The Seventh Heaven: Supernatural Stories

by Naguib Mahfouz, Raymond Stock (Translator)

Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz draws on his homeland’s rich engagement with the afterlife–and his own near-death experience at the hands of a would-be assassin–in these newly translated, brilliantly mysterious stories of the supernatural.

 Among those who haunt these tales are the ghosts of Akhenaten, Woodrow Wilson, and Gamal Abd al-Nasser, who endure a strange system of earthly probation in the hope of gaining entry to the fabled Seventh Heaven; a teenager drawn into the secret, enchanted life he finds within his neighborhood’s forbidden wood; an honest perfume seller accosted on a night out by angry skeletons; and Satan himself, who confesses that there is still, despite the flood of evil in our times, an honorable man in the land. As ingenious at capturing the surreal as he is at documenting the very real social landscape of modern Cairo, Mahfouz guides these restless spirits as they migrate from the shadowy realms of other worlds to the haunted precincts of our own.

Genres: Short Stories, Egypt, Fantasy, Fiction, Literature, Mythology, Nobel Prize

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic author profile: نجيب محفوظ) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films.

Reviews

[Saadullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

the first story -- centering a murdered best friend and an afterlife taken from ancient Egypt -- is by far the most worth-reading of the collection. many of the other stories are generally interesting to read through, but can come off as both mild and a little too invested in social critique.

[Andrés · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had originally thought of giving two stars to this collection of short stories, but after further reflection realized that because of their sheer pointlessness and lack of imagination they had earned a single star. Even the headline short story, "They Seventh Heaven," which makes an attempt at a plot and some sort of meaning, is ultimately uninteresting. The author is not telling me something profound by putting the souls of historical figures into the bodies of common people and a feeble attempt at enigmaticness at its end simply comes off as shallow. And that would have been the high point of all of these stories.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather dissapointing. Some of the stories are repetitive, and others seem to have a decent-enough premise for a middling Twilight Zone episode, but are tossed off without much development and they're all a little obvious and moralistic. The only one which really stood out for me was the one about a lady who checks into a hotel room and starts having more guests over than could imaginably fit in, I forget the title. That was refreshingly bizzare, with a very effective transition from apparent normalcy to grotesque disorder.

[محمد ساري · Rating 5 out of 5]

افضل قصة قرأتها في حياتي!
ما اعظمك يا محفوظ

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of stories couldnt wrap up fast enough for me. I'm disappointed because I really enjoyed reading Mahfouz's Children of the Alley but this one was almost a waste of time. It's a collection of short stories that in one way or another contain a supernatural element, some stories more subtle than others. I enjoyed the start of this book and I really wish it had continued in the same vein where Mahfouz creates this idea of an afterlife that is quite a novel and compelling idea. Mahfouz made it wonderfully complex and interesting and then abruptly ended it - not just a cliffhanger but like he just stopped writing in the middle as the plot developed. None of the other stories in this collection are as good and I hate to say it but some are downright mediocre. I'm sure most of my frustrations come from the cultural and language difference - I probably missed a bunch of references that any Egyptian reader would be able to identify easily. However, for me, this book was just okay and I'll be searching for a better Mahfouz book to dig into.

[Carla (literary.infatuation) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a collection! Each of these stories where printed separately in a span of more than twenty years from 1973 to 1999, and handpicked by the translator, Raymond Stock, for this edition. They are all magnificent, but my favorites were ‘The Seventh Heaven’ (1979), ‘The Disturbing Occurrences’ (1979), ‘Room no. 12’ (1973), ‘Forgetfulness’ (1984), ‘Man of Awesome Power’ (1996) and ‘The Rose Garden’ (1999). Some of them, like Forgetfulness were so chilling I could not keep on reading afterwards. I was completely mesmerized. Also, “Man of Awesome Power” reminded me of Jim Carrey’s movie ‘Bruce Almighty’, but better; with no Hollywood sweet ending. If you’ve never read Mahfouz, this is a good place to start.

[Murtaza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mahfouz is an amazing novelist, one of the greatest ever, so my complaint is not with him but with the way this compendium has been made. The selection of stories is not the best (with the exception of the first one), and I feel like some of them don't deliver on the "supernatural" claims of the title. Read Mahfouz's novels, a better experience.

[Zainab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only one Nobel prize??

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic (in both senses of the word) collection of thirteen stories written between 1973 and 1999 by one of my favorite fiction writers, Naguib Mahfouz. All involve strange events, and several involve death or the afterlife.

The title story, which accounts for about a third of the book and is undoubtedly the best, begins with one of the two main characters, named Raouf, coming out of a strange "cloud" to realize that he has been killed by his friend Anous as a result of a love rivalry. He arrives in the afterlife, and we are treated to brief statements about the afterdeath fates of a number of historical figures, from Gandhi and Lenin to Hitler and Stalin, although most of those named were from recent Egyptian history and I did not know who some of them were. This part is similar in a way to Dante, although the afterlife described is certainly not Christian (nor is it Islamic or ancient Egyptian); it is the product of Mahfouz' own imagination. Later, Anous is also killed, and the two return to Earth as spiritual guides, in the process changing names and roles. The theme is that what matters is not "virtue" or even belief in God but truth and resistance to evil in the form of oppression of the weak by the powerful.

The other stories are much shorter (the last few being only a couple pages each) and are ambiguous both as to the endings and what has actually happened, and as to their symbolic meanings. One, "Room No. 12" was made into a movie which was popular in Egypt. The book was fun to read and as with all of Mahfouz' work provokes thought.

[Nikki Rossiter · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is my second foray into mahfouz’ work, and it’s alright! his surrealist work is less nuanced than his realist stuff, but what’s here is really really interesting in concept. it’s a book all about death, it pervades just about every short story contained within, and death comes in many different forms depending on the story, which is a really unique idea, i think. every brand of surrealism is taken from the culture of the author’s place of origin, and mahfouz really digs into surrealist ideas that seem very unique to a muslim way of seeing the world.
the writing isn’t my favorite, but i’ll reduce that to the translation being a bit unfavorable to mahfouz’ writing style.

[Sunset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome collection of stories. Hard to pick one personal favorite.

[Smarani Komanduri · Rating 2 out of 5]

It honestly might be because of the translation, but somehow these stories just didn’t do it for me. Great concepts, though!

[Cristina Mateo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene sus altibajos, pero no ha estado mal. Ha sido interesante.

[Elibardo Villegas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story teller magic. Wonderful book.

[hissi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel captures you even when you're on your guard I was taken in by the first page. And it became one of my favorites in the 11th.
Not only this novel is full of wisdom. It's witty and makes you think (in a good way!) I have often stopped to contemplate the lines, the words and thoughts behind this masterpiece. And every time I reach va conclusion I realized that I had nothing after all.
I found it very amusing. You laugh and think while flipping this hungrily to know what comes next. It was a fun ride
The novel mixed zen teachings, Arabic heritage and melodrama. The events are so amusing. The plot was carefully written as not to make it look complicated. I could see this in a movie production... I wonder if it is.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because some of the other stories were a bit dull or mystifying.

[Aron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short taste of short stories from Mahfouz from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I'm struck by The Haunted Woods, A Man of Awesome Power, and mostly Room No. 12, which I really want to discuss with someone. The jacket says supernatural stories and there are plenty of skeletons and ghosts and angels and spiritual guides to heaven. I find plenty of class, religion, and politics as well. These are fable/parables that are more accessible, political Borges stories to me.

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed many of these stories. My favorite by far is "Beyond the Clouds," followed by "The Seventh Heaven" itself. However, there were a few I didn't care for at all. This may be a result of my own lapses of understanding, but there were about three or four that didn't speak to me at all.

[Julie Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only disliked that these were short stories and not full fledged books of their own. I loved the imagery, and all the differing styles, as well as all the possible views of what the afterlife holds.

[Hamad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, but didnt drive me to re-read.

[Rokhyiah Rahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

my very first taste of the author. some of the tales left me stupefied. tak tercapai akalku. 'the seventh heaven' is the longest, and i liked it the most.

[Karl Steffey]

The Seventh Heaven: Supernatural Tales by Naguib Mahfouz (2006)

[Mick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome collection of stories. Hard to pick one personal favorite.

[Aya Badr · Rating 5 out of 5]

قصة فريدة ورائعة جدد نجيب فيها ثوبه تألق وألفها بتسلطن مذهل.. اسعدتني جدا وبهرتني ...

[BiShoy Kolta · Rating 5 out of 5]

من المجموعة القصصية (الحب فوق هضبة الهرم)، من أجمل القصص القصيرة التي قرأتها في حياتي .. هكذا تكون الكتابة!

[Jaimeoka · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2