Zayni Barakat
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.87 (974 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0670812455 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-11-09 |
| Language | : | Arabic |
DESCRIPTION:
"Brilliant spy thriller" according to James R. Maclean. This is a brilliant book that deserves far more attention than it has received. Gamal al-Ghitani died in October 2015 after decades as a member of a very distinguished cadre of Egyptian novelists (Naguib Mahfouz, Nawal El Saadawi, Khairy Shalaby); his specialty was the historical novel, but like the other Egyptian novels I've had the good fortune to read*, espionage plays a surprisingly important role.The novel is set in the last years of the Mamluk state, an unusual state ruled by slave sol. M. Sable said A Brilliant Historical Fiction. Zayni Barakat is a historical novel set in Mamluk Egypt. Having lived in Egypt (where I read the novel 11 years ago) and studied Egyptian history, I can say that the work more than accomplishes the primary job of historical fiction--it transports the reader to another time and place, making that time and that place come alive.However, Zayni Barakat is, like much of Naguib Mahfouz's later work, a pointed commentary on modern Egyptian politics. In particular, it is the story of police surveill. pertinent to our time Nazir A. Husain This book is a written the context of the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt. However many of the attitudes, methods and ideas presented in the book can be found in today's Middle East. The author has an excellent command on the istory of the region and also on the attitudes feelings and emotions of the period he is desciribing through a narrarative account. The book is fiction but it feels too real to be that
It traces the career of Zayni Barakat ibn Mousa as Cairo's puritanically moral and severe wali or governor, who employs several corps of spies and informers to rule the city. This historical novel, first published in Arabic in 1974, is set in early 17th century Mamluke Cairo. The author has used various narrative devices including diary extracts, police reports, legal decrees, first-person narratives and religious discourses which together with oblique references to the Cairo of Nasser, serve to give the novel the dimensions of a political and historical fable.
He has written 13 novels and 6 collections of short stories. He is currently editor-in-chief of the literary review Akhbar al-adab. Gamal Al-ghitani was born in 1945 and educated in Cairo
It displays its author's originality of conception and execution at every step." - Edward Said, in his Foreword to the book; "Whether read as a colorful evocation of past times or as a bleak political parable, Zayni Barakat succeeds brilliantly." - Robert Irwin, Times Literary Supplement" . "A gripping, unforgettable work of prose fiction