Surprise

I'm smack dab in the middle of Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy (Palace Walk; Palace of Desire; Sugar Street). The thing that has surprised me most is that, in spite of the vast cultural gulf that separates this twenty-first century reader from early twentieth centry Egypt, I feel quite at home in the world of these books. It turns out that, underneath the cultural strata, the human mind works in much the same way around the world. And people, no matter how religious or zealous, behave and misbehave in similar ways.

If you've ever thought that venturing into world literature might be daunting or alienating, no worries with Mahfouz. You'll recognize his neighborhood as your own.