The Yacoubian Building

Author: Alaa Al Aswany

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $24.99 AUD
  • : 9780007243624
  • : HarperCollins Publishers Limited
  • : Harper Element
  • :
  • : 0.253
  • : June 2006
  • : 197mm X 130mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 24.99
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • : books

Special Fields

  • :
  • :
  • : Alaa Al Aswany
  • :
  • : Paperback
  • : 7-Nov
  • :
  • : English
  • : 892.737
  • : good
  • :
  • : 256
  • : Modern fiction
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
Barcode 9780007243624
9780007243624

Description

An international bestseller, 'The Yacoubian Building' is a mesmerising and controversial novel that is at once an impasssioned celebration and a ruthless dissection of a society dominated by bribery and corruption. The Yacoubian Building -- once grand, but now dilapidated -- stands on one of Cairo's main boulevards. Taha, the doorman's son, has aspirations beyond the slum in the skies, and dreams of one day becoming a policeman. He studies hard, and passes all the exams, but when he is rejected because his family is neither rich nor influential, the bitterness sets in. His girlfriend, Busayna, finds herself unable to earn a living without also providing sexual services for the men who hire her. When Taha seeks solace in a student Islamic organisation, the pressure mounts, and he is drawn to actions with devastating consequences. 'The Yacoubian Building' follows Taha's trajectory from innocence to tragedy. The people whose lives orbit his -- the inhabitants of the building -- are also facing their own difficult choices. From those living in squalid and cramped conditions on the rooftops, to the homosexual editor of Le Caire newspaper and a womanising aristocrat, all of the contradictions in Egyptian society are here. Religious feelings live side by side with promiscuity; bribery and exploitation alternate with moments of joy and elation; modernity clashes with the vision of a more ancient society. Alaa Al Aswany's mesmerising novel caused an unprecedented stir when it was published in Egypt. It is at once an impassioned celebration and a ruthless dissection of a society dominated by bribery and corruption.

Author description

Alaa Al Aswany was born in 1957. He is a dentist by profession, and for many years practiced in the Yacoubian Building which was to form the setting for his bestselling novel. He has written prolifically for Egyptian newspapers on politics, literature and social issues.