{"product_id":"palazzo-yacoubian","title":"Palazzo Yacoubian","description":"\u003cp\u003eBuilt in the 1930s by an Armenian billionaire, the Yacoubian Building embodies everything Egypt was and has become since it first rose on one of downtown’s main avenues. The narrative weaves together a diverse cast: from the porter’s devout son, whose failed dreams of joining the police lead him toward Islamist militias, to his fiancée, a victim of her employers' abuse; from the impoverished residents living on the roof who dream of a better life to the hedonistic aristocrat nostalgic for the era of King Farouk. The halls are shared by a gay intellectual living out his forbidden romances with surprising openness and an unscrupulous businessman on the ground floor determined to buy his way into politics. Each character is eventually forced to make a choice, leaving the reader to weigh the final outcome.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery figure represents a different facet of modern Egypt, a place where political corruption, questionable wealth, and religious hypocrisy serve as natural allies to the arrogance of the powerful. In this world, youthful idealism rapidly sours into extremism, and an antiquated social image continues to prevail. Ultimately, the novel serves as a powerful indictment of corrupt customs, Egyptian politics, and extremist movements—a critique central to the work of al-Aswani, himself a prominent figure in the \u003cem\u003eKifaya\u003c\/em\u003e opposition movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Yacoubian Building, caused a great sensation due to the themes it addressed and has since become the best-selling novel in the Arab world. the book was also adapted into a film presented at the Rome Film Festival in 2006.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor: ‘Ala Al-Aswani (عَلَاء الْأَسْوَانِي)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"0\"\u003eHe is a world-renowned Egyptian novelist, public intellectual, and practicing dentist whose work has been translated into over 30 languages. He rose to international prominence with his 2002 bestseller \u003cem\u003eThe Yacoubian Building\u003c\/em\u003e, a daring social critique that examined the complexities of modern Egyptian life through the diverse inhabitants of a Cairo apartment block. A leading voice for democracy and a key figure during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Al Aswani is celebrated for his \"social realist\" style, masterfully weaving together themes of political corruption, class struggle, and human dignity. Despite facing censorship in his home country, he remains one of the most influential and widely read authors in the Arab world, continuing to challenge authority through both his fiction and his prolific political essays.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Filtrinelli","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58149153833305,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/8716\/5529\/files\/9788807880261_0_0_0_0.jpg?v=1779893299","url":"https:\/\/lilicommunity.com\/products\/palazzo-yacoubian","provider":"LiLi Community","version":"1.0","type":"link"}