The Story Archive

Autumn Quail

Naguib Mahfouz · 1962 CE · Novel · Arabic · Contemporary

Isa al-Dabbagh is a rising official of the Wafd government until the officers take power in 1952 and the purge committees reach him, leaving a pension and nothing to do with his days. He withdraws to Alexandria, drifts between the cousin he was meant to marry and a prostitute he keeps in his flat, and refuses rehabilitation on a principle he can no longer name. Mahfouz's account of the class the revolution discarded.

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Attributes

Genre
PoliticalPsychological
Theme
Power & CorruptionIsolation & AlienationIdentity & SelfClass & Inequality
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Anti-HeroEverymanFallen Woman
Plot structure
Rise and FallIronic Reversal
Symbol / motif
The SeaThe SeasonsThe City
Conflict
vs Societyvs Self
Mode / tone
RealistIronic
Culture / tradition
Arabic

Closest analogues