I’ve been reading a lot lately, more so than usual. My reading goes through topical spurts where I read nothing but a particular genre or author. In line with that, I’ve had this long-standing goal to read as much existentialist literature as possible. I’m not clear as to the deep-seated reasons why I have this goal. I do know that I enjoy these authors immensely and relate to many of the philosophical concepts addressed in their works. The entire works of Kafka and Camus are behind me and a significant dent has been made in Hesse and Sartre. That’s why I was so pleased to come across the work of Naguib Mahfouz in Harvard Bookstore last summer. Mahfouz was an Egyptian author who published over 40 novels and other works from 1932-2005. His Wikipedia entry is here. Two excellent novels by Mahfouz are “The Thief and the Dogs” and “Autumn Quail.” Much of his writing deals with politics, particularly the Egyptian monarchy and revolution. These two works (both written in the early 1960s) are classics of existentialist literature, both with the changing Egyptian political situation as a major plot element. Although Mahfouz was a devout Muslim, he was not afraid to critique Islam or address atheistic subject matter. In 1994, 5 years and 1 day after he won the Nobel Prize for literature he was attacked and stabbed in the neck by two extremists, but survived. “The Thief and the Dogs” is the story of a Marxist named Said, who is released from prison and seeks revenge when betrayed by his wife and best friend. Said works through the conflicts he has with the changes in Egyptian politics that occurred while he was incarcerated and his all-encompassing desire to kill the mother of his daughter for her betrayal. This novel is both beautiful and ugly, and fascinating yet disturbing. Other works by Mahfouz that have existentialist themes are “The Beggar” and “Miramar”An excerpt from The Thief and the Dogs can be found here.
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