Birds of Amber by Ibrahim Abdel Meguid

Birds of Amber by Ibrahim Abdel Meguid,
First published in Arabic in 2000, English translation published 2005
Read: January-February 2009

Birds of Amber is Meguid's third novel and the second that I have read. In a similar style to No One Sleeps in Alexandria, Birds of Amber is set in modern day Alexandria at a time of historical significance. Instead of the Second World War, this time the setting is the Suez War of 1956. Again the railroad workers and poor neighbourhoods feature, but rather than the railroad linking the characters, the Mahmudiya Canal does. Even more so in this novel though, Meguid shows the diversity of life and characters in Alexandria; the story follows half a dozen of them over the year and their New Year's Eve.

What ties the characters in Birds of Amber is that their stories take place at the same time in and in the same location, with the stories converging on the teeming life of the projects by the Canal. But very few of the stories actually cross over, meaning there isn't a single narrative throughout the book. I feel that the common theme that links the main characters is that of a search for self-expression.

Nawal is a young woman who dreams of becoming a singer, and all that do hear her voice are in love with it. Although I wasn't familiar with the songs that she sang, the lyrics in the texts showed their beauty. In her journey to achieve her dreams of becoming a singer though, she becomes tangled in a web of a potential Communist uprising in Alexandria - the desire of another character to achieve their self-expression in a policed state and closed political system.

In one way the sweetest manifestation of this was in the character, Eid. This young boy didn't seem to ask anything of anyone, but simply wanted to look at women - any/all women. In one way this is a simple pleasure, but the sexual undertone soon becomes an overtone in his story. Maybe it is because I never used to read much fiction in the UK that the regular appearance of sexual references surprises me in more Arabic literature. This definitely surprised me in the first translated novel I read; The Jacoubian Building, and then Alaa Al Aswany's follow-up, Chicago. I do accept though that in those two novels, as well as this one, the sexual attraction between characters and their relationships was an important part of the story - so it is probably me that needs to adapt to the reality of modern literature!!

Again a strong theme that comes through with all the characters is that of the importance of family and community. The strength and bravery of Nawal's parents when she is caught up with accusations of Communism is unrelenting and the most uplifting part of the book. Similarly when the men of the project unite when their goats for sacrifice are stolen and they must try to find and return them. Even once the culprit is found, the blood of the Canal runs thicker than the water of the Nile along which their journey has been.

Although I enjoyed reading Birds of Amber, I preferred No One Sleeps in Alexandria for a few reasons. I found it difficult at times to follow the half dozen characters in the book as the narrative jumped around yet was always in the first person. I also felt that the historical significance of the Suez War was only a bit part, compared to the Second World War in his second novel, and I had been looking forward to finding out more about the Suez War from the man on the street in Alexandria. I did find the book an interesting read though, and it definitely reinforced my understanding and imagination of Alexandria as a cosmopolitan city, which constantly seems to be a melting pot for Arabic and European peoples and their ideals.