Feb 20th

Advice from a Sensible Young Man
Bahaa Taher

The main character, Adil, is approached by a man from his past who has fallen to drugs. He is elderly and was once an esteemed member of society based on his mentions of other socially accepted mutual friends but has lost his business and his family due to his opium addiction. He walks beside Adil fr a long time begging for money, claiming change and promising treatment. Adil continues to walk but does not send himaway. As the story continues during th men's walk it is discovered that Adil had a colorful and somewhat similar period of his life. However Adil has a job and a promising future. Maybe its Adil's hostory or the connection with the old man but he cannot seem to end the conversation and tell the man no. At the end, when the man's desperate attempts to beg money end in his death Adil waivers about returning to the scene of the accident. He feels compelled on some level to help him, even in death. Adil finaly makes up his mind when he convinces hiself that the mans death will bring his children compensation and that is more than he is willing to give.

Glimpses from the Life of Mangoud Abdul Maugoud and Two Post Scripts
Yusif Sharouni
A complicated narrative that is out of sequence and told in first person as he recounts the events of his past that has shaped his perception of life. The story centers around the practice and rituals of marriage like many of these stories do, however its a different kind of marriage. He marries a daughter to continue the relationship he has with her widowed mother. When the daughter discovers them and takes her life his whole life changes. Her mother becomes distraught and withdrawn and he is under suspicion for the murder. His obsession with his dead wife's slippers leads to him killing her mother in an attempt to get them and the rest of his life he is internally tortured by his actions. He closes himself off from the rest of society and lives in fear he will be discovered. The story spans his life and his forlorn existence dealing with those events in his past. Its different from the other stories in the collection because it is very much centered on the thoughtd and delusions of the character as opposed to the social and cultural aspects of the situation.

Another Evening at the Club
Alifa Rifaat
It is almost a "Cinderella" story about a young girl with little money or standing being chosen by a wealthy older man as a wife. When she accidentally loses a ring and blames the servant, her husband handles the situation and the girl is arrested. When the wife finds the ring she makes an request to free the girl. Her husband again makes the final decision and does not renounce his charge against the servant. he also takes the ring to be sold and the wife is left with no choice. She has a brief moment of defiance against her station but as she looks around and reflects on her new position in life she finds a solace in the order of things she has not felt before. Despite her reservations for wrongly accusing the servant she is happy to be secured in her position in life.

The Cypriot Man
Tayeb Salih
A mix of dream and reality as a man struggles with temtation and greed. The
"Cypriot Man" is a symbol of lust, sin and greed and takes on many forms in the story. It is hard to determine what is real, symbolic or imagined. It is clear the man struggles with the temptation of flesh and the purpose of religion. It is unclear how it is resolved. The dreaded Cypriot Man reaks havoc on all characters in the story young and old and brings pain, confusion, death and despair in his wake.