I just finished Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz. It was a novel set during WWII in an alley in Cairo. The book follows the daily lives of the different people living and working in the alley. The characters are nicely developed–I am about to teach a personality testing course and I could almost have filled out one of the tests I am teaching on at least a couple of the characters. It took me a little while to get into the book–it sort of lazes along–but in the end, I was trying to finish the book before going to sleep and really was frustrated that I couldn’t quite stay awake to the end. I have had the book for a long time, and am glad I finally got to read it.
If you want to see what I picture, but updated to today, when I think of this alley, you can click here.
Since I read the book, I have been thinking about what life would be like living in a very small space, with very few possessions, a very simple life, and only a few people in my world. It would be so vastly different from how we live in much of the world today.
Beth's List Love 
