10 - 16 September 1998
Issue No.394
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 10 - 16 September 1998 Issue No.394 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Family matters
My nephew once came to visit me after I received the Nobel, and took some papers, books and photographs from my house. Apparently, he intended to set up a museum of some sort, but he did not do so. These things had no intrinsic value, of course; they merely brought back fond memories. It is not as if he had borrowed money or taken pieces of jewellery.
I recounted the incident to the well-known writer and critic Ragaa El-Naqqash in the context of the conversations we had and which were later serialised and published in the Arabic-language press, then in book form. I believe that I used the term "family theft" when speaking of what my nephew had done. I was joking, of course, and I was horrified to discover that my words were reproduced in these published interviews. Had I revised the proofs, I would have been careful to omit any expressions which could be misconstrued and dismay my friends or members of my family. My nephew later expressed his distress, and assured me through a mutual acquaintance that, if I wished him to do so, he would return everything he had taken. I know, of course, that he is taking good care of my belongings. If I thought any differently, I would have asked for them a long time ago.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy. |