The Yacoubian Building

by Alaa Al Aswany · first published 2002

The Yacoubian Building (Arabic: عمارة يعقوبيان ‘Imārat Ya‘qūbyān) is a novel by Egyptian author Alaa-Al-Aswany. The book was made into a film of the same name in 2006 and into a TV series in 2007. Published in Arabic in 2002 and in an English translation in 2004, the book, ostensibly set in 1990 at about the time of the first Gulf War, is a roman à clef and scathing portrayal of modern Egyptian society since the Revolution of 1952. The locale of the novel is downtown Cairo, with the titular apartment building (which actually exists) serving as both a metaphor for contemporary Egypt and a unifying location in which most of the primary characters either live or work and in which much of the novel's action takes place.

Summary: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Original language:

Arabic

Year page:

2002