destins des femmes sont ... 🤡 Je comprends que la vie soit dure pour la gente féminine dans certains pays mais faudrait voir à pas nous accabler comme ça, les personnages masculins du livre passent du bon temps, pourquoi nous lectrices on doit lire toutes ces atrocités sur les femmes franchement c'est de la discrimination, au moins une pourrait avoir une bonne vie Merde. Je recommande pas de vivre en Égypte dans les années 90 à qui que ce soit. Je voulais bien aller voir les pyramides mais sur reddit c'est écrit qu'ils harcèlent trop dans ce pays c'est pas agréable next. Pays à revoir.
Eh c'était quand même bien j'ai mis quatre 4 étoiles, alors je pense lire tous les romans de cet auteur vu qu'il a pas exagéré, il en a pas trop, du moins traduits en français. J'ai pas de citation marquante au revoir 

paintedverse's review

emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

thirdcoast's review

3.0

Honestly, I don't remember a lot about this book, just that I liked the way it explored all these different people's lives. Also, I was able to get an idea of the shift that took place in Egypt over the decades.

maru_kon's review

informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

fatkidatheartreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

What a set of characters and stories! The author grabbed me by the throat and had me hooked to the very last line. From the hard worker turned gihad enthusiast, to the young girl trying to survive a misogynistic boss, to the homosexual writer, to the religious politician and so many more. These characters were dripping with personality and the author straddled the line between religion and sexuality, faith and promiscuity and traditions and secularism so well. This is provocative and well worth the time. Glad it got translated so more readers (like me) could enjoy it! 

tscott71's review

4.0

Interesting slice of life. I'm interested in seeing how they brought this to the screen since much is internal dialogue and exposition.

jannie_mtl's review

4.0

This was the first novel I've read by Al Aswany but it won't be my last. A very affecting read that covers a number of issues facing modern Egypt including poverty, sexuality, women's issues, fundamentalism, and corruption. The story is fast paced and I was sorry when it was over as I wanted to know what was next for the main characters. I was slightly put off by the unusual transliteration of some words (ex "gihad" for jihad) but this is a minor quibble. Have just ordered the film based on the novel from the library.