Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany

Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany
First publish in Arabic in 2007, English Translation published in 2007
Read: December 2008


Where The Jacoubian Building followed the lives of a group of Egyptians living in a building in Downtown Cairo, Chicago follows the lives of a group of Egyptians who have left Egypt to live and study in Chicago. The story is set in the present, and centres around the University in Chicago where there is a clustering of Egyptians who are academics and students over on scholarships.


The characters in Chicago are all at different stages of their life outside of Egypt. There are those who are settled in Chicago, having lived there for a number of years, whether as a student or an academic, then there is Tariq who has only been studying for a few years who is joined by Shaymaa when she moves there at the very start of the book.

They all have different feelings about their home country and some advocate a black-and-white approach to why they are studying and working at a university in America, rather than at home. I can sympathise with both points of view; the first group feel that they are studying in America to gain the best international experience and knowledge they can, so that Egypt will benefit on their return, the other group see this as an opportunity to escape and develop themselves, and do no see themselves returning to Egypt to develop their country. The motif of social mobility runs through the book especially in Danana, who leads the Union representing Egyptians in Chicago. His desire to create and maintain a political and social structure in Chicago that echos that of Egypt itself makes him stand out but also makes others follow him.

I was quite surprised by some of the things Alaa Al Aswany's characters got away with saying in this book. One of the characters openly and articulately criticises the Egyptian government, which whilst this is a work of fiction, the words really cut through the page. I think that the international popularity of The Jacoubian Building, and hence the international community and Arabic community eagerly awaiting this novel, paved the way for Alaa Al Aswany to make such statements that other authors would not be able to make. I actually found it a really interesting read; to see a range of current political opinions being expressed whilst change is taking place in and around Egypt.

As well as politics, the book explores issues of love, sex and family for these estranged Egyptians. Alaa Al Aswany was able to capture beautifully not only the feelings of first love, but also those of a lost love and a love where the fire has long since died out. The female characters are strong, and battling the internal and external pressures they feel as their multiple identities of being Egyptians, Muslims and Americans, collide. Alaa Al Aswany does not limit his story to Egyptian characters, as Carol, an African-American also tries to do what is right for her and her family.

I am increasingly seeing a pattern in Modern Arabic Literature where authors favour writing about a number of characters who lives are somehow, although not obviously at first, connected, rather than writing a single narrative. Part of me wonders if this is just "modern" way of writing that I am not used to - having not read much fiction in recent years in the UK. Having said that I found the multiple narrative easier to follow in Chicago than I have done in other novels, such as Birds of Amber.


Chicago is a really engaging book and, as an expat living in Egypt, provides a window into the experiences of those who've made the opposite journey to me. The range of story lines, from the settled, to the new, the political to the apolitical, the loved to the lost, means that something about every character will draw you in. Each story has a climax, where characters strength of beliefs are tested. I personally found Tariq and Shaymaa's story most moving, but was most engaged in that which drew the characters together throughout the novel, that of the impending visit of Egypt's President. Instead of an insight into Egyptian, or Arabic life, this shows the struggles of living in another's world.