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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 January 2000 Issue No. 464 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 January 2000 Issue No. 464
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Monthly supplement
The barber of Baghdad
Ard Al-Sawad (Land of Darkness), a novel in three volumes, Abdel-Rahman Mounif, Beirut and Casablanca: Al-Mou'assassa Al-Arabiya Lildirasta wal-Nashr (Beirut), Al-Markaz Al-Thaqafi Al-Arabi Lil-Nashr wal-Tawzi (Casablanca) 1999.Fiction and reality
Abdel-Rahman Mounif
Chinese monuments and miracles
Al-Seen: Mo'jizat Nihayat Al-Qarn Al-Ishreen (China: Miracle of the End of the 20th Century ), Ibrahim Nafie, Cairo: Al-Ahram Centre for Translation and Publishing 1999. pp200Deep roots, shallow soil
Landmarks in the History of the Communist Party of the Sudan in the half century 1946 - 1996, Mohamed Said al-Qaddal, Beirut: Dar Al-Farabi, 1999. pp310Cinematic maladies
Al-Cinema Al-Arabiya Al-Mo'assira (Contemporary Arab Cinema),Samir Farid, Cairo: The Supreme Council for Culture publications,1998. pp260Horses in the desert night
Night & Horses & the Desert, An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature, Robert Irwin, London: Allen Lane, the Penguin Press. pp462Heritage in the balance
The Arabic Literary Heritage: the Development of its Genres and Criticism, Roger Allen, Cambridge University Press, 1998. pp437Summer torments
Azhar al-Shams (Flowers of the Sun),Youssef Rakha, Cairo: Sharqiat Publishing House, 1999. pp143Hill of evil counsel Tal Al-Hawa ,Youssef Abu Raya, Cairo: Al-Hilal Novels, 1999. pp146
Century, conceived and edited by Bruce Bernard, London: Phaidon Press, 1999. pp1120 --see caption--
To the editor
At a glance
A shorthand guide to the month compiled by Mahmoud El-Wardani* Al-Faylaq (The Corps), Amin Ezzeddin, Cairo: Fustat Publishing House, 1999. pp174
* Ana Baqqa wa Adel Hammouda (Adel Hammouda and Me), Ahmed Fouad Negm, Cairo: Zeinab Publishing House, 2000. pp108
* Jamal Eddin Al-Afghani, El-Sayed Youssef,Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organisation, 1999. pp255
* Masirat Hayati Hatta 1964 (The Course of My Life to 1964), Mohamed Youssef El-Guindi, Cairo: Organisation for Cultural Palaces, 1999. pp208
* Al-Mohammashoun wa Al-Siyasa fi Misr (The Marginalised and Politics in Egypt), Amani Massoud El-Heddini, Cairo: Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, 1999. pp302
* Al-Kotob: Wughat Nazar (Books: Viewpoints), monthly magazine, issue no. 12, January 2000, Cairo: The Egyptian Company for Arab and International Publication
* Al-Hilal, monthly magazine, January 1999, Cairo: Al-Hilal Publishing House
* Al-Arabi, monthly magazine, issue no. 494, January 2000, Kuwait: Ministry of Information
* Sotour (Lines), monthly magazine, issue no. 39, December 1999, Cairo: Sotour Publications
* Al-Osour Al-Jadida (New Eras), monthly magazine, issue no. 3, 2000, Cairo: Sinai Publishing House
* Adab wa Naqd (Literature and Criticism), monthly literary magazine, issue no. 172, December 1999, Cairo: Progressive Nationalist Unionist Party publications
To see other book supplements go to the ARCHIVES index.
Illustrations courtesy of International Commitee of the Red Cross
"Folk drawings and tales", Cairo, 1996
Book Addict
Sir- Allow me to share with fellow book addicts some of my forays into the second-hand book market in Cairo.
I have recently come across quite a few worthwhile books in the course of my tour of the Ezbekiya second-hand book stalls. The first is Suez 1956: An Egyptian Perspective, by ancien regime Foreign Minister Mahmoud Fawzi. Published by Shorouk in 1986, this valuable book cost me a mere LE5! The book shows Fawzi at his best, in skillful word duets with France's Clivistian Pineau and Britain's Selwyn Lloyd. Suez is old hat, but I was upset to learn that, after the British and French governments persuaded many foreign pilots to abandon their work with the Suez Canal Company with a lucrative offer, Fawzi says that most British and French newspapers refused to run paid advertisements from the Egyptian government for more pilots. In Britain, only the Manchester Guardian accepted. Although this is a bit late in the day, I would like to say to the then editors of those British papers who refused to carry the ads: "Shame on you, gentlemen. You are a disgrace to the profession. A free press indeed!"
Next comes The World of the Phoenicians, by Sabatino Moscati, published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in their History of Civilisation series. That was LE20. Professor Moscati tells the story of the spread of Phoenician colonies into the Mediterranean and traces the development of their civilisation down to the fall of the greatest of the Phoenician colonies, Carthage, whose struggle with Rome marked the final eclipse of Phoenician power in the Mediterranean. I would like to add that while the Phoenicians were the world's best sailors in ancient times, and were the mainstay of Xerxes' fleet, their on-board marines were markedly inferior to the Egyptian marines as the Battle of Artemisium (490 BC) shows, and in my humble opinion, had the Persian admirals switched their roles and thrown the Egyptian squadron at the Greeks in the later naval Battle of Salamis, the outcome of this decisive battle might have been different.
Next we come to something quite different, Atlantis: The Mystery Revealed, by Gurgen Spanith, published by Arco, London for 21 shillings. I paid LE5 for that. On reading the book I was surprised to find it was an early edition of the revised and enlarged Atlantis of the North by the same author, published in 1979 by the Book Club Association. Spanith bases his work on what Plato, the great philosopher and thinker (429-347 BC), wrote about the legend of Atlantis in two of his dialogues -- Timceus and Cvitias. There is also mention of Solon (the great Greek law-giver), visiting Sais in Egypt whose highly knowledgeable priests told him about Atlantis. My information about Atlantis, gleaned from other sources, is that Atlantis was a technically very advanced island nation which destroyed itself through the improper use of black magic. When the island/s sank, the Atlanteans fled in every direction, and there is one hypothesis which says that they are the ones who built the Pyramids of Egypt! A fun book!
Finally, we come to Egypt's Destiny, by Mohamed Naguib, published by Victor Gollancz (1955), a bargain for LE20. The Naguib versus Nasser issue is a controversial one and has been discussed over and again, so I will not delve into it. What I find interesting is that Naguib does say that some defective Italian hand grenades and the like were delivered to the Egyptian army and these blew up in the soldiers' faces, but he makes it clear that the defeat of the Egyptian army in 1948 was not due to a few defective arms but that the British had created the army to be a mere parade ground army. The other thing that comes over is Naguib's constantly upholding everything Egyptian in the face of British officers and officials, usually with unfortunate results. He comes over as an honest patriot.
PS: Prices quoted were arrived at after fierce haggling!
Mamdouh El-Dakhakhni
Alexandria
