Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz died this week.

If you haven’t read it, I can personally highly recommend his Cairo trilogy: Palace Walk; Palace of Desire; and Sugar Street. I also liked Midaq Alley. Last year I read The Dreams, which was wonderful, although very, very different from his earlier works; a different kind of ‘thoughtful.’

Like many intelligent writers who don’t let politics or religion determine the content of their fiction, he has been reviled by Islamic Fundamentalists, blasted with blasphemy charges, and was even stabbed nearly to death by one some years ago (in the early 90s I believe).

Fucking Idiot Fundamentalists – they’re destructive in every country now aren’t they INCLUDING OUR OWN.