Tahrir

Tahrir is very much an indie authored novel in its style, however its story does have a strong sense of witnessed authenticity so, overall, I found the book to be a worthwhile read. Volya gives readers a good sense of the confusion and uncertainty in Cairo during the days of the revolution against Mubarak's regime as well as insights into daily life both before and after the fighting. Following one young Egyptian man, Said, through his prison experiences as a political prisoner is particularly horrifying to read. I remembered similarities in Tahrir here to those in The King Of Taksim Square both in the riot scenes and the way that jubilant protesters set up camps, singing and dancing in the liberated spaces. I would have liked more shading in the prose to add pace and emotional depth to the storytelling. There is little showing and a lot of telling so opportunities add excitement or tension are unfortunately lost.

On a negative note, Volya's characters are fairly flat creations except for Said with whom I was able to empathise. I wondered why three of the four main protagonists we follow were not Egyptians though. Brits Robert and Kate, despite all their protestations of involvement, are little more than colonial voyeurs and the love triangle between Robert, Kate and Russian tourist Alexey swiftly goes beyond tiresome! I wasn't happy either about Volya's inclusion of gratuitous sexual assault scene. Its only purpose seemed to be to punish an independently-minded woman for not choosing a man to 'protect her' (because all women must need a man to protect them from men!). I think I found more to like in the first half of Tahrir than the later chapters, and I did appreciate gaining insights into this period of Egyptian history.