Cairo

I was awarded a new writing job, a book review of The Yacoubian Building, by Alaa Al Aswany. I've finished reading it, and have done some preliminary research this morning, before actually starting to write the review. It's an Arab book about life in Cairo. It's a very interesting book, very controversial for its depictions of sexuality and even of homosexuality. It's nice that I'm actually enjoying the task of writing for something, instead of the insipid product descriptions and SEO blog posts that I've been doing so far.

I've also been reading The Heart of a Woman, by Maya Angelou, for her Wikipedia articles. Sometimes it's really weird how the things I'm reading, watching, listening, and thinking about become connected. It's happened so often, I'm no longer surprised about it. This time the connection was Cairo.

The Yacoubian Building is set completely in Cairo. It reminds me of Les Miserables in that it depicts the lives of the poor and working class of Egypt, at the time of the first Gulf War in 1990. (And of course, as I'm writing this, my point is made: a song from the musical "Les Mis" comes on iTunes, which I have on shuffle.) Angelou's book is also set partly in Cairo, but before the Egyptian revolution, in the early 50s, when Westerners were welcome there and when the society was freer than it is now.

The difference in the descriptions of Egyptian life is quite different in both books. Angelou describes her and her husband's opulant lifestyle, while Aswany describes something much different. I'll go into more detail when I have the review completed.