Khufu's Wisdom by Naguib Mahfouz
Read: May 2010
Rather than a novel this feels more like an extended moral. The story does start with a foreshadowing that then plague Khufu's reign. The reader knows the secret and wonders how long the pretence will last and will it ever be found out. The story is really one of nature vs. nurture; what does "parent" mean, and I think that this tale shows that for the individual biological is only a small aspect of who you are compared to how you are raised. For Khufu though biological and foreshadowing is everything and he cannot see beyond this.
This was one of Mahfouz's earliest novels. I understand that he wrote tales about ancient Egypt, to gain a steady footing as a writer, before moving into the more contentious modern world.
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