I already wrote about it last year, so you can go and freshen up on it.
As I am reading "Children of Gebelaawi" by Naguib Mahfouz which a novel in five parts following the lives of five descendants of Gebelaawi (more than children in the direct
sense) I was struck by a thought which actually reminded me of Eid last year.In this book each of the five characters, as well as their shared ancestor Gebelaawi are meant to represent some well known figure.
Qaasim is believed to represent Mohammad the prophet
Rifaa is believed to represent Jesus
Adham is believed to represent Adam, the first man on earth
Gebel is believed to represent Moses
Gebelaawi is meant to represent god as it is viewed by humans...not as he is...and this is strongly pointed out by the author.
And I have not figured out yet who Arafa is supposed to represent...I haven't read the part about Arafa but I worry that I will not recognize him. And this is my point here.
Last Eid, when I was in Algeria my friend Ouhaid (I miss Ouhaid actually) was able to tell me all about Abraham, his two sons and one of the notable differences between Muslims and Christians...He told me about the all lineage of Mohammad and Jesus and all the rest. He just knew it, from the top of his head. I found that most Algerians I met could just go on about the early history of their peoples and other people as they relate to them. They had a vast knowledge of their roots.
Now as I am reading I realize that I do not really know enough about any of prophets etc to be able to really make a valuable comparison between the book and the accepted history of those characters. Naguib Mahfouz (the man in the photo) is Egyptian so I know that he knew. And Mr. Mahfouz, who was really a philosopher but wrote fiction, I am sure, wrote with a message. I feel I am missing the most part of it from my lack of knowledge.
I am truly enjoying this book and I highly recommend it, but I feel dumb.
I have no general culture... I know nothing about stuff like this.....Pathetic!
IF (big IF here) I am typical of our culture, but maybe I really should shoulder the blame on my own, we are then a pathetic culture...we have no culture...We have music videos where women shakes they ass in the camera. We have movies of terror with aliens, vampires and devils. We have fashion which is really a way to get people to spend money more than an artistic expression...and I am sure we have other crap...but we are pathetically sad culture...As I was saying...Either that or I AM a pathetically under cultured individual...which I have to say is true, but I do suspect that our culture is not really even qualifying as "culture" right now!!
