num_pages: 440
description: A young man's dreams for a better future as a student in the Teachers' Institute are shattered after he assaults one of his instructors for discriminating against him. From then on, he begins his descent into the underworld. Penniless, he seeks refuge in Wikalat 'Atiya, a historic but now completely run-down caravanserai that has become the home of the town's marginal and underprivileged characters. This award-winning novel takes on epic dimensions as the narrator escorts us on a journey to this underworld, portraying—as he sinks further into its intricate relationships—the many characters that inhabit it. Through a labyrinth of tales, reminiscent of the popular Arab tradition of storytelling, we are introduced to these denizens, whose lives oscillate between the real and the fantastic, the contemporary and the timeless. And while the narrator starts out as a spectator of these characters' lives, he soon becomes an integral part of the lodging house's community of rogues.
language: English
title: The Lodging House
titlecomplete: The Lodging House
characters: بطل معدوم الاسم
genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Unfinished, Egypt, Egyptian Literature, Africa, Literature, Novels, Audiobook
ratings_count: 3465
places: Damanhur, Egypt, Middle East, North Africa
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: جائزة نجيب محفوظ للأدب (Naguib Mahfouz Award for Literature), awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize
category: Arabic Literary Translation
publisher: American University in Cairo Press