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الحرافيش

Naguib Mahfouz,

نجيب محفوظ

4.37 · Rating details · 13,918 ratings · 1,829 reviews

ﻳﺼﻒ ﻟﻨﺎ ﻧﺠﻴﺐ ﻣﺤﻔﻮﻅ ﺳﻌﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﺍﻟﺒﺸﺮﻳﺔ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺋﻢ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻼﺹ ﻭﺗﻤﺮﺩﻫﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻧﻔﺴﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﺍﺭﺗﻀﺖ ﺑﺎﻟﻮﺍﻗﻊ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﻳﺮ، ﻓﺘﺤﺜﻬﺎ ﺩﺍﺋﻤﺎ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻼﺹ، ﻭﺍﻟﺨﺮﻭﺝ ﻣﻦ ﻧﻔﻖ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﺍﻟﻤﻈﻠﻢ، ﻭﻟﻜﻨﻬﺎ ﺗﺼﻄﺪﻡ ﺩﺍﺋﻤﺎ ﺑﺤﺐ ﺍﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ ﻭﺍﻏﻮﺍﺋﺎﺗﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﻼﻣﺤﺪﻭﺩﺓ ﻭﻫﻨﺎ ﻳﻜﻮﻥ ﻣﻔﺘﺮﻕ ﺍﻟﻄﺮﻕ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﺗﺨﺘﺎﺭ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﺍﻣﺎ ﺍﻟﺴﻴﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺧﻄﻰ ﺍﻟﺼﺎﻟﺤﻴﻦ ﺍﻷﻭﺍﺋﻞ ﺃﻭ ﺍﻟﺤﻴﺎﺩ ﻋﻦ ﻃﺮﻳﻘﻬﻢ ﻭﺍﻳﺜﺎﺭ ﺷﻬﻮﺍﺗﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺧﻠﻴﺔ، ﻛﻤﺎ ﻳﺼﻒ ﻟﻨﺎ ﺍﻟﺨﻨﻮﻉ ﻭﺍﻟﺬﻝ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﻳﺼﻴﺐ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﻣﻦ ﺟﺮﺍﺀ ﻳ ...more

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Paperback, 599 pages

Published 2006 by دار الشروق (first published 1977)

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Jan 24, 2013 Huda Aweys rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: watched-its-movie, politics, historical-fiction, literature, cultural

My review in English first then in Arabic-مراجعتي بالإنجليزية تليها مراجعة بالعربية
One of the most beautiful novels that Mahfouz (God's mercy) wrote ..
physical and psychological conflict between good and evil, virtue and vice ... right and wrong, embodied in literary epic interesting and profound, Take us to Egypt in the early twentieth century .. to its streets and palaces ..
Make us live in the midst of its people..traders, dervishes and Mandarins
من أجمل ما كتب محفوظ رحمه الله .. ، الصراع الم ...more

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Nov 11, 2018 Daren rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: egypt, 4-star, fiction, africa-north, egyptian-author

I was looking forward to this novel, having enjoyed immensely the Cairo Trilogy, the masterpiece by the same author. I looked forward to the sweeping narrative, the complex twists & turns of the generations of the al-Nagi family. However the depth with which Mahfouz wrote the Cairo Trilogy isn't present here. This is a much more superficial overview - it moves very quickly. Perhaps not less successful, but a very different model.

This book is separated into ten chapters or ten 'epics' as they are I was looking forward to this novel, having enjoyed immensely the Cairo Trilogy, the masterpiece by the same author. I looked forward to the sweeping narrative, the complex twists & turns of the generations of the al-Nagi family. However the depth with which Mahfouz wrote the Cairo Trilogy isn't present here. This is a much more superficial overview - it moves very quickly. Perhaps not less successful, but a very different model.

This book is separated into ten chapters or ten 'epics' as they are described. The first tells of the life of Ashur, the originator of the family line. Found on the street, raised in a poor family, he grows from humble origins to become a great leader.

In each successive 'epic' we move down the generations - sometimes one, but more often two or three. Each 'epic' chronicles a new principal character. None are the same, many share character strengths, more share flaws, because this is not an uplifting, happy novel!

To explain a few aspects a little more for background - events all take place one alley - presumably in Cairo. For the people of the alley - the common people (known as harafish*) and the well-to-do notables, the alley is their place, and the alley is led by a chief. Before Ashur, the chiefs were generally rogues who taxed the harafish, and were paid off by the notables. The chief quickly becomes overly greedy and is is soon conspired against by one of his henchmen, who looks to replace him with brute force.

*There is a translators note in the book which says "The historical meaning of harafish is the rabble or the riffraff. In the novel it means the common people in a positive sense, those in menial jobs, casual workers, and the unemployed and homeless."

As I alluded to above, this book rolls out through generations very quickly, often moving 20 years in a sentence. The Arabic names take a little bit of concentration for those unfamiliar with them, and there are some other family lines which also track from epic to epic. For me, while it was an interesting, fast paced novel, I missed the complex interactions and depth of story which were just not possible with the setup here. At times the characters seemed in a downwards spiral of morals and made futile attempts at honesty, but this story showed corruption and personal greed are far more common that any ability to act honestly for the greater good of a community. Should be obvious - modern politics show that.

3.5 stars, rounded up. ...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Sue rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: egypt, fiction, library-book, read-in-2012, 52-weeks-countries-books

Enjoyed this depiction of life in the "alley" over 10 generations of a family in Egypt, as various men, and occasional women, in a family struggle to become chief, or powers, of the alley or decide to (or are forced) live a "lower" life among the harafish, the common people. The tale is similar in some ways to the author's Children of the Alley, being set in the same streets, and showing the rise and fall of men over years. But here, the writing is more lyrical, the ebb and flow of the family is ...more

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Dec 17, 2011 Ensiform rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, arabic

Translated by Catherine Cobham. The sprawling saga of a Cairo family, the al-Nagis, starting with the first and greatest, who rose from a foundling into a benevolent clan chief who fought for the people (the harafish), and continuing for a dozen generations. After the first, however, the Nagis sink gradually into vice, oppression and madness; lust for power makes them rue the old days, while it precludes them from reconstructing them.

This is a confusing but rich novel. The number of minor charac ...more

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Nov 29, 2008 Ngiannotti rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is more lyrical than the Cairo trilogy, so in that respect it sticks in my mind. But, then again the historical events weren't the mainstage. The language of this novel was extremely eloquent though and really I wished the trilogy was written like this. Although it might just be the translator. . .immerse yourself in this tale. . .eloquent, educational, amen. a Mahfouz fan for life because of this book

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Jun 28, 2010 Sara rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 100-novels

This isn't actually one story, but rather a collection of 10 tales. I didn't like it because it was almost all exposition, description and getting from A to B. As soon as I was interested in a character and his or her story, it was quickly wrapped up to make way for the next tale, usually about the previous tale's character's child. It felt a lot like the book of Genesis: "A begat B, who married C and D and begat E, F and G..." I also didn't like that there was no sense of the passage of time or ...more

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Jul 30, 2008 Mariam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Naguib Mahfouz is one of my favorite authors, and this is among my favorite books of all time.

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Aug 13, 2011 Tyler rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fans of Mahfouz; Fans of 20th Century Lit

Shelves: literature

The Harafish, which translates as “the common people,” traces an Egyptian family’s progress over ten generations in ten chapters. The point is to find out whether good character traits in a family can be handed down, or if they can even recur to the same effect, in later generations. This is a good idea for a book.

The number of characters in this epic means that readers gain in-depth knowledge of only a few. This is not a novel for people looking for character development. The plot has no time, The Harafish, which translates as “the common people,” traces an Egyptian family’s progress over ten generations in ten chapters. The point is to find out whether good character traits in a family can be handed down, or if they can even recur to the same effect, in later generations. This is a good idea for a book.

The number of characters in this epic means that readers gain in-depth knowledge of only a few. This is not a novel for people looking for character development. The plot has no time, either. About two centuries elapse, but the reader cannot place them as particular epochs in actual history.

This narrative, then, is very much one of action and dialog, and the effect is to frame almost every relevant personality trait that might crop up in the context of a single family -- some people get rich, others are highly moral, some kill, some rape, at least one commits suicide, and, most important, many family members are conflicted or confused about what it takes to do the right thing.

Other reviewers have called this a “lyrical” story, and in a way it is. The author uses repetition effectively, for example. But whatever lyrical quality the Arabic version has is inevitably lost in translation, and most of the the book reads like a straightforward storytelling. The translation is as good as can be expected, so even with the loss of lyricism in the English the book is still noticeably superior to most of what’s written in this language anyway. That’s a comment upon either the superiority of Arabic literature or the inferiority of English literature -- take your pick.

For non-Egyptians this book sheds light on Egyptian social values, as do all of Mahfouz’s books. Apropos of current events, thugs are a leitmotif of the book, and in fact the Arab Spring has brought to the world’s attention the role thugs play in political repression. Certain other interesting and disturbing aspects of Egyptian social values also stand out to readers unfamiliar with Egypt.

I give the book three stars and a good recommendation. My favorite Mahfouz novels are the ones written in the 1940’s, and this book comes from a later period in which the author experiments with structural elements of the novel. I breezed through it, but it didn’t grab me the way Midaq Alley and The Beginning and the End did. Nevertheless, it is a Mahfouz, a thoughtful novel that entertains provocative ideas and leads to a quite surprising conclusion. People who have never read this author would enjoy the book, but it is better appreciated by people who have already read his earlier works. ...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Beth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nobel, around-the-world-group

In the passionate dark of dawn, on the path between death and life, within view of the watchful stars and within earshot of the beautiful, obscure anthems, a voice told of the trials and joys promised to our alley. In The Harafish, Nobelist Naguib Mahfouz spins out an epic tale of many generations of a single family living in an Egyptian city. The tale begins with an abandoned infant, taken in by a local man and raised as his own. The family is poor, but the child is raised with love and taught ...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Bettie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: afr-egypt, epic-proportions, fraudio, translation, tbr-busting-2013, families, spring-2013, nobel-laureate, published-1977

Rosado mp3

Read By: Fred Major
Copyright: 1993
Audiobook Copyright: 2008
Total Duration: 13:13:17

(view spoiler) ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Egyptians Good Re...: * مناقشة ملحمة الحرافيش - فبراير 2015	6	292	Mar 11, 2015 11:36AM
Middle East/North...: Egypt: Harafish by Mahfouz	39	94	Feb 11, 2015 05:46AM
نادي فكر للقراءة: مناقشة رواية : الحرافيش	15	262	Jul 16, 2013 02:14AM
الملحمة والثورة	1	51	May 30, 2013 01:38AM
حلقة قراء محفوظ N...: الحرافيش - سبتمبر 2011	31	143	Sep 27, 2011 04:22AM

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About Naguib Mahfouz

Naguib Mahfouz

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Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic author profile: نجيب محفوظ) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films. ...more