Monday, June 2, 2008

Schindler's lift in The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

Incidentally, I just read about our elevator “Schindler’s lift”, as we’ve been calling it, in The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany.

“In 1934, Hagop Yacoubian, the millionaire and then doyen of the Armenian community in Egypt, decided to construct an apartment block that would bear his name. He chose for it the best site on Suleiman Basha and engaged a well-known Italian engineering firm to build it, and the firm came up with a beautiful design – ten lofty stories in the high classical European style, the balconies decorated with Greek faces carved in stone, the columns, steps, and corridors all of natural marble, and the latest model of elevator by Schindler”.

Although I'm not finished with the book, I can already say that it's good, and that the characters are strong and interesting. The book gives quite a feel for the Egyptian culture and history, complementing my own experience here in Cairo.
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