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Summary: A disturbing approach to the history of mankind
Review: "Children of the Alley" (AKA "Children of Gabalawi") is both a realistic and an allegorical novel that consists of two stories simultaneously. On the year the book began to be published as a serial in Al-Ahram, it was banned for ten years, after which it was published for the first time in book format in Beirut. The story, as I mentioned, has two faces. The first is that of an enormous family and its descendants. And the second is the religious history of mankind, with the prophets, the legends, and in the end, the scientific revolution. The background is the "Gabalawi Alley", which has a unique role, just like the "Midaq Alley", or the alley in "The Harafish". I can say without a doubt that Mahfouz is "Proust of the Arabs".
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Summary: A disturbing approach to the history of mankind
Review: "Children of the Alley" (AKA "Children of Gabalawi") is both a realistic and an allegorical novel that consists of two stories simultaneously. On the year the book began to be published as a serial in Al-Ahram, it was banned for ten years, after which it was published for the first time in book format in Beirut. The story, as I mentioned, has two faces. The first is that of an enormous family and its descendants. And the second is the religious history of mankind, with the prophets, the legends, and in the end, the scientific revolution. The background is the "Gabalawi Alley", which has a unique role, just like the "Midaq Alley", or the alley in "The Harafish". I can say without a doubt that Mahfouz is "Proust of the Arabs".
Rating: 
Summary: This book is not only a waste of your time but it's harmful
Review: An auther who writes such a book and describes God (AllAH) the greatest and his wonderful prophets with these very bad descriptions in a symbolic way, which are used only to describe criminal people, is not worth even to be considered. I think Amazon.com should remove such a book from it's book lists.
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Summary: The relationship between humanity and God.
Review: Children of the Alley (-- or Children of Gabalawi in the Arabic version, which is more fitting because Gabalawi represents God in the novel and everyone is descended from Him, not the alley). All of Mahfouz's early writing is incredibly romantic yet serious and engaging at the same time. This book is among the best, and probably a must read for the following: religious fundamentalists of any sort, people curious about fundamentalists, people with any religious prejudice, people with no religion at all. In short, this is a seriously challenging work that will likely be moving to anyone that reads it.
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Summary: Colorful Tapestry of Stories
Review: Children of the Alley is an incredible collection of stories about the lives of the descendants of an Egyptian man, Gabalawi, who takes on God-like significance as his children populate the alley that grows up surrounding his gated mansion. The novel was originally published in Arabic in 1959, under the title Awlad haratina. The English version, published in 1996, was translated by Peter Theroux.The novel is broken into five distinct "stories," each focused on the life of one member of the Gabalawi family or his descendants. The first story introduces Gabalawi himself, and his cruel sense of justice which ultimately banishes both of his sons into the desert surrounding the mansion. This sets the stage for the evolution of the alley and the feuds that would eventually develop between the sons and their own families as they seek out ways to return to the ideal of life as it had been lived inside the estate gates. Mahfouz weaves a lovely tale following successive generations through their triumphs and sufferings, exploring the importance of hope and spirituality, morals, justice and a people's sense of history in the face of constant opression by gangs. Each story focuses on the emergence of a "savior" who delivers the alley's residents from the evil gang rulers, establishing peaceful, prosperous eras. But, after each great savior dies, the people of the alley inevitably fall back into the greed and power lust that leads them back into gang rule. In this portrayal of the cyclical nature of the alley, Mahfouz makes a bold statement about a people that praises their heroes through songs and poetry, yet who never actually retain the lessons taught by those heroes. An engrossing novel, Children of the Alley will entrance you with its prose-like qualities, which fashion a history as beautiful and intricate as the designs on a Persian carpet. With such a talent for evocative description, it is easy to see why Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.
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Summary: A truly amazing book!
Review: For me, this was one of those books which I just couldn't put down. I read it all in two days, and took that long only because I had to sleep at some point. This book is entertaining and profound on so many levels: It has a great plot, great characters, and above all, great meaning. It presents an allegory for the entire history of human thought and spirituality, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes good books.
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Summary: Mahfouz risked his life for this book and almost lost it
Review: In 1993 Mahfouz was stabbed by a fundementalist for writing this book. If you read it you will see that it sets everyone under one spiritual saga. By everyone I mean all of the middle-eastren religons. Nonetheless it can be read as a novel about a family's journey throughout time starting with one family and stemming out into many conflicting families. It really makes you think of Adam as everyone's base root, the grandfather that humanity shares, weither you believe in that or not is not the point, because wherever we came from we all came from the same place. But Mahfouz goes deeper into why families split up, where does one family breake off into many families, and why. Don't try to take this into mind though, and don't go into it looking for arguments, if you find yourself doing that just put it down untill you've fallen in love with one from the enemy, whoever you are. This was a story not so much about love, but in its service.
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Summary: A tale of two translations
Review: No one should buy this translation without first checking out the original version made in 1962 with the help of the author and in print since 1981. An updated version of this was published in 1997 as Children of Gebelaawi. The reason why there are two published versions is that after the threats to Mahfuz's life made in 1989 in the wake of the Rushdie affair, because of this novel, the translator (and author of this review), P J Stewart refused to sell his copyright to Doubleday for a world-wide relaunch, considering it more prudent to continue quietly publishing with the original American publisher, now renamed Passeggiata Press. The unsuccessful attempt on Mahfuz made in October 1994 confirmed the wisdom of this decision. The American University of Cairo Press, which owns the world rights, then commissioned Peter Theroux to make a new translation. However, Passeggiata continued to have the US paperback rights, which had been granted to it in 1981 (and in apparent violation of which Doubleday has published its paperback in the USA). As the translator of Children of Gebelaawi, I cannot decently comment on the quality of Theroux' version. Some people may like his use of English, which does not appeal to me. I have found various gross errors of translation of the Arabic, but no doubt a careful study of my version would find similar mistakes; neither of us is a native Arabic speaker. However, it does worry me that in some places he has made a mistake that was in my 1981 edition and which I have since corrected; at least one of these is such an improbable 'howler' that I cannot believe he did not use my translation. Theroux' version lacks an introduction, and I consider this a grave lacuna. The history of the book is deeply interesting in itself and needs to be told. The novel also needs some explaining: why did Mahfuz, the deep psychological observer, write a book so apparently lacking in subtlety; and what is the secret message of the book? All this is tackled in the extensive introduction to Children of Gebelaawi. One more point: Theroux, like all other translators, uses the Arabic text published, without the author's participation, in Beirut in 1967. It is full of typos, but also - mysteriously - it includes words and whole sentences missing from the original Egyptian serialization, suggesting that the publisher had access to the missing manuscript. Children of Gebelaawi is the only version in any language to be based on both the source texts.
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Summary: Biblical Alagory in the Words of a Fine Story Teller
Review: Quite Simply, The Ultimate book for the theologian who needs a change of pace. A change of setting and some interesting plot elements not found in the Bible
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Summary: A history of the world
Review: This is a wonderful book describing the history of the world through happenings of an alley in Cairo. I was impressed with the story, re-telling stories about the lives of Judeo-Chrisitan and Muslim prophets in a whole new light. If you read one Arabic book, this is the one to read. Enjoy
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