"Narrative Summit" Releases 2025 Recommendations to Cement Egypt's Position as a Global Tourism Destination    Egypt, S.Arabia step up trade ties through coordination council talks    Egypt reviews progress on $200m World Bank-funded waste management hub    Egypt urges Israel to accept Gaza deal amid intensifying fighting    Egypt, ADIB explore strategic partnership in digital healthcare, investment    SCZONE, Tokyo Metropolitan Government sign MoU on green hydrogen cooperation    Egypt welcomes international efforts for peace in Ukraine    Al-Sisi, Macron reaffirm strategic partnership, coordinate on Gaza crisis    Contact Reports Strong 1H-2025 on Financing, Insurance Gains    Egypt, India's BDR Group in talks to establish biologics, cancer drug facility    AUC graduates first cohort of film industry business certificate    Egyptian pound down vs. US dollar at Monday's close – CBE    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Fictional Cairo drivers are good as real
Published in Daily News Egypt on 31 - 03 - 2007

CAIRO: Egyptian author Khaled Al Khamissi, in a best-selling collection of short stories about the Egyptian capital, has turned an old technique on its head. Instead of taking the pulse of the city by talking to taxi drivers, Al Khamissi has composed 58 fictional monologues by Cairo cabbies with such conviction and linguistic authenticity that most readers take them for the real thing. But Al Khamissi, a journalist, film director and producer, told Reuters in an interview on Friday that none of the drivers in Taxi: Cabbie Talk ever really existed. This is a book in the literary genre. I didn t record anything. This is not reportage or journalism, he said. It s all stories I remembered and recovered when I was writing. In many cases someone would tell me one word and someone else would tell me something else and so on, he added. Al Khamissi, who studied political science at the Sorbonne in Paris and has an interest in sociology and anthropology, said the 220-page work of fiction still had value as a vicarious record of people who usually have no voice. The drivers include dreamers and philosophers, misogynists and fanatics, smugglers and bankrupts, mystics and comedians. All of them are men, struggling to make a living in a cruel, noisy, chaotic and unhealthy world. Hemmed in by other cars, stifled by fumes and the summer heat, abused by corrupt policemen, overworked and underpaid, they talk about just about everything - politics, women, films, travel abroad and most often their contempt for authority. The book has sold 20,000 copies in Egypt since it came out on Jan. 5 - an astounding number in a country where works of literature rarely sell more than 3,000 copies.
A fourth edition is coming off the press and Al Khamissi has met foreign publishers to talk about translations. Together with the two recent light novels by Alaa El Aswani, it has helped revive the practice of reading in Egypt, where many households own no books other than the Quran. One secret of Al Khamissi s success could be that his monologues are all in Egypt s rich colloquial language, which differs greatly from the literary language most writers use.The book has received critical acclaim, much of it from people who read it as a work of urban anthropology. Baheyya, an anonymous but influential Egyptian blogger, said: The book is about the resilience of the human spirit, it is a powerful chronicle of the Herculean struggle for survival.
It documents increasing social inequalities and faithfully records the pungency and power of everyday speech, she added. Galal Amin, an economist and sociologist who teaches at the American University in Cairo, called it an innovative work that paints an extremely truthful picture of the state of Egyptian society today, as seen by an important social sector.
Al Khamissi said he too thought he had been faithful to reality. The monologues in my view are 100 percent realistic ... If you went down and asked a taxi driver about any matter you would find that is exactly what he says, he said. Like El Aswani s works, "Taxi includes a strong dose of anti-government views, reflecting the gradual expansion of the margins for freedom of expression in Egypt. But Al Khamissi said he had not tried to impose on his characters his own hostility toward the government. Personally I m very much against [former president] Anwar Sadat but you will find one driver full of praise for him, he said. Al Khamissi said his next work would be stories of Egyptians who travel abroad to work, or have come back from abroad or have tried and failed to emigrate.
So far I ve spoken to about 150 people for the book, he said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.