Tuesday, May 10, 2016

A Reading Life (43) - Akhenaten, #BoutofBooks and more #ReadNobels


My thoughts on Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz
This is the story of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Akhenaten, related to a young man by each person who was close to, or who served, the pharaoh. I couldn't help but be reminded of the current state of American politics. Everyone tells a different story. Every single person had a differing opinion on Akhenaten. So, who do you believe? The one consistent thread among all was that he had a strange appearance and that his faith in the One God was unwavering.


I would really like to read other books by Mahfouz, as I'm thinking this probably isn't his best. I mean, it was interesting enough, but the many points of view relating the story made character development difficult...and I'm a big fan of character development. I'm not saying I disliked the book immensely, but I have read other historical novels about various ancient Egyptian royalty and found them much more interesting.

That being said, historical fiction always leaves me wishing I could travel back and find out the real story. A fly on the wall, so to speak. As Akhenaten's life is somewhat of a mystery compared to other pharaohs (due to his name, etc. being obliterated because he was judged a heretic), I especially wish I could learn the truth about him.


Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. An Egyptian writer, he published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films. (Goodreads)

Other books by the author:
Children of the Alley
The Cairo Trilogy: 
Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street 
Midaq Alley
The Day the Leader was Killed

I read this selection by Nobel Prize winner Mahfouz for the Read the Nobels perpetual challenge, the 2016 Read the Nobels challenge and the Where in the world will your Nobel take you? April challenge, hosted by Aloi at Guiltless Reading.

Bout of Books

What I'm reading this week:
  • For TuesBookTalk, the required section for this week's reading of The Great Mortality by John Kelly
  • Get caught up with the reading section for this week's Roots read-along check in on Friday (I'm WAY behind!)
  • Blood Sacrifices by Brian Moreland
  • I'm going to listen to some audio books about writing too: Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink by Gail Carson Levine and Put Your Heart On The Page: An Introduction to Writing by Anne Perry

I just announced this special event, the Sci-Fi Summer Read-a-Thon, last week! I'm so excited. I need to read more Sci-Fi. This will probably be a yearly event, in between my four regular read-a-thons, like the Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon in November. I hope you will think about joining us. Sign up here!

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Design for Dying by Renee Patrick


The Poldark series 1-3 by Winston Graham:

Ross Poldark
Demelza
Jeremy Poldark


Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell
Affinity by Sarah Waters


What's going on in your Reading Life?

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2 comments:

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  1. Fascinated by all things Egyptian as I am this is definitely one for my wish list even if I do have reservations about the multiple points of view which may or may not work for me.

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  2. I'm so bummed to have missed out on Bout of Books but I was just too busy to have time even to do my regular amount of reading. Even more reason to be excited about the Sci-Fi readathon!

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