The Book of Cairo

The Book of Cairo, edited by Raph Cormack

Towards the end of last year, I came across the Invisible Cities Reading Project (you can find out more information about it here), in which every month three countries are chosen as prompts for readers to direct their reading, with the goal of encouraging discussion around translated works. I decided that I wanted to take part, setting myself the very small goal of simply reading one book from one of the prompt countries a month. Unfortunately, I was not able to take part in January, but for February I have read The Book of Cairo, an anthology of Egyptian short stories about the city of Cairo. As with any short fiction anthology, there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, but overall I really enjoyed this anthology and the way that it manages to so easily transport you to the city of Cairo.

There are ten short stories included in this anthology, each exploring differing experiences of characters living in Cairo. The anthology opens with Mohamed Salah al-Azab’s ‘Gridlock’, translated by Adam Talib, which recounts the morning of a number of characters whose paths cross in one specific traffic jam, clearly evoking the noises of a city centre at rush hour. From there, several stories follow individual characters struggling with the direction of their lives: Mohammed Kheir’s ‘Talk’, translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid, follows a disgraced doctor confronting the source of career-ending rumours; Hatem Hafez’s ‘Whine’, translated by Raphael Cohen, introduces the reader to a recently promoted manager struggling to accept the change in relationship with his colleagues that his new position brings; Hend Ja’far’s ‘The Soul at Rest’, translated by Basma Ghalayini, is narrated by an obituary writer as he recounts the worst mistake that he made in his job; Hassan Abdel Mawgoud’s ‘Into the Emptiness’, translated by Thoraya El-Rayyes, follows an eccentric character who is becoming disconnected from reality; and Nahla Karam’s ‘The Other Balcony’, translated by Andrew Leber, follows a young girl whose secret boyfriend moves into the room with a balcony opposite her. For me, these opening six stories were the highlight of the anthology, each bringing to life diverse characters and aspects of Cairo. Although none of them stood out to me in particular, all six as a whole served to do exactly what I as a reader was hoping for from the anthology: allowing me an insight into the day to day life of the city. ‘Gridlock’ was probably my favourite of the whole anthology, as it cleverly weaved together the stories of a number of characters until the moment that they all collide.

After these opening six, I was taken by surprise at the change of pace in Eman Abdelrahim’s ‘Two Sisters’, translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp. I am still not entirely sure that I understand this particular work, even after several times of reading, although I do feel as though there is probably a deeper meaning that I was missing. I also disliked Ahmed Naji’s ‘Siniora’, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette, simply because it included more swearing and sexual scenes than I am comfortable with as a reader. Reading these two stories then made it harder for me to enjoy the final two, although I didn’t have anything against them: Nael Eltoukhy’s Hamada al-Ginn, translated by Raph Cormack, is an interestingly-written account of a policeman working a case; meanwhile Areej Gamal’s ‘An Alternative Guide to Getting Lost’, translated by Yasmine Seale, is a simple snapshot of a moment in the life of someone trying to get a visa. Both of these final two stories are ones that I would probably have enjoyed more had they not followed on from the previous ones I struggled to get past.

Overall, the majority of the stories in this anthology formed an intricate and diverse picture of the experiences and lives of people in Cairo. Since travel is not an option at the moment, it was nice to spend some time in a different city for a while, especially since I was reading this in a particularly cold week in the UK. This was a good introduction to some of the literature of Egypt and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for some of these writers in the future. I would be hesitant to recommend this to someone who isn’t familiar with reading short fiction anthologies as many of these stories are very short, but it is definitely an anthology I would recommend to those who enjoy short fiction and want to read a snapshot of Cairo.