Thursday, May 26, 2011

Books: CHICAGO by Alaa Al Aswany


Title: Chicago
Author: Alaa Al Aswany
Published: 2008
Genre: Fiction

In the aftermath of the recent uprisings in the Arab world, this was an informative read. One of the members of my Book Club made a comment recently about Egypt that I found to be accurate- especially regarding the World's perception of the Arab states that have just experienced the 'Arab Spring'. 
"I feel like we have been lied to." She was referring to Egypt and I could not have agreed more. No, I do not  live under a rock and yes,  I was aware of the fragility of Egypt's democracy before the uprisings, but in relation to seemingly more despotic states, Egypt was at the periphery of wider political discussion. Or so I thought until the uprisings and subsequent resignation of Hosni Mubarak in February.

Chicago tells of a group of people living in Chicago post-911. It is a series of interrelated stories of both Egyptian émigrés and American citizens. Their interactions are woven around politics, race relations and sexual politics in a plot that reads like a potentially explosive political drama - but one that does not culminate in the ending I was anticipating.

The book deals with the characters' respective crises of identity - being foreign and straddling two worlds; of embracing all that is fully American and western as well as that which still feels familiar and therefore 'right'. It touches on issues of identity and culture of people going about their everyday lives - from Carol, an African-American woman dating a white Histology professor and dealing with unemployment and racism; to the spousal abuse and disintegrating marriages experienced by Marwa and Chris respectively; to Dr Salah's guilt in having abandoned the country of his birth; a country that did not want him - all interspersed with the regret he feels for the life he left behind. 
The grief that torments Rafat, the All-American Egyptian who loses his daughter to drugs and to what he deems as corrupt western values - the same values he had whole-heartedly embraced; Nagi's romantic political notions for a democratic Egypt and his revolutionary sentiments , to the blind political ambition of Danana who is a caricature of a politically ambitious and sycophantic bully with ambitions beyond that of his lowly Egyptian Student coordinator role. 

It took me a while to get through the book - I was a bit overwhelmed by the plethora of characters introduced in the first part,  but it has made me curious about his other book - The Yacoubian Building, which by a number of accounts, has had better reviews.

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