Author: Albert Cossery
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1590174429
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
Early in Proud Beggars, a brutal and motiveless murder is committed in a Cairo brothel. But the real mystery at the heart of Albert Cossery’s wry black comedy is not the cause of this death but the paradoxical richness to be found in even the most materially impoverished life. Chief among Cossery’s proud beggars is Gohar, a former professor turned whorehouse accountant, hashish aficionado, and street philosopher. Such is his native charm that he has accumulated a small coterie that includes Yeghen, a rhapsodic poet and drug dealer, and El Kordi, an ineffectual clerk and would-be revolutionary who dreams of rescuing a consumptive prostitute. The police investigator Nour El Dine, harboring a dark secret of his own, suspects all three of the murder but finds himself captivated by their warm good humor. How is it that they live amid degrading poverty, yet possess a joie de vivre that even the most assiduous forces of state cannot suppress? Do they, despite their rejection of social norms and all ambition, hold the secret of contentment? And so this short novel, considered one of Cossery’s masterpieces, is at once biting social commentary, police procedural, and a mischievous delight in its own right.
Proud Beggars
Author: Albert Cossery
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1590174429
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
Early in Proud Beggars, a brutal and motiveless murder is committed in a Cairo brothel. But the real mystery at the heart of Albert Cossery’s wry black comedy is not the cause of this death but the paradoxical richness to be found in even the most materially impoverished life. Chief among Cossery’s proud beggars is Gohar, a former professor turned whorehouse accountant, hashish aficionado, and street philosopher. Such is his native charm that he has accumulated a small coterie that includes Yeghen, a rhapsodic poet and drug dealer, and El Kordi, an ineffectual clerk and would-be revolutionary who dreams of rescuing a consumptive prostitute. The police investigator Nour El Dine, harboring a dark secret of his own, suspects all three of the murder but finds himself captivated by their warm good humor. How is it that they live amid degrading poverty, yet possess a joie de vivre that even the most assiduous forces of state cannot suppress? Do they, despite their rejection of social norms and all ambition, hold the secret of contentment? And so this short novel, considered one of Cossery’s masterpieces, is at once biting social commentary, police procedural, and a mischievous delight in its own right.
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1590174429
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
Early in Proud Beggars, a brutal and motiveless murder is committed in a Cairo brothel. But the real mystery at the heart of Albert Cossery’s wry black comedy is not the cause of this death but the paradoxical richness to be found in even the most materially impoverished life. Chief among Cossery’s proud beggars is Gohar, a former professor turned whorehouse accountant, hashish aficionado, and street philosopher. Such is his native charm that he has accumulated a small coterie that includes Yeghen, a rhapsodic poet and drug dealer, and El Kordi, an ineffectual clerk and would-be revolutionary who dreams of rescuing a consumptive prostitute. The police investigator Nour El Dine, harboring a dark secret of his own, suspects all three of the murder but finds himself captivated by their warm good humor. How is it that they live amid degrading poverty, yet possess a joie de vivre that even the most assiduous forces of state cannot suppress? Do they, despite their rejection of social norms and all ambition, hold the secret of contentment? And so this short novel, considered one of Cossery’s masterpieces, is at once biting social commentary, police procedural, and a mischievous delight in its own right.
The Colors of Infamy
Author: Albert Cossery
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 0811217957
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 97
Book Description
A gentleman pickpocket, elegant to the bone, plies the best cafes of Cairo. Ossama is a thief: "not a minister, banker or real estate developer - a modest thief". His country may be a disaster but he is a hedonist, convinced that "nothing on this Earth is tragic for an intelligent man". In one fat victims wallet, he discovers a highly compromising letter, revealing bribery, corrupt ministers, and lethally shoddy building practices. He decides he must act...
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 0811217957
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 97
Book Description
A gentleman pickpocket, elegant to the bone, plies the best cafes of Cairo. Ossama is a thief: "not a minister, banker or real estate developer - a modest thief". His country may be a disaster but he is a hedonist, convinced that "nothing on this Earth is tragic for an intelligent man". In one fat victims wallet, he discovers a highly compromising letter, revealing bribery, corrupt ministers, and lethally shoddy building practices. He decides he must act...
The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe
Author: John Foxe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christian martyrs
Languages : en
Pages : 828
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christian martyrs
Languages : en
Pages : 828
Book Description
The River Amazon from Its Sources to the Sea
Author: Paul Fountain
Publisher: London : Constable
ISBN:
Category : Amazon River
Languages : en
Pages : 376
Book Description
Publisher: London : Constable
ISBN:
Category : Amazon River
Languages : en
Pages : 376
Book Description
Love's Labour's Lost
Author: Felicia Hardison Londré
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780815309840
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 498
Book Description
This anthology examines Love's Labours Lost from a variety of perspectives and through a wide range of materials. Selections discuss the play in terms of historical context, dating, and sources; character analysis; comic elements and verbal conceits; evidence of authorship; performance analysis; and feminist interpretations. Alongside theater reviews, production photographs, and critical commentary, the volume also includes essays written by practicing theater artists who have worked on the play. An index by name, literary work, and concept rounds out this valuable resource.
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780815309840
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 498
Book Description
This anthology examines Love's Labours Lost from a variety of perspectives and through a wide range of materials. Selections discuss the play in terms of historical context, dating, and sources; character analysis; comic elements and verbal conceits; evidence of authorship; performance analysis; and feminist interpretations. Alongside theater reviews, production photographs, and critical commentary, the volume also includes essays written by practicing theater artists who have worked on the play. An index by name, literary work, and concept rounds out this valuable resource.
The Parker Society...
Author: Parker Society, London
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reformation
Languages : en
Pages : 676
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reformation
Languages : en
Pages : 676
Book Description
Select Works of John Bale, D.D., Bishop of Ossory
Author: John Bale
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 672
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 672
Book Description
Mature Reflections and Devotions of the Rev. Rowland Hill, A.M., in His Old Age
Author: Rowland Hill (Minister of Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars Road.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
Mature Reflections and Devotions
Author: Rowland Hill
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Devotional exercises
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Devotional exercises
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
Laziness in the Fertile Valley
Author: Albert Cossery
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 0811218740
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 188
Book Description
A portrait of a family of proud layabouts who avoid work and sleep all day by the Egyptian writer often referred to as "the Voltaire of the Nile" Laziness in the Fertile Valley is Albert Cossery’s biting social satire about a father, his three sons, and their uncle — slackers one and all. One brother has been sleeping for almost seven years, waking only to use the bathroom and eat a meal. Another savagely defends the household from women. Serag, the youngest, is the only member of the family interested in getting a job. But even he — try as he might — has a hard time resisting the call of laziness.
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 0811218740
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 188
Book Description
A portrait of a family of proud layabouts who avoid work and sleep all day by the Egyptian writer often referred to as "the Voltaire of the Nile" Laziness in the Fertile Valley is Albert Cossery’s biting social satire about a father, his three sons, and their uncle — slackers one and all. One brother has been sleeping for almost seven years, waking only to use the bathroom and eat a meal. Another savagely defends the household from women. Serag, the youngest, is the only member of the family interested in getting a job. But even he — try as he might — has a hard time resisting the call of laziness.