The Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

The Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea (2005, translated 2008)
Read: February 2012

I saw this on a friend's bookshelf and did the 'Oh, can I read that?' Luckily they had already read it and so I didn't feel so bad about jumping in to request a loan. I took it with me when we travelled to the UK at half-term and managed to finish it during the week we were there. It was a quick read, but a good read. One that I am pleased that I did read, especially after hearing it mentioned so often, and luckily it did live up to my expectations.

I knew that the book was about the 'life' of girls in Saudi and although the culture there is a lot more strict than that in Egypt, I could see a lot of what I imagine some of our student's lives are like - the privileged class.

What I think was popular about this book was the style it was written in - this e-newsletter that was being sent weekly to its readers that included the story as it had developed, but also a small commentary from the writer based on the feedback she'd had that week. I personally wasn't to enamoured by this style, and would have been happy to just read the main story itself. The only aspect of this format that was interesting to me was thinking about which of the four girls was the 'author' in this scenario. The book never reveals this and tries to get around it by talking from the pov of all three.

I did enjoy the different stories of the girls and seeing how their lives progressed. They all had their shares of ups and downs and although I sometimes felt they were naive there were genuine moments of unfairness that you could see in their lives, the way they were treated, or the way others reacted.

Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz

Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz (1947, translated 1966)
Read: February 2012

Another classic that I think DaddyP picked up for me months ago and I've only just got round to reading. This was challenging at times, but I got on with it pretty well (helped along by the fact that our flight to the UK didn't have any in-flight entertainment!)and finished it within a few weeks.

It was great to again be reading about areas I knew in Cairo as the story is set off Mueizz / Muski near Midan Hussein. I can just imagine the narrow alleyways that you don't realise are there until you take a gamble and step between two shops, only to find yourself walking in a dark street (because the balconies of the floors above almost meet across the street) with small shops or businesses set back in the buildings, or, in the case of the ahwa's, spilling on to the street.

What this book revealed to me was more about the honours / loyalty / respect that women and families strive for, as well as the role of brothers and fathers in families and maintaining the public image. This was something that would come up again in the next few books that I chose to read; the Girls of Riyadh and then Playing Cards in Cairo.

Maryam's Maze by Mansoura Ez Eldin

Maryam's Maze by Mansoura Ez Eldin (2004, translated 2007)
Read: February 2012

Wow - I'm speeding through books at the moment it feels! This feeling may be helped on by the fact that I'm keeping up to date with the blog and by the fact that this last book was a slim volume!

I picked this book up a few years ago (gosh - that shows how long we've been in Egypt!) when I went to Makan for the second hand book fair.  If I had picked it up post-'Being Abbas El Abd' then I might have been more turned-off by the likening to Poe or Palahniuk in the blurb. Unfortunatly this was another one of those 'modern' arabic novels that actually takes it too far for me - I can't do with the psychological stories where dream and reality can't be distinguished and the characters are all fleeting and may be part of their imagination or real. There was nothing familiar in this book that I could identify with in terms of the content or the setting. It's one I'll be passing on, I'm afraid.

Kayaks down the Nile by John Goddard

Kayaks down the Nile by John Goddard (1979)
Read: February 2012

The front cover on this books shows the rollocking adventure that is in store - white water and elephants suggest that this is a real 'boy's own' adventure.  DaddyP passed this on to us and it has been sitting on the shelf for a while waiting to be read. I wasn't in a rush to read it as I thought it might be a bit dated and not really what I was in to, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It also went quite well to read this account of boating along the Nile just after reading a more recent expedition tale Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff.

This book is very readable and Goddard's style is very accessible even now many years after his adventure. It is presented as his diary and some entries are longer than others, sometimes days are grouped together, or just missed out if they remained in one place for a period of time (to fix the kayaks for example).

What is amazing about the journey itself is the equipment and support that they had / didn't have.  They arrive late to their first major stop and are greeted by concerned citizens who had been expecting them days before. The rips that they sustain to their crafts - and their ability to patch them up - show just how good the technology was and makes you think about how such a journey might be carried out today.

The progress of their journey was really clear and divided into three sections. The changes in wildlife, settlement and the river marked each day as unique. The number of people too along the way who aided their journey was amazing too. The network of missionaries and foreign links along the way meant they had someone to look out for in villages along the way. It was also touching to read of the kindness of strangers as every time they asked they would be offered somewhere to stay and sleep the night and helped with food along the way.

I was surprised to find that their journey, in many ways, got more treacherous the further along it went.  As they paddled in to the more populated areas of the Nile in Egypt they got more and more attention. In the first two parts of the book they human interaction was very positive and showed only friendliness and curiosity (naturally), but there were two incidents described when the kayaks were chased and almost ambushed and left a very sour taste in the mouth when reading.

What I would have liked to see more in the book was hearing the perspective of the other two Nileteers who were taking the expedition with Goddard. He mentions numerous times, more so towards the end of the book, about how the three of them might paddle separately during the day. This might be due to speed, or just stopping off at different villages or spots that take their interest. The group even have different over-night stop-offs at times and I would have been interested to know more about what the rest of the group saw and experienced. I understand why this was not included; this was Goddard's book after all and written in a 'diary' style, but it could have provided a more full account of their journey.

I would have also liked to have seen the map having a few more details added to it, and one or two of the pictures that accompanied the text were out of order (showing the Sphinx before they've reached Abu Simble?). A total breakdown at the end of the book showing the dates and the locations / distances would have been interesting, as would a 'kit' list.  I've seen these in the more recent Long Way round / Down series and they made you realise what goes in to a trip like this.

Jack, Watching Clouds by Jonathan Todd

Jack, Watching Clouds by Jonathan Todd (unpublished)
Read: February 2012

The Cliffs of Cairo by Elsa Marston

The Cliffs of Cairo by Elsa Marston (1981 /1998)
Read: February 2012



I strumbled upon this in Volume 1, the bookstore at the end of our road in Maadi. It is a small paperback and has the shape and feel of a self-published book. It's actually published by Hoopoe books - which is interesting as I'm currently tracking down some other Hoopoe publications for my I Spy Egypt side-project.


The book is about Tabby who is an expat teenager living in Cairo but who enjoys exploring the Old Cairo that the rest of her family aren't too fussed with.  It's very well observed in terms of conveying the life of an expat in Cairo as well as of the people of Cairo in general. I kept having to turn to the front of the book to confirm when it was written because, apart from the prices mentioned, it sounded like the Cairo I know. What I enjoyed about the book also was recognising the places mentioned (where she lived, describing the old antiques shops and the boats on the Corniche as well as the hills of Moqattam) as well as the people she met (the friendly bowab, the surley tourist policeman).

It was only small parts of the book didn't chime true to me, but maybe things have changed since it was written. She mentions taking the public bus and I don't think I've seen a single westerner in Cairo on a public bus, let alone a teenage girl. Other elements were added to give suspense, such as being followed and intimidated by those after her ikon.

The story itself was somewhat lacking. I found that there were realy two stories and the author couldn't seem to decide which to give the lead to. Firstly there was the ikon that Tabby found and then found herself being followed for as the antiques dealer tried to reclaim it. Then there was her fascination with the mosque on top of the Moqattam hills that she visited and wanted to explore again. Whilst the author tried to weave these together I felt that it might have been better to simply focus on one, or the other.

Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney

Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney (2007)
Read: January - February 2012

We picked this book up new (not common for us!) but from a discount bookstore (of course!) I was attracted to it for two reasons; being about travelling in Egypt and also being about rowing. I didn't have high hopes for it though, as we bought it at the same time as the Cleopatra's Needle / Cycling book which I thought was a bit naff. Finding that this book had a 'reader's guide' of questions for your book group to consider didn't really help either!

But I was pleasently surprised and found that I enjoyed this book and read it in about two weeks. While Rosemary was very confident at first about the prospect of being able to find a boat that she could buy, she soon realised that this was a difficult task - and another difficult task to convince people that she could/would row it!  It was a really nice character study to read about her befriending the receptionist at the hotel she was first staying at - and finding out more about her life and the life of a women in Upper Egypt. Rosemary had a clear understanding of what a white woman walking around by herself in Egypt could expect and took all of this with grace. She became fustrated at times, but didn't let attitudes get to her, which was reassuring.

Her realism and positivity paid off when she met Amr who was 'not like the other guys' as he wasn't fazed by a western woman asking him about his boat. He let her try his boat out and asked a reasonable price and by letting her into his home as well, the book contains further insight into life in Upper Egypt.

Rosemary starts her journey with help from Amr and once she has got over the hurdle of getting started, she is abel to finally get on with her journey as she imagined it; being alone on the Nile. This journey wasn't about proving physical fitness, or about going somewhere specific, it was just about having the chance to really see part of Egypt.

The issue that I felt wasn't addressed in the book was whether Rosemary realised that it may have been a slightly selfish act to try and buy a boat from someone. Yes, in the end she did just leave her boat on the bank for someone to find, but for the fisherman who's boat she bought I don't know if she considered that this boat was his livelihood. OK she was giving him a fair amount of money for it, but he would then have the trouble potentially of finding another boat. I see that she wanted to be authentic - rather than just have a boat made for her.

Her night-time incident in her second rowing trip did highlight the fact that anyone on their own could be vulnerable, but as the events evolve it's clear that she has been very lucky.  Without this incident though and you might question whether she was right to be cautious - I think it is always right to be cautious in situations unknown!