The Thief and the Dog by Maguib Mahfouz

Egyptian fiction

Original title – اللص والكلاب; al-liṣ wal-kilāb

Translators – Trevor Le Gassick and M. M. Badawi (Revised by John Rodenbeck)

Source – Personal copy

I went from a nearly Nobel winner to the only Egyptian writer to win the Nobel prize, Naguib Mahfouz. I have reviewed three books from him over thwe year s and I am on the quest to read all his books over time I do have gthe Cairo trilogy in a nice hardback edition to read but have that as the last book I will read from him so every time he crops up on the club year I read him this one was the book he brought out in 1961. AS ever, it captures an Egypt and Cairo that is changing just after. A revolution has happened, and we are seeing this new world through the eyes of Said, a thief who has just come out of prison to see the world he knew has changed. He now wants to win his wife back and get the people who put him in Jail

Ilish went to fetch the girl. At the sound of returning footsteps Said’s heart began to beat almost pain-fully, and as he stared at the door, he bit the inside of his lips, anticipation and tenderness stifling all his rage.

After what seemed a thousand years, the girl ap-peared. She looked surprised. She was wearing a smart white frock and white open slippers that showed henna-dyed toes. She gazed at him, her face dark, her black hair flowing over her forehead, while his soul devoured her. Bewildered, she looked around at all the other faces, then particularly at his, which was staring so intently. He was unable to take his eyes off her. As she felt herself being pushed toward him, she planted her feet on the carpet and leaned backward away from him. And suddenly he felt crushed by a sense of total loss.

The man that sold him out and is now with his wife!

The book follows what happens after Said is released from prison. The book is in a stream-of-consciousness style as we follow what happens to him when his estranged wife, Nabawiyya, ends up with the man who put him in jail, his former friend Llish. Add to this that his friend and former mentor, Rauf, is now a journalist and has moved on with his life as well. It sees what happens when a man like Said, a thief, but he also wanted to be part of the revolution, has missed all this, even his own daughter, Sana, is scared of him now. The only people who will help him are a prostitute and a shady cafe owner. This is a man who, in his head, was like a Robin Hood-like figure of the revolution, but now nothing is going his way.  Will he have his revenge? As ever, the book has Cairo as a backdrop. The cafe owner reminds me of the book Coffeehouse, but, like the character in that book, it shows how a city and a world that is constantly changing, like Egypt, had been through during the 20th century, can catch some people out and make others successful, no matter how shady their past was.

He walked on until he reached the Zahra offices in Maarif Square, an enormous building, where his first thought was that it would be very dithcult to break into. The rows of cars surrounding it were like guards around a prison; the rumble of printing presses behind the grilles of the basement windows was like the low hum of men sleeping in a dormitory. He joined the stream of people entering the building, presented himself at the information desk, and asked in his deep

“public” voice for Mr. Rauf Ilwan. Staring back with some displeasure at the bold, almost impudent look in his eyes, the reception clerk snapped, “Fourth floor.” Said made for the elevator at once, joining people among whom he looked rather out of place in his blue suit and gym shoes, the oddness emphasized by the glaring eyes on either side of his long aquiline nose.

A girl caught his eye, which made him curse his ex-wife and her lover under his breath, promising them destruction.

Even his mentor and friend that pushed him to do what he did has moved on

I love Mahfouz’s writing; he is Cairo, he is the man he writes about. He knew people like Said, Rauf, Llish, and the cafe owner (of course, Mahfouz loved cafes and watching people ). This is told in a stream-of-consciousness style to make you feel like Said, as he is caught up in a world that has moved on without him. Revenge is the heart of the book but also for me a sorrow of a man lost to time there must have been many men like Said dropped in it and then left by the people around him when he needed them most. I feel there must be a character like Said, whom he met one day in a cafe, heard his tale, and whose story this book is the result of.  Mahfouz loved sitting in Cafes watching and talking. I said before that Cario is always in his books, like Dublin is in Joyce, Dickens’ London, or Proust’s France.