Book Review: The Yacoubian Building

In his review of Al Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building Hari notes that it reminds him of of Robert Altman’s movies  with the ensemble cast. He also pays attention to Al Aswany’s writing style which is helpful for budding fiction writers.

Through this cast of characters and an ever-shifting third person omniscient narrative, Alaa Aswany manages to convey the political and social changes Egypt has witnessed in the last fifty years: the move from monarchy to an authoritarian regime; the pull towards socialism and radical Islam; the struggle to eke a living amid all the corruption that pervades society. Aswany does this not through a narration of facts, but instead through the actions, thoughts and the conflicts of the people in the novel.