Children of the Alley: A Novel Paperback – October 18, 1996

I have come to love Naguib Mahfouz. I wished that I discovered him sooner. Beautiful story telling. The characters and plot develop naturally.

This is one of my favorite books. I first read it in its original language (Arabic) years ago when I was in Grade 8 or 9. Then I read it again in English and I was in love with it again. I'm re-reading it now in Arabic and English at the same time and having a fantastic time.Perhaps many people noticed the similarity of the stories with the bible not knowing that the writer actually based it also on the Qura'n. I find that heartwarming.

The book is a worthwhile experience in another culture's stories and writing styles. However, the tales become repetitive and the plots and outcomes are easily anticipated. I ultimately had to force myself to read to the end of this lengthy book.

Mahfouz rewrote the religious history of mankind in an Egyiptian poor neighbourhood setting. The great greek writer Kazansakis did the same in few of his books specially in his novel "Christ recroosified".Great writers can't find better dramatic themes than the suffering associated with religions which constitute the everlasting struggle between good and evil.Great writers like Mahfouz are philosophers by nature who have overall prespective and still observe all details and penetrate it to the real essence of things.Mahfouz is trying to tell us that inspite of all religions, philosophers, prophets and sages, throughout the long history of mankind, still goodness and virtue can't gain a footing in our lives. The reason is that everything revolves around the human nature which consists of good and evil kneaded together. The human being will accept the call for virtue, love, philanthropy from religion but next day finds himself jeolous, hateful towards his brother and kills him, then mourns him for the rest of his life, then comes new religion and the divine comedy repeats itself.Even without God or religions and stanging on the soilid ground of science, still humans are unable to be happy, content and virtuous.The children of the alley is the story of the humanity stemming from God (Gabalawi) and his son Adam (Adham) and his three grandchildren, Moses(Gabal), Christ (Refaa) and Muhammad (Qassem) then follown by sience represented by (Arafa). the book is well written, easy to read and gets us emotionally invelvod. I highly recommend this book and give it five stars.

This book is a fictional retelling of the history of the great religious leaders of the Middle East, including Moses, Jesus and Mohammad, and a scientist to represent the modern era, when God is supposedly dead. The story is a bit predictable, because you know who the players are in advance, but Mahfouz plays with their histories enough to provide some surprises, and the way he interprets the temperament of the great spiritual leaders is designed to be entertaining and leave you wondering what will happen next. The writing is quite good, better than in many of his books, though I don't know how much of this is Mahfouz and how much is the translator. The book is fast-paced, and I found myself turning pages quite rapidly as the heroes appear on the scene, take on the bad guys, and effect spiritual enlightenment which never lasts long. I have read many Mahfouz books, and this one is a gem. I found it on a list of great world literature, and I agree with whoever made that list; this story is excellent. Highly recommended!

Wonderful book! I loved the allegories Mahfouz uses, and was a great addition to the reading group I read this with.

I thought that the book started a bit slowly, and the allegories were a bit heavy handed. On the plus side the author is an excellent story teller with some points about religion, science, and politics that are still valid 60 years later. Good sense of place.

Through a succession of generations and characters Mafouz makes a strong case for humanity's penchant for forgetting the lessons learned by historical perspective.In the beginning, an eldest son is cast from his father's house, and loses his inheritance, which goes to a son by a different mother. Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, this next inheriting son is tempted, and also falls prey to his human failings. The two cast-out sons establish residence in the alley outside the opulent security of their father's house. They spend their lives waiting to be forgiven, for their "ancestor" (father) to call them and their families back into the fold. In this way, the sons and the son's sons live the life of the alley, a microcosm of the misery of mankind, where the strong feed on the weak and violence dominates.The story becomes an allegory for all of mankind seeking salvation and forgiveness, a return to the source from which we came. Some of the descendants claim to have visions of their "ancestor" (God), changing their lives completely, spreading a doctrine of love and renewal; as well, each generation in the alley produces a "prophet". Life becomes so desperate that the people willingly change their ways and temporary peace settles on the alley. In each case, over time, all is forgotten and the people fall into despair again. And so the cycle repeats. The reader is left to look inward at his own role, his own small history, whether to choose the light or the darkness.