E. David, Is there a nutmeg in the house?
D. Marquand, Mammon's Kingdom
I'm starting to doubt the value of my Book of the Month allocation. All too often, it's the one I'm obviously going to like best before I've even started. While there are some great passages in both David and Marquand, about bread and democracy respectively, I - like the Nobel prize committee - thought Mahfouz was outstanding. There is definitely a unfamiliarity dividend. One of the reasons why it's so compelling is because it is so alien, but it's a story very well told. The synopsis doesn't do it justice either, and its deceptively gentle for what is a powerful and shocking end. That said, it's also a book about Alexandria. I love books about Alexandria.
