Taxi by Khaled Al Khamissi

Taxi by Khaled Al Khamissi (2008)


Read: November-December 2008



Taxi is a really great read. It was actually my husband that spotted a poster for the English Edition in the bookshop, and it proves that you can judge a book by its cover. For us, the cover is a classic image summarizing life in Cairo; the Black and White Taxi. Inside, the book tells 53 different stories of taxi journeys where the conversationshad with the drivers give an insight into the most common job in this bustling city.



I could make up some numbers about how many Taxi's there are in Cairo compared to the number of people living here, but suffice to say there are a lot. So many, that when you stand on a street corner you will normally have at least half a dozen trying to either mow you down to pick you up as a fare, or beep you into submission with their horns. Through each individual story, Al Khamissi tells of the woes and wonders that these people come across every day. When I saw that one of my students was reading the original arabic novel I asked him whether he thought the stories were true and accurate, he replied that he thought they were, but that I should really read the book in arabic to get the true feel for the language and culture of this city of taxis.