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Naguib Mahfouz, a personal appreciation

In his long, productive decades, he wrote some 35 novels, hundreds of short stories, screenplays, etc. People have compared him to an Englishman, Charles Dickens, and to a couple of Frenchmen: Balzac and Zola. They have also compared him to a trio of Russians: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn. But like all great artists – including the writers mentioned – he was primarily himself.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

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Naguib Mahfouz, a personal appreciation

In his long, productive decades, he wrote some 35 novels, hundreds of short stories, screenplays, etc. People have compared him to an Englishman, Charles Dickens, and to a couple of Frenchmen: Balzac and Zola. They have also compared him to a trio of Russians: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn. But like all great artists – including the writers mentioned – he was primarily himself.