The randomness of fate - Naguib Mahfouz

This is the first novel of Mr. Naguib Mahfouz. When you read this novel, you feel as if you are watching one of the old black and white movies. Perhaps the directing was primitive, the acting naive, and the events predictable, but there is some magic that draws you to continue reading while you know exactly how the ending will be. And so is this captivating novel with its simplicity, sequence of events, and small details. While some classify it as a historical novel, I find it only borrowing the ancient history to form an artistic framework within which the characters hover and the events unfold. Although the timeline of the novel is during the time of the Pharaohs, it mostly depicts the same political struggle that does not differ with the passage of eras, and whose nature does not change regardless of who rules and who is ruled. Author: Naguib Mahfouz Publisher: Diwan Number of pages: 208