The Inner Mahfouz
Review by Amal Sedky

The Dreams

Naguib Mahfouz
Translated by Raymond Stock
The American University in Cairo Press
Cairo and New York, 2004

This short, intimate book by Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is for fans who want to know more about the man himself.  Dreams is deceptively simple:  104 entries, each a few short paragraphs that speak for themselves. Other than an introduction by the translator, there is no commentary.

As a therapist, I am loath to interpret dreams in the absence of the dreamer, I am loath to interpret dreams. But these are alive with imagery. In his dreams, Mahfouz’s home is broken into, reconstructed, or lost. Ominous figures give chase.

Mahfouz’s evolving sense of self is revealed by the changes to the houses with which his dreams are filled. And the pervasive sense of being chased? Perhaps it’s in response to the difficulties of living in a society that was closing in on him. 

His dreams are visited by woman who, seen from a psychological perspective, represent the inner soul mate or muse. They and the messages they bear are always just out of reach.

The dreams are luminous and optimistic, shimmering with vitality. They fit the Mahfouz we Egyptians know from television.Posted by Amal Sedky WinterAugust, 2009

See (hear) also
National Public Radio

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