The Tree of Misery Review

The Tree of Misery by Taha Hussein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Tree of Misery is not the greatest novel in Arabic literature. It reads a bit like a bare bones version of Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy. It is, however, an interesting attempt to capture the transition from per-modern to modern Egyptian society through the vantage point of a single family.

Bottom Line: The Tree of Misery is not the best of Arabic literature, and though short, it is not an easy read, but it is an interesting piece from an important figure in the history of modern Arabic literature.

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