January 12, 2008

Bookworm

i haven't read any books in a while ... so i went to the library yesterday and got some ..
i never know what i'm going to get .. i just go in there and start browsing ..
anyway .. i ended up getting three novels by najib mahfouz .. i have heard so much about him but i never read any of his work before ..
i should say that the novels are translated in english .. i know i know .. shame on me for not reading them in arabic ..
anyway i finished one last night .. it's called respected sir .. about a civil servant from a poor background who dedicates his life to becoming the director general .. it is his only goal in life .. it becomes something of a religious quest .. nothing special but not bad ..
i think i'll read the beggar next ..

2 comments:

Dreamer said...

Mahfooz's charm lies in the use of the arabic language. His stories are not very complicated and his plots are somewhat simple. So if you're reading him in english i don't suppose you'll get the right idea about him nor will you be in a position to judge why on earth he deserved a Noble prize.

I find him boring and chauvinistic and I hated "al sha7ad" with a passion :S

Jundi said...

ya i guess it is better to read it in arabic .. since that is the original language it was written in .. but whatever :/

as for the sha7ad .. so far i am hating it too :S