For my final nomination, it was between an Egyptian/French book and a Japanese one. I couldn't decide any other way so I went with the one from a country we've least recently read from, which means the Egyptian/French book wins out since we've read a book from Japan more recently than either of the other two countries. So, I nominate
Proud Beggars by Albert Cossery. It is a 'wry black comedy' set in the lowest societal strata of Cairo and begins with a senseless murder in a brothel and the subsequent search for the murderer. The odd thing is that police investigator, himself harbouring secrets, finds the suspects very likeable, full of warm good humour, and possessing a joie de vivre despite living amidst degrading poverty. I thought this viewpoint sounded like an interesting and unusual one to read about.
Goodreads 199 pages, 1955, Egypt & France
Quote:
Early in "Proud Beggars," a brutal and motiveless murder is committed in a Cairo brothel. But the real mystery at the heart of Albert Cossery's wry black comedy is not the cause of this death but the paradoxical richness to be found in even the most materially impoverished life.
Chief among Cossery's proud beggars is Gohar, a former professor turned whorehouse accountant, hashish aficionado, and street philosopher. Such is his native charm that he has accumulated a small coterie that includes Yeghen, a rhapsodic poet and drug dealer, and El Kordi, an ineffectual clerk and would-be revolutionary who dreams of rescuing a consumptive prostitute. The police investigator Nour El Dine, harboring a dark secret of his own, suspects all three of the murder but finds himself captivated by their warm good humor. How is it that they live amid degrading poverty, yet possess a joie de vivre that even the most assiduous forces of state cannot suppress? Do they, despite their rejection of social norms and all ambition, hold the secret of contentment? And so this short novel, considered one of Cossery's masterpieces, is at once biting social commentary, police procedural, and a mischievous delight in its own right.
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