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A review by lauren_endnotes
The Search by Naguib Mahfouz
3.0
• THE SEARCH by Naguib Mahfouz, translated from the Arabic by Mohamed Islam, 1962.
A deathbed confession, a desperate search, and a web of deception...makings for a good little noir.
1960s Cairo, most of this novella takes place within the walls of a small hotel.
Lusty and lurid, the protagonist is not likable, but he isn't meant to be. The women of this novel are either vampy femme fatales, or long-suffering saints - more broad stroke caricatures in the noir genre.
Not a lot of nuance but that could be related to the novella length too.
One of the Mahfouz's lesser works. PALACE WALK and ADRIFT ON THE NILE, the other 2 Mahfouz works I've enjoyed, both rank above this one, but this still captured attention and interest.
3.5 ⭐
A deathbed confession, a desperate search, and a web of deception...makings for a good little noir.
1960s Cairo, most of this novella takes place within the walls of a small hotel.
Lusty and lurid, the protagonist is not likable, but he isn't meant to be. The women of this novel are either vampy femme fatales, or long-suffering saints - more broad stroke caricatures in the noir genre.
Not a lot of nuance but that could be related to the novella length too.
One of the Mahfouz's lesser works. PALACE WALK and ADRIFT ON THE NILE, the other 2 Mahfouz works I've enjoyed, both rank above this one, but this still captured attention and interest.
3.5 ⭐