Time to Breath

I read fiction this morning for the first time in a year. The first half of 'Karnak Café' by the Egyptian Nobel Literature Laurate Naguib Mahfouz. Written in 1974, it encompasses the themes and practices I highlight in my own writings about the country . . . brutal repression, torture, fear, the suppression of youth and its energy along with political debate, and the never-ending and seemingly-unstainable (but patently very sustainable) narrative that emergency measures like dispensing with the rule of law are necessary to overcome threats to homeland security especially in times of transition of powers, for which read armed coups. In the book, Mahfouz's characters question why such measures are necessary fourteen years after the 1952 revolution. In my own book (not quite Nobel Laureate level!) I question why they are necessary after 65 years.

Disturbing thoughts, beautifully written and read, by me, in the tranquil surroundings of Cadaques on the Costa Brava on the first day I have not had to work in goodness knows how many months. We arrived at midnight after driving up straight from the airport after my latest sojourn in Europe to the land of chocolates and monkish beer!