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Sugar Street, part 3 of The Cairo Trilogy

We'll start with a refresher of the previous installments, Palace Walk and Palace of Desire, as well as with the final book Sugar Street. In the article, is mentioned the sense of the collective, rather than that of the individual, and the alienation and existentialism in the the last two installments.

"The Facts on File Companion to the World Novel: 1900 to the Present" by Michael Sollars and Arbolina Llamas Jennings, pp 120-22

Here's a Radio Netherlands documentary, "audio story", about the entire Trilogy, going book by book. One of the voices is that of the former Middle Eastern expert Fouad Ajami.

Finally, got an opportunity to listen to the actor Omar Sharif, who plays the narrator Kamal in The Cairo Trilogy. Originally, BBC Radio dramatized The Cairo Trilogy, abridging the three books to a total of three hours. Those episodes are apparently no longer available to listeners. The good news is that Audible picked it up under the title "The Cairo Trilogy (dramatised)". I felt that my time spent was worthwhile as the entire performance of narrative, sound effect, and music was enriching to the original novels.

To elucidate further Mahfouz's trilogy, the renown website Complete Review reviewed each book as well as more of Mahfouz. This is the Sugar Street review from there:

In reference to the distinction between "history" and the "past" in book 2, a conversation between Kamal and Riyad in Chapter 41 Sugar Street might be juxtaposed. They are discussing a split in the Wafd party. Riyad says, "Politics has recently handed me a new puzzle similar to the one I've had with religion. I have spurned religion with my intellect and yet from ethnic loyalty have felt sympathetic to it with my heart. In exactly the same way, I will spurn the Wafd with my heart and feel sympathetically inclined toward it with my intellect." Might history be the narrative of the intellect, the rational mind, and the past be the heart's remembrance? The heart seems to dominate the activity of the al-Jawad family, although their exposure to ideas provokes an interplay between the heart and intellect. I'm wondering if there's a similar interplay between history and past.

Suzann wrote: "...The heart seems to dominate the activity of the al-Jawad family, although their exposure to ideas provokes an interplay between the heart and intellect...."

One sees the heart and mind vying for dominance. The rationale mind is associated with selfhood. The latter must assert its will, stepping into adulthood. Yet, it is hard to leave the emotional ties, which might never be altogether forgotten and for which (or because) one is emotionally attached. In the Al-Jawad family, the several children esteem and love their parents despite the father's tyranny. Perhaps, more so when they are older. So, Kamal experiences anguish in his adult decision, wanting to obey his father yet realizing his more honest choice in self-determination. "The rational mind" and "the heart's remembrance" of Kamal are described by the omniscient narrator, as if that narrator were Kamal's intellect tossing heart and mind back and forth like a pair of dice. Kamal experiences childhood attachments, which are differently seen through reason when he is older (Maryam, Fuad, e.g.). The rational mind sees those friendships differently, yet he can still have a reverie about Maryam and can play a game of dominoes with Fuad.

In Chapt 49 Shaykh Ali al-Manufi said, "The teachings and precepts of Islam provide a comprehensive answer to the problems people ocnfront in reference to this world and the next....Islam is a creed, a way of worship, a nation and a nationality, a religion a state, a form of spirituality, a Holy Book, and a sword." A listener adds, " Pagan secularism rules us with its laws, traditions, and people." Unfortunately, western capitalist democracies seem to bulldoze over a culture they fail to understand. Most difficult for western secularists seems to be the lack of separation between church and state. Western intervention assumes government is an entity separate from religion, but this book demonstrates the deeply rooted integration of Islamic religion and the Islamic state. This book bares the cultural divide and provides a window into the humanity of the Islamic family, and a means of bridging our cultural differences.

Suzann wrote: ...Most difficult for western secularists seems to be the lack of separation between church and state..."

Mahfouz's story luxuriates in potentially nettlesome subjects--politics, religion, sex. Those involvements are the source of tragedy, enjoyment, chimera, and cohesion. While The Cairo Trilogy might be dated, as it begins a century ago, the hospitable, human story of a Cairene family and of their city is likable and is culturally enriching. In this time frame, the political situation is preoccupied with the nationalist struggle. Religious observance is a matter of conscience, humor emanating from the contradiction of devout prayers and rituals and of unremitting dissipation (drinking, womanizing, music making). Being in the second installment Palace of Desire, I might change my view by the end of Sugar Street.

I am about to begin! A bit delayed but very shortly and then I will catch up on all your great posts, Asma. (and I can't believe I just happen to be reading our next book for another group).

I'm almost ready for Sugar Street. As for the Obioma book, I've sometimes left my dog at home with the audiobook of it.

Asma Fedosia wrote: "I'm almost ready for Sugar Street. As for the Obioma book, I've sometimes left my dog at home with the audiobook of it."

Not sure your dog will like The Fisherman--the dogs (among others) aren't always treated well. :-)

[Looking forward to The Fisherman nevertheless; the snarling dog might imperil his nerve.]

Though the following review of Sugar Street contains spoilers, its final sentence "...the central debate is about the role of God and Man in society" puts its among the classics of timeless ideas. One example of that debate is the character Kemal, who has the good of humankind in mind and who realizes universal truths of science differ from impermanent legends.

I finally started today and am enjoying listening to Mahfouz' voice again. I think I will have to read more in the future.

Yes, "more" Mahfouz! This story has stayed three-novels-long with me. I wonder how similar are his other novels with a familial setting. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. This novel is really good such that over the next months I want to find out.

Asma Fedosia wrote: "Yes, "more" Mahfouz! This story has stayed three-novels-long with me. I wonder how similar are his other novels with a familial setting. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. This novel is really g..."

Have you finished Sugar Street? I'm early into it as I was finishing other reading. The family is in such a different state now.

I'm about to write a review of Palace of Desire in The Cairo Trilogy. Entry into Sugar Street is planned for tonight or perhaps tomorrow. The plot clues about the latter are not like direct experience with Mahfouz's writing.

Asma Fedosia wrote: "I'm about to write a review of Palace of Desire in The Cairo Trilogy. Entry into Sugar Street is planned for tonight or perhaps tomorrow. The plot clues about the latter are not like direct experie..."

Ah!
I'm reading the trilogy as one book, so I'll review the whole thing at the end. I really do like this.

Carte blanche--how would Mahfouz say that? If I waited until the final page of the whole Trilogy, then I might have forgotten parts of the story. Go for the final review, if you want. I might eventually combine my three separate ones.

Asma Fedosia wrote: "Carte blanche--how would Mahfouz say that? If I waited until the final page of the whole Trilogy, then I might have forgotten parts of the story. Go for the final review, if you want. I might event..."

I'm hoping my various status updates will help me and will not aim for a Mahfouz-ian type review :-)

A lot of detail (all to the good, imho). And the joking between the tavern characters, similar to the joking between the growing al-Jawad siblings. Though, I don't expect to include much humor in my review of the story.

So many personal losses of finances, love, faith, aging here from the consequences of imprudence or of misfortune. With the country's politics, no one's content with its compromises of constitutional liberty. Prior imprudent actions catch up with characters. Assistance from friends or doctors, living more abstemiously, taking pride in the industry of the younger generation reprieves their broken health and finances for a while longer. The old securities fade away, though there is opportunity for social mobility through professional education (Fuad), real estate investment (Jalila), and marriage (Zanuba). Hypocrisy remains handy to smooth potential rifts between characters. Presumably, an onerous, unsympathetic moral code comes later. Is there a nugget of happiness in this story?

There seem to be moments of fleeting happiness for several characters but no lasting or permanent happiness for anyone. Each new generation experiences joy when young only to be disillusioned later. (This almost seems an expression of a universal "truth".)

Sue wrote: "There seem to be moments of fleeting happiness..."

An example of "fleeting happiness" is Zubayda (Zanuba's aunt). Her heart rules her head in a late love affair, the man leaving when her wealth's gone. Compared to Zubayda, her rival Jailila is more astute in practical matters. Another comparison is al-Sayyid Ahmad and his sons Yasin and Kamal. The father doesn't let desires overrule his notions of respectability, thus secretly leading a double life for years while the sons are opposites. Yasin is guided by the immediate satisfaction of subjective desires, doing whatever will fulfill his momentary need (for examples: confronting Maryam with a verbal divorce when attempting a tryst with Zanuba in his home, and selling his store for little to decorate the house for Zanuba). Years later, one of his disillusionments is realizing his youthful impetuousness. Kamal, on the other hand, is a skeptic about everything, being guided by his intellect and secondarily enjoying affiliation with others.

In general, characters must deal with seemingly random turnarounds of fortune and misfortune--Fahmy, his bright future cut short in the crowd of demonstrators; the market crash bringing the Shaddad family and mansion to a close; the rosy visions of happy marriages dimmed.

Besides describing vicissitudes of the human condition, the author Mahfouz is writing about "universal truths". "Fleeting happiness" is one of those principles. Another one he explores is the meaning of life. If it does have meaning (though Kamal thinks it doesn't have any meaning in itself), then what gives it meaning? An answer is the balance of emotion and intellect.

And I would add relationships...which these people are having difficulty with. But isn't that the essence of life? Mahfouz really has written a very full novel.

This is a novel full of changes, as the years go by. Modern technology (radio, automobiles, electric lights) comes to Cairo. The society births a lot of political movements (Wafd independence; nationalism; socialism; religious revival; scientific philosophy).

As The Cairo Trilogy sees Cairo's early twentieth century through the eyes of the al-Jawads, some of those changes happen in that family. Al-Sayyid Ahmad notes that the hierarchical relationship of family life is reversed in his son-in-law Shawkat's home. There the son tells the parents that he is marrying. That topsy-turvy familial relationship is echoed in the social mobility of Fuad, al-Sayyid Ahmad's assistant's son. A law school education, financed through his father's employment in the merchant's store, and now a public prosecutor, the merchant assistant's son, according to Kamal, is conceited. An instance of that is the following: Through Fuad's father and past intent, the al-Jawads look forward to Fuad's visit, surmising a proposal for Na'ima. Fuad surprisingly disappoints expectations, intending to take advantage of his high social position to marry better. Might there be a bias ahead for Fuad? Whereas the university permitted Fuad an education, the biases of a social class system are voiced by Na'ima's uncle Shawkat, "No matter how good a position he has, it would have done me no honor to have a young man like that marry my niece. As far as I'm concerned, a man's family origin is everything." The affluent Shawkats might be lagging behind the times, the era of work-shy, well-to-do Cairenes possibly being past.

I haven't reached as far as the information in your comment, but certainly all the social upheaval is everywhere.

I was struck too by more demonstrations, more shootings. Cairo seems to have been an unstable place for a long time all of which gives a different color to the events of Arab Spring.

Returning to the family situation, there's three generations the earlier ones traditional and the later ones more or less "progressive"! Al-Sayyid Ahmad is ailing and confined to his house. It's a reversal from the beginning of the story. While Amina now goes out to shrines, his knowledge of the outside is mediated. One is the latticework openings onto Palace Walk. I almost thought he would figure out how his children decided upon their hoped-for future mate. But that latticework window did not reveal those secrets. His friends having passed away, his visitors are devoted Amina, Kamal, and the rest of the family. The radio too links him to the outside world.

He remembers leading an easy, active life when he was young and strong; whereas the modern world seems comparatively hard. At the end of chapter 147, he expresses a beautiful vision of faith: "I feel such an amazing peace of mind I imagine that I’m in contact with heaven and that there is an unknown happiness compared to which our life and everything about it will seem insignificant.�� In the same chapter, he had also mused about the earthly/empyrean connection when Yasin's family visits. Forgiveness is called for. Did readers besides myself get the hint about Karima?

When he is conversing with Kamal or is musing in his visitors' presence, his memories turn back to favorite Egyptian entertainers. A favorite singer of his was Abduh al-Hamuli . A later figure of entertainment liked by his children and grandchildren was created by Sayed Darwish and another person. Their humorous "character of Kish Kish Bey, a rich provincial mayor squandering his fortune in Cairo with ill-reputed women" the actor director Naguib el-Rihani brought to film and theatre. . I have a suspicion that some characters' names (besides the historically political references) might be found in the register of Egyptian cultural history.

I haven't been seeking outside references on any of these names. Just letting everyone wash over me.

I just went back and read the section in ch 147 about Karima. I believe I understand the reference you mean but I also wonder if it is truly intended. I didn't see it the first time I read the chapter, however.

Sue wrote: "...I just went back and read the section in ch 147 about Karima..."

The story is filled with instances when internal dialogue serves as an extra speaker. In chapter 147, the ailing al-Sayyid Ahmad alternately speaks and muses. One particular instance with his son Yasin brings stream of consciousness and unreliable memory to the attention:

"I wonder if you remember your mother, Yasin...Here's Zanuba and her daughter, Karima, sitting beside Karima's father....you'll never be able to ask for God's mercy and forgiveness often enough." (text dots printed in book)

The language refers to al-Sayyid's salad days of nocturnal carouses. The passage opens the possibility that the story as told so far might not be reliable. Or, the passage portrays the confusion of his declining years.

Yasin is the son who most resembles his father's sociability and promiscuousness. Both men had a love affair with Karima's mother Zanuba before Yasin married her. Perhaps, al-Sayyid Ahmad imagines himself in place of Yasin when musing "sitting beside Karima's father". He sees himself in Yasin's place.

The odd allusion to a false narrator might end there. When chapter 154 comes along, Khadija's son Abd al-Muni'm (al-Sayyid Ahmad's grandson) declares his intention to his family--an engagement to his cousin Karima. His surprised parents argue with him about the timing and propriety. They foresee scandal in the announcement: Grandfather's recent death, Karima's age, the former profession of her mother Zanuba.

A reader's recollection that Karima's paternity might be in doubt (chapter 147) could introduce another twist to the family's emotional discussion about Abd al-Muni'm's declaration--Karima as his mother's step-sister. That drawn out fiction is possibly intended by Mahfouz. It's an admirable ruse.

I have to admit I really didn't see that very strongly but just the idea of Yasin and his father with the same woman makes the idea of any male in the family marrying Karima at least twinge inducing.

Sue wrote: "...the idea of any male in the family marrying Karima at least twinge inducing. "

The author ends on an abstract, philosophical note, talking through his literary alterego Kamal about striving for "belief". Kamal, who has taken a noncommittal view of truth in his adulthood, recites his nephew Ahmad's belief in life and people. One ought to continually strive to discover your belief, continually honing and testing that mental struggle through experience, that two being fully human--the lonely ego and decisive action. That imbalance Kamal has suffered through the story. Looking for truth, he has been more the observer of pain and love than giving expression to them.

A reader can smile at the audacious, hypocritical lives of the many characters, letting off the steam of passion at times while at other times punctiliously observing ritual, e.g. the patriarch al-Sayyid Ahmad and Ridwan's pasha. Both of those older men know that they can only be themselves when they have virtuous public reputations, which is why al-Sayyid Ahmad mused in his last days what might have been his relationship with Zanuba and Karima. [His musing, wishful thinking, and imagination about "Karima's father" show his evolving consciousness though in experience it's too late.]

I felt a bit sad for Kamal--he seemed to spend his life filled with a sort of confusion about how to spend his life. He really was dancing on the head of that pin. But he also was one of the nicer people in the book too, making a point to try to talk with his nieces and nephews, give heartfelt advice that he never gave to himself. Caught between head and heart forever.

But his brother seems to be no happier by the end of the trilogy, for having chosen such a different path. And now the next generation will be left with questionable futures.

Sue wrote: "...And now the next generation will be left with questionable futures."

The stability in the home of the traditional, bourgeois parents did not permit individual choice of action. In itself, it was a protective and secluded environment. Yet the tyranny of the father differs from the fiat of occupiers, sultans, and kings, the former having unexpressed sensitive feelings for his young children and giving them choice in adulthood; whereas the latter benefits from tyranny.

For me it seemed that the children of the tyrant may have had choice in adulthood but I wonder if their father really was in any way the source of that choice. The daughters were not educated. Kamal was enraptured by a young woman who was unattainable and shadowed his entire life. Yasin really lived much like his father. Perhaps a more loving discipline, combined with good example and in home education from the father himself might have resulted in more productive lives.

But then we see that Egyptian society itself seems to be creating lives of desperation among a generation who were raised differently. No real answers here. Such a mix of family and societal issues.

Sue wrote: "...Such a mix of family and societal issues."

I'm probably overusing this word 'respectability', however, that is the key to al-Sayyid Ahmad the patriarch's lifetime stability in business, family, and entertainments. As long as others hold a respectable view of him, he's free to do whatever he likes. He thinks with a bourgeois sensibility and in a rigidly defined society of gender designated roles, family birth, and inherited wealth. Unlike the father, Yasin the eldest son as well as the other (grand)sons often differ from their (grand)father, adopting freedoms of action or thought unreasonable in the father's generation.

Why the change in the offspring? The conflict of the 1919 revolution intermingles Cairenes in the joint vision of an independence movement; Cairenes need not be passive in the face of history. Successful entrepreneurialism, lucky marriages, modern technology, and scientific doubt challenge the father's and mother's rigid views of propriety.

But a different kind of authoritarian system develops in the children's generations. The father's moral precept of respectibility still holds with regard to the new political situation. The Shawkat grandsons, who don't acknowledge the importance of reputation run afoul of the new system.

A. Fedosia wrote: "Sue wrote: "...Such a mix of family and societal issues."

I'm probably overusing this word 'respectability', however, that is the key to al-Sayyid Ahmad the patriarch's lifetime stability in busin..."

And I keep seeing this new system through the lens of the present---I know that is a fault of my own reading but it does make Mahfouz seem even more prescient.

Sue wrote: "I keep seeing this new system through the lens of the present[...]even more prescient."

I appreciate your perception, Sue. The many human-like characters psychologically differ one from another, their differences creating an interactive story. Mahfouz doesn't sermonize, rather, most like the teacher son Kamal, observes other characters and situations. A personal notion like memories, imagination, and fervor, belief about the truth creates meaning through pondering and experience. I like Palace Walk because belief accommodates human nature. It's a realistic story full of human psychology and of wisdom.

A. Fedosia wrote: "Sue wrote: "I keep seeing this new system through the lens of the present[...]even more prescient."

I appreciate your perception, Sue. The many human-like characters psychologically differ one fr..."

I am truly grateful to have read the entire trilogy at one time. It really does seam to be intended to be read that way, almost as if the 2nd 2 books are like offshoots (see the spider plant with the baby plants coming off on those slender stalks---this image was in a story I read this morning) of Palace Walk. They have difficulty standing free of it unless they are planted firmly in new soil. But Mahfouz never wrote a follow-up to plant them in.

And pups on the pony tail palm.

He still had another half of his writing life to adapt themes from The Cairo Trilogy, if he wanted to do so.

Thanks for that, Asma. I didn't check the dates and thought he wrote this closer to the end of his life. I will now consider the trilogy complete as Mahfouz fully intended.

Absolutely. Here's the chronological list of works.

I forgot he died so recently too.

If there are further comments from readers of this novel(s), this topic remains open.