An Egyptian on Egypt

The New York Times Magazine ran this article this week profiling Alaa Al Aswany, the author of Egypt's most popular novel, "The Yacoubian Building." The article's got some really interesting observations on modern Egyptian society and is worth a read.

I haven't read any of Al Aswany's books, although his most recent one, "Chicago," was greeted here with quite a bit of anticipation. My Egypt-centered reading has been focused on Naguib Mahfouz, the grand writer of post-colonial Egypt. Incidentally, anyone planning to visit should give "The Cairo Trilogy" a read either just before or just after coming to visit. I read the first book in the US and the other two after arriving here. I have to say, things in the books made a whole lot more sense after I got here.

I was staggered by the 50% illiteracy rate cited in the NYT article, although that would certainly explain the chaos that ensues whenever I try to show a cab driver a map. Well, some of the chaos, anyway.

I've got to give a lot more thought to some of Al Aswany's commentary. I'm constantly intrigued by the notion that critically thinking about one's government and society is considered treason by "patriots." If you surf around a bit, you'll certainly find plenty of examples of this - not just in Egypt or other places you'd "expect" it, but in the US as well.

Will this change with the changing of the guard in January - no matter who wins? Guess we'll just have to wait and see ....