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sincitylibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Great multiple perspective story. No female view presented. #nobel #Egypt #2016
eilidhjrob's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-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
3.5
vasha's review against another edition
5.0
This is above all a social novel, a cross section of how people lived and experienced their relationships to society in Alexandria in the 1960s; and a political novel, since everything in it is very much affected by the rearrangements of power that were taking place, and by questions of who's gaining, who's losing, how will people survive, or even improve their place in the new order. The guests at the Pension Miramar (an old radical and a young radical, an old aristocrat and a young aristocrat, all of whom have been washed away by the July Revolution; and a fifth guest who's apparently floating on top of the tides) reveal their thoughts as the events of a couple of weeks are told from four different perspectives. One thing so many people have in common in this book is a sense of aimlessness and futility, of lost opportunities and no future, and Mahfouz makes a good case for this being a pretty general condition of Alexandrian society then, not peculiar to these characters. They all spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about the young country-bred maid Zohra, not just because she's beautiful, but also because she's dynamic. She, alone, knows what she wants and has the will to reach for it. The other two young men hate Sarhan El-Beheiry because it seems like he has it made in the revolutionary world, like he's headed right for success. Only we readers come to know that he doesn't feel successful at all, that he can't cope with the demands of his life, can't be satisfied with what he has and is too weak to achieve anything. The author's alter-ego, the old journalist Amer Wagdi, provides ruminative perspective on everything; at the beginning, it seemed like he too might sink into bitter brooding, but (besides being helped by religion) he is encouraged by observing Zohra's strong will and how she avoids letting any of the weaker characters drag her down with them. Thus, bad as the situation is, the novel can still end on a hopeful note.
s6ophia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
ejazhusseini's review against another edition
4.0
Mahfouz’s novel triumphs not only at telling an engaging and layered story, but also in bringing the culture and times of Egypt alive on the pages, giving the readers a close-to-heart reading experience.
Full review:
https://hifzehayat.blogspot.com/2021/09/miramar-review-problem-with-beauty-and.html
Full review:
https://hifzehayat.blogspot.com/2021/09/miramar-review-problem-with-beauty-and.html
jereco1962's review against another edition
2.0
I had so many issues with this book that by pg. 135, I gave up. Mahfouz is obviously a talented writer, and I'll have to try something else by him, someday. But this tale of a mama's boy in Cairo is exasperating reading - and disingenuous: the character failed every grade in school more than once, yet the book is written in compound-complex sentences with a prose style that the narrator couldn't have. Compound that with the fact that he's so self-centered and pampered and lazy and... Well, it became too much for me to tolerate. I didn't want the narrator to find happiness: I wanted him to take the gas pipe.
catelam's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
amrabdelbaset's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5