Adrift on the Nile

1966 book by Naguib Mahfouz

Adrift on the Nile

Cover of the first US edition

Author| Naguib Mahfouz
Original title| ثرثرة فوق النيل
Translator| Frances Liardet (Doubleday, 1993 ed.)
Genre| Fiction, Literature, Egyptian Literature, Arabic Literature
Publisher| Dar Shorouq, Egypt

Publication date

| 1966
Media type| Print (paperback)
Pages| 201 pp

Adrift on the Nile (Thartharah fawqa al-Nīl, Arabic: ثرثرة فوق النيل)[1] is a 1966 book by Egyptian author and Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. The novel was later made into a 1971 film, Chitchat on the Nile. It was translated from Arabic into English in 1993 by Frances Liardet and published by Doubleday.

The book follows Anis Zani who smokes kief every night with a group of friends on a houseboat on the Nile. Anis works as a civil servant but soon finds his life encumbered by his drug use. The book explores nihilism and spiritual emptiness.

## Plot summary

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The book starts out with Anis Zani, the protagonist, being disciplined by his boss for submitting a blank report. It's revealed that Anis wrote the report under the influence of drugs, which prevented him from realizing his pen was out of ink. Anis and a group of fellow addicts get together every night to smoke keif on a houseboat on the Nile.[2] Samara, a young journalist, visits the group in order to report on them. The tranquility of the group collapses as they begin to argue about topics like love, morality and purpose. The downfall of the group is accelerated when, one night as they are taking a midnight excursion by car, they hit a person and flee the scene.

## Awards

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* The Nobel Prize in Literature 1988[3]

## References

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1. ^ Maḥfūẓ, Najīb. Adrift on the Nile. OCLC 1261623767.
2. ^ "Adrift on the Nile". penguinrandomhouse.
3. ^ Hallengren, Anders. "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1988". nobelprize. Retrieved 13 September 2021.

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Works by Naguib Mahfouz

Cairo Trilogy|

* Palace Walk (1956)
* Palace of Desire (1957)
* Sugar Street (1957)

Other novels|

* Khufu's Wisdom (1939)
* Rhadopis of Nubia (1943)
* Thebes at War (1944)
* Midaq Alley (1947)
* The Mirage (1948)
* The Beginning and the End (1949)
* Children of Gebelawi (1959)
* The Thief and the Dogs (1961)
* Autumn Quail (1962)
* The Search (1964)
* The Beggar (1965)
* Adrift on the Nile (1966)
* Miramar (1967)
* Mirrors (1972)
* Love in the Rain (1973)
* Karnak Café (1974)
* The Harafish (1977)
* Wedding Song (1981)
* Arabian Nights and Days (1982)
* The Journey of Ibn Fattouma (1983)
* The Day the Leader Was Killed (1983)
* Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth (1985)
* The Coffeehouse (1988)

Short stories|

* "Zaabalawi" (1961)
* "Qismati and Nasibi" (1982)

Story collections|

* Whisper of Madness (1947)
* God's World (1962)
* A Story Without a Beginning or an Ending (1971)
* The Crime (1973)
* Stories from Our Neighbourhood (1975)

Screenplays|

* The Adventures of Antar and Abla (1948)
* Your Day Will Come (1951)
* The Monster (1954)
* The Tough (1957)
* The Barred Road (1958)
* Jamila, the Algerian (1958)
* Between Heaven and Earth (1959)
* Allahu Akbar (1959)
* The Choice (1970)

Adaptations|

* The Beginning and the End (1960)
* Chased by the Dogs (1962)
* Saladin the Victorious (1963)
* Cairo 30 (1966)
* Khan El Khalili (1967)
* Chitchat on the Nile (1971)
* Karnak (1975)
* The Guilty (1975)
* The Beginning and the End (1993)
* Midaq Alley (1995)

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