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issybird, as I was reading this I thought you wouldn't like it that much. The writing was just too straightforward. There wasn't any sophistication or subtlety - or at least not enough.
I'm quite often influenced by my thoughts in the here and now when reading novels and the message, even if delivered with sledgehammer blows, was resonating with some of my more recent thoughts and observations.
I had quite a bit of contempt for the narrator. He wasn't even an amateur historian, just a romantic. From the start you could sense that the queen alone in her palace enticed him into his quest more than any genuine search for truth. It was no surprise to me at all when he confessed his bias at the end. I wasn't so concerned about lack of differentiation in the voices because I assumed that Mahfouz was trying to deliver the work in the voice of this incompetent.
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