Palace Walk Audiobook By Naguib Mahfouz, William Maynard Hutchins - translator, Olive E. Kenny - translator cover art

Palace Walk

Cairo Trilogy Series, Book 1

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Palace Walk

By: Naguib Mahfouz, William Maynard Hutchins - translator, Olive E. Kenny - translator
Narrated by: Neil Shah
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.79

Buy for $25.79

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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
Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Sagas Urban City

What listeners say about Palace Walk

Highly rated for:

Rich Storytelling Masterful Narration Immersive Atmosphere Compelling Family Saga Artful Performance
Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    117
  • 4 Stars
    26
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    109
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    101
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

enjoyable listen

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I want the next one

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Faultless

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The misogyny was disturbing

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Epic. Masterful Storytelling. A+

Palace Walk is a very long and beautifully narrated story about a long suffering family led by a hypocritical, bully of a father in old world Egypt.
The cast of characters are masterfully revealed over long, lilting chapters that pull us in as horrified observers. There are scenes offering us humor, sadness, pain, revolution and redemption.
I rooted for so many of the main characters and loathe a few but, none are cartoonish, cardboard characters. These are real people struggling to maintain power, position and cultural beliefs. All are flawed just like all of us.
Once you get through the first few chapters, a rhythm develops and the beauty of the story unfolds.
Mahfouz was a gifted writer, a masterful storyteller, a brilliant observer of human foibles and, he had a keen sense of authentic dialogue delivery.
Give this book a try and you will receive a rich gift that lingers well past the final chapter. A Must listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!