The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (P.S.)
by Lucette Lagnado
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lucette LagnadoEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-01
ISBN: 006082218X
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (P.S.)
Book Review: A Magnificent Panorama of The Human Condition
Summary: 5 Stars
This masterpiece was highly recommended to me and having just finished it, I believe it is one of the finest memoirs that I have ever read. It is quite possible that I have received it at the right age and time in my life. Be as it may, I found it so powerful at times that it was necessary to place the book down in order to catch my breath. At one point, I called a friend and said: "I am reading the most extraordinary story". Not only is it extremely rich in substance and beautifully crafted, but it is also a treasure trove of scenarios and descriptions which begin against a sumptuous tapestry of Cairo shortly after WWII. Perhaps "Palace of Desire" and other works by Naguib Mahfouz which I read a decade ago, prepared me for an understanding of the fascinating cultural, historical and sociological background of Egypt in the 20th Century and enabled me to better follow Ms. Lagnado in her footsteps as she invites the reader to come along with her. One does not have to be an intellectual nor an erudite in order to digest what she has to say. And, let us not forget the wonderful photographs the author shares with us. Alas, we are missing one of Pouspous.
Ms. Lagnado introduces us at the beginning of her autobiographical work to a serendipitous and dreamlike vision of Cairo in the 1950's where she brilliantly spins an intricate, delicate and complex psychological web of individuals, who will one day become her parents, relatives and friends. Every person she portrays has something unique, original and of interest to bring to the table. Lucette Lagnado, nicknamed Loulou, is the last child to be born to her parents and, deeply cherished, she takes shelter at an early age under her father's wing. Political events in Egypt will soon unravel her large family's life as well as many of their friends - and ominous and dangerous developments will force them to make radical changes and decisions which are irrevocable when they find themselves facing circumstances beyond their control.
There is not a single maudlin note nor hackneyed sentence in the author's story. She writes with great heart and tremendous courage. Her tone is finely honed, measured and highly perceptive holding one's attention throughout her story. Her narration remains fluid and graceful, and she is able to link nature and the healing power of its bounty in a beautiful way. She is extremely gifted at portraying her life in both a subjective and objective way which is a feat in itself, and every human emotion is exquisitely expressed. There is humor at times throughout the narrative which she is capable of instilling both during happy or bleaker times, and I was amused and delighted on a few occasions. For example, the episode of how her paternal grandmother finds remedies to cure her ailing cousin; how her father cleverly gives her and her cat at his knee language lessons with the help of cheese; a mind-boggling description later on when she is older of how she and her mother religiously prepare staple American rice; traditional family candlelight expeditions at night which she compares to a detective novel - these are a few smiles among others. Again, Ms. Lagnado dwells on all human emotions, and as she becomes an adolescent and an adult, not only does she experience her own crippling hardships and fears, but later on she is a helpless witness to a beloved and elderly generation which is slipping away beyond her control. I had to grit my teeth in order to address the plight of her parents left with other neglected patients in what she describes as the gleaming palaces of pain. It hit a raw nerve. There are so many other topics that Ms. Lagnado addresses as well - I can relate well to some of these now since she and I are contemporaries and grew up during the same generation in Paris and New York. To sum it up, the author shows enormous strength of character and is able to confront the past in all its varied aspects in order to move onwards. When the time is right for her, Ms. Lagnado goes on a pilgrimage and takes along with her the ones she loves. As I accompanied her with trepidation as a reader on her journey to revisit her home, I felt a great tinge of sadness, unease and melancholy. Perhaps this is a matter of closure, and it left me feeling extremely moved. It is a treasured book that I am looking forward to reading again at a later time while continuing to focus on the many issues that Ms Lagnado has reminded me of. On a light note, I also plan to eat black olives and apricots in her honor and in memory of her family. In the meantime, my warmest appreciation to Ms. Lagnado for drawing my attention again to what is essential in life. She is a remarkable and inspiring individual.
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Summary of The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (P.S.)
Lucette Lagnado's father, Leon, is a successful Egyptian businessman and boulevardier who, dressed in his signature white sharkskin suit, makes deals and trades at Shepherd's Hotel and at the dark bar of the Nile Hilton. After the fall of King Farouk and the rise of the Nasser dictatorship, Leon loses everything and his family is forced to flee, abandoning a life once marked by beauty and luxury to plunge into hardship and poverty, as they take flight for any country that would have them.
A vivid, heartbreaking, and powerful inversion of the American dream, Lucette Lagnado's unforgettable memoir is a sweeping story of family, faith, tradition, tragedy, and triumph set against the stunning backdrop of Cairo, Paris, and New York.
Winner of the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and hailed by the New York Times Book Review as a "brilliant, crushing book" and the New Yorker as a memoir of ruin "told without melodrama by its youngest survivor," The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit recounts the exile of the author's Jewish Egyptian family from Cairo in 1963 and her father's heroic and tragic struggle to survive his "riches to rags" trajectory.
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