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Palace Walk

By: Naguib Mahfouz, William Maynard Hutchins - translator, Olive E. Kenny - translator
Narrated by: Neil Shah
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Publisher's summary

Book I of the masterful Cairo Trilogy. A national best seller in both hardcover and paperback, it introduces the engrossing saga of a Muslim family in Cairo during Egypt's occupation by British forces in the early 1900s.

©1956 Naguib Mahfouz (P)2019 Tantor
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What listeners say about Palace Walk

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enjoyable listen

it was well written and the narrator did a great job. I look forwardnto the rest of the books in the series

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Egypt’s Dickens

A wonderful portrayal of people living in the Palace Walk district of Cairo in the early 20th century. So well written by a master storyteller. I now better understand people living in the Middle East. I cannot wait to read book 2 in the trilogy.

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I loved “Palace Walk” and am so sad it is over!

I enjoyed this 21h audiobook enormously. Outstanding story, very engaging, with several interesting subplots running perfectly coordinated and with great clarity. Naguib Mahfouz is a Nobel Prize Master indeed. The narration by Neil Shah is one of the best I ever heard. I highly recommend.

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I want the next one

@Audible you must record the next two books too! They are too good to keep from us!

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1 person found this helpful

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Amazing story, well read!

I absolutely loved this story. I was assigned to read this as an English major in the 1990s at the University of Texas. However, I dropped the class, and so the book just stayed on my shelf for 30 years. I was so excited to find it on audible. I really wish they would finish recording and producing the trilogy. The author was brilliant in his ability to imagine the inner lives of all of the members of the family. His love of Cairo and Egyptians is immensely powerful.

The narrator is very gifted at performing the voices of about 10 to 12 people, including women.

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Faultless

A timeless story never to be forgotten, beautifully told and brilliantly performed and brought to life.

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The misogyny was disturbing

It was brutal listening to how misogynistic the culture was at that time. Women were considered domestic animals.

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Great book, but only partial

This was a great listen. The performer reads well and story is great. The characters are all problematic, but are presented so that they are understood. In the last 2/3 or so of the novel we see how contemporary events effect the family. I enjoyed it, but the greatest crime of this audiobook is that it is only the first in a series of three. I wish I could listen to the rest of this family saga. There were many conflicts and much development throughout this novel, but there is much left unresolved and most of the book is what seems like exposition, introducing the family and their world.

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Excellent narration

It’s an excellently performed narration of a masterpiece. I cannot wait for the issue of the follow up, Palace of Desire.

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First part of a world masterpiece

Incredible novel, and now I’m determined to go on on parts 2 and 3. Modern Egypt is more known to me through the story of a family in 1918-1919. Artfully narrated.

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