Tuesday, May 5, 2015

#5 Room 12- Naguib Mahfouz


#5 Room #12 (2005) –Naguib Mahfouz

Mafouz is an Egyptian author that won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.  This is my first time reading his work. 

Room #12 is a comedic work that takes place in a hotel.  A mysterious, eccentric woman checks in and is immediately the target of wild imaginations by the hotel staff.  The intrigue multiplies by large magnitudes as parades of visitors pile into her room throughout her stay.

“Mad depravity is running wild in there”

She is visited by all manner of folk, all being allowed admittance except an increasingly frustrated “Corpse Washer” named Sayid.   As the staff’s mood turns from curiosity to worry to anger, rain literally comes down on their heads as leaks form in ceilings throughout their charge.  Exasperation reigns supreme:

“This hotel is no longer a hotel, and I’m no longer the manager, and today is not a day and lunacy is laughing at us in the shape of meat and wine!”

As the mundane but pressing responsibilities of their jobs outweigh the distracting imaginings in Room #12, the tension washes away.  Remember, what happens in somebody else’s hotel room is none of your damn business…so why let it anger you?

Notable Passage: “Cosmic ire was smiting the night outside”


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