Naguib Mahfouz - Nobel Prize in Literature, 1988 (42 books)

NAGUIB MAHFOUZ (1911-2006) was an Egyptian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1988 he became the first writer in Arabic to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. The prize citation praised Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance -- now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous -- has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind."

Mahfouz is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism. A student of philosophy and an avid reader, his works range from reimaginings of ancient myths to subtle commentaries on contemporary Egyptian politics and culture. Mahfouz's stories are almost always set in the heavily populated urban quarters of Cairo, where his characters, mostly ordinary people, try to cope with the modernization of society and the temptations of Western values.

His early novels, such RHADOPIS OF NUBIA (1943), were set in ancient Egypt, but he had turned to describing modern Egyptian society by the time he began his most famous work, the epic CAIRO TRILOGY (1956-57). Its three novels -- PALACE WALK (1956), PALACE OF DESIRE (1957), and SUGAR STREET (1957) -- depict the lives of three generations of different families in Cairo from World War I until after the 1952 military coup that overthrew King Farouk. The trilogy provides a penetrating overview of 20th-century Egyptian thought, attitudes, and social change.

In subsequent works Mahfouz offered critical views of the old Egyptian monarchy, British colonialism, and contemporary Egypt. Several of his more notable novels deal with social issues involving women and political prisoners. The novel CHILDREN OF THE ALLEY (1959) was banned in Egypt for a time because of its controversial treatment of religion and its use of characters based on Muhammad, Moses, and other figures. Islamic militants, partly because of their outrage over the work, later called for his death, and in 1994 Mahfouz was stabbed in the neck.

Other novels include THE BEGGER (1965), ADRIFT ON THE NILE (1966), and MIRAMAR (1967), all of which depict the decadence of Egyptian society during the Gamal Abdel Nasser era; WEDDING SONG (1981), set among several characters associated with a Cairo theatre company; and the structurally experimental MORNING AND EVENING TALK (1987), which strings together in alphabetical order dozens of character sketches. Together, his novels, which were among the first to gain widespread acceptance in the Arabic-speaking world, brought the genre to maturity within Arabic literature.

Mahfouz's achievements as a short-story writer are demonstrated in such collections as THE TIME AND THE PLACE & OTHER STORIES (1991) and THE SEVENTH HEAVEN (2005). ECHOES OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (1996) is a collection of parables and his sayings. ON LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY (2016) brings together Mahfouz's early nonfiction writings (most penned during the 1930s), offering a fascinating window not just into the mind of the author himself but the changing landscape of Egypt during that time, from the development of Islam to the struggles between tradition, modernity, and the influences of the West.


This is an updated version of an earlier torrent and includes many new retail editions. The following books are in PDF and/or ePUB format as indicated:


== FICTION ==

* Adrift on the Nile (Anchor, 1994). Translated by Frances Liardet. -- ePUB

* Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth (Anchor, 2000). Translated by Tagreid Abu-Hassabo. -- ePUB

* Arabian Days and Nights (Anchor, 1995). Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies. -- ePUB

* Autumn Quail (American University in Cairo, 1985). Translated by Roger Allen; revised by John Rodenbeck. -- PDF

* Before the Throne: Dialogues with Egypt's Great from Menes to Anwar Sadat (Anchor, 2009). Translated by Raymond Stock. -- ePUB

* Beggar, The (Doubleday, 1990). Translated by Kristin Walker Henry and Nariman Khales Naili al-Warraki. -- PDF

* Beginning and the End, The (Anchor, 1989). Translated by Ramsea Awad. -- ePUB

* Cairo Modern (Anchor, 2009). Translated by William H. Hutchins. -- ePUB

* Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street (Everymans Library, 2001). Translated by William Maynard Hutchins, Olive E. Kenny, Lorne M. Kenny, and Angele Botros Samaan. -- ePUB

* Children of Gebelaawi (Passeggiata, 1995). Revised Augmented Edition translated by Philip Stewart. Scanned and reproduced here with the kind permission of @pharmakate. -- PDF

* Children of the Alley (Doubleday, 1996). Translated by Peter Theroux. -- PDF + ePUB

* Day the Leader Was Killed, The (American University in Cairo, 1997 / Anchor Books, 2000). Translated by Malak Hashe. -- PDF + ePUB

* Dreams, The (Anchor, 2009). Translated by Raymond Stock. -- ePUB

* Final Hour, The (American University in Cairo, 2010). Translated by Roger Allen. -- PDF

* Fountain and Tomb (Three Continents, 1988). Translated by Soad Sobhy, Essam Fattouh, and James Kenneson. -- PDF

* Harafish, The (Doubleday, 1994 / Anchor, 1995). Translated by Catherine Cobham. -- PDF + ePUB

* Heart of the Night (American University in Cairo, 2013). Translated by Aida A. Bamia. -- ePUB

* In the Time of Love (American University in Cairo, 2010). Translated by Kay Heikkinen. -- PDF

* Journey of Ibn Fattouma, The (Anchor, 1993). Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies. -- ePUB

* Karnak Café (Anchor, 2008). Translated by Roger Allen. -- ePUB

* Khan al-Khalili (Anchor, 2011). Translated by Roger Allen. -- ePUB

* Love in the Rain (American University in Cairo, 2011). Translated by Nancy Roberts. -- PDF

* Midaq Alley (Anchor, 1991). Translated by Trevor La Gassick. -- ePUB

* Mirage, The (Anchor, 2012). Translated by Nancy Roberts. -- ePUB

* Miramar (Three Continents, 1990). Translated by Fatma Moussa-Mahmoud, with original 1978 Introduction by John Fowles, and a New Critical Preface by Trevor Le Gassick. -- PDF

* Morning and Evening Talk (Anchor, 2009). Translated by Christina Phillips. -- ePUB

* Palace of Desire [Cairo Trilogy II] (Doubleday, 1991 / Anchor, 2011). Translated by William Maynard Hutchins, Lorne M. Kenny, and Olive E. Kenny. -- PDF + ePUB

* Palace Walk [Cairo Trilogy I] (Doubleday, 1990 / Anchor, 2011). Translated by William Maynard Hutchins and Olive E. Kenny. -- PDF + ePUB

* Respected Sir (Anchor, 1990). Translated by Dr. Rasheed El-Enany. -- PDF

* Rhadopis of Nubia (Anchor, 2005). Translated by Anthony Calderbank. -- ePUB

* Search, The (American University in Cairo, 1987). Translated by Mohamed Islam; edited by Magdi Wahba. -- PDF

* Seventh Heaven, The: Stories of the Supernatural (Anchor, 2006). Translated by Raymond Stock. -- ePUB

* Sugar Street [Cairo Trilogy III] (Doubleday, 1992 / Anchor, 2011). Translated by William Maynard Hutchins and Angele Botros Samaan. -- PDF + ePUB

* Thebes at War (Anchor, 2005). Translated by Humphrey Davies.

* Three Novels of Ancient Egypt: Khufu's Wisdom / Rhadopis of Nubia / Thebes at War (Everyman's Library, 2007). Translated by Raymond Stock, Anthony Calderbank and Humphrey Davies. -- ePUB

* Time and the Place & Other Stories (Doubleday, 1991 / Anchor, 1992). Selected and translated by Denys Johnson-Davies. -- PDF + ePUB

* Voices from the Other World: Ancient Egyptian Tales (Anchor, 2004). Translated by Raymond Stock. -- ePUB

* Wedding Song (Doubleday, 1989). Translated by Olive E. Kenny; edited and revised by Mursi Saad El Din and John Rodenbeck. -- PDF


== NON-FICTION ==

* Art of Fiction, no. 129 (Paris Review, Summer 1992). Interview by Charlotte El Shabrawy. -- PDF

* Echoes of an Autobiography (Doubleday, 1997). Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies. -- PDF

* Nobel Prize Lecture (Nobel Foundation, 1988). Translated by Mohammed Salmawy. -- PDF

* On Literature and Philosophy: The Non-Fiction Writing of Naguib Mahfouz, Volume I (Gingko Library, 2016). Translated by Aran Byrne. -- ePUB