Tuesday, June 06, 2006,1:07 PM
The Yacoubian Building
Yacoubian Building
For: Alaa Al Aswany
Yacoubian building was a history by itself has been lived in by the best members of society and witnessed lots of events, thoughts and social theories in such a rich period of Egyptian history.
Alaa Al Aswany's novel The Yacoubian Building follows the lives of several of the building's inhabitants. The main apartments are no longer lived in by the cream of society and the small rooms on the roof that were originally attached to them are now separately owned by poor families.

Taha el Shazli, the son of the doorman, has his heart set on becoming a policeman, but though he does brilliantly at school and meets all the requirements, he is rejected because of his background !!!
Utmost socialism....
Embittered, he becomes involved with an Islamist student movement, and then is picked up by the security forces. Meanwhile his ex lover has to sell herself to make ends meet.

Hatim Rasheed is an intellectual, the editor of a leading newspaper, and a - e7m e7m - homosexual. He installs his young conscript lover Abduh in one of the rooms on the roof for convenience, and for a short while this gives him stability in his love life.

Hagg Azzam has installed his secret second wife Souad in one of the apartments. He buys himself a seat in the People's Assembly – he could get in parliament like many others crooks - and takes advantage of the business openings that brings, but had to pay 25% of the proceeds from his import deals as protection.

Zaki Bey el Dessouki is an aging womaniser who looks back with nostalgia – a real yearning - at the good old days; he shares an apartment with his sister until she throws him out and attempts to have him declared incompetent. Meanwhile, the tailor Malak Khilla and his brother maneuver and conspire to take over first a rooftop room and then an apartment.

These strands are only loosely connected, but they are all dominated by violence. Through them Al Aswany explores the abuses of power and the corruption that permeate Egypt, from the highest levels of government and business down to the employment of the police as paid thugs in domestic disputes. He uncovers hypocrisies of power, religion, and love, but he refrains from judgment, leaving the reader to make their own evaluations.
The Yacoubian Building is not heavy going: the mood is never gloomy and there are occasional flashes of joy, with drama in every scene and shifts between the different strands used to provide tension. Though this is sometimes strained, it holds up well enough, and though the characters represent different classes and backgrounds, they are also individuals. The bestselling Arabic novel of 2002 and 2003 The Yacoubian Building offers outsiders a lop-sided but revealing view of Egyptian society.

Well I liked da novel most but when I watched even the ads of the movie I felt sorry for the lost opportunity it could be an awesome movie if any other actor made it as Adel will just kill the subject to make a few people laugh and many people feel embarrassed of his unveiled erotic hints .
 
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