‘The Book of Safety:’ A fascinating tale set in an Orwellian Cairo

“Would you like to know your end, then arrange your life accordingly?”
“The Book of Safety: A Novel” by Yasser Abdel Hafez is an intriguing tale set in Egypt’s capital city of Cairo. Hafez is a journalist and editor at Akhbar Al-Adab literary magazine. His first novel, “On the Occasion of Life,” was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. “The Book of Safety” was first published in Arabic in 2013 and translated into English by Robin Moger in 2017.
In this crime story that runs deep into the heart of the ancient city and its residents, Khaled Mamoun works as a transcriber at the Palace of Confessions, a government institution that sits in the middle of a wasteland surrounded by high walls and signs that warn against approach and photography. It is a quiet and deserted-looking building, but inside, employees hurry around seeking admissions to crimes.
One day, Mamoun and his superior, Nabil Al-Adl, happen upon Mustafa Ismail, a criminal who has confessed to crimes of unimaginable cunning. A perfectionist in the art of thievery, Ismail captivates Mamoun and ultimately disrupts his life, forcing him down a new path that is adventurous, risky and the complete opposite of his usual routine. It puts into question Mamoun’s assumption that he is inconsequential at the Palace of Confessions, a shady organization which is best described by his co-worker, Abdel-Qawi, who tells him: “We are an agency tasked with looking into and keeping tabs on everything — on whose behalf I couldn’t say for sure, but what’s certain is that we are on the side of good against evil.”
But Mamoun is not so sure, especially when it comes to law professor-turned-thief Ismail. His confession hardly seems real as Ismail delights in storytelling, revealing every detail with ease. In the basement of the Palace of Confessions, Ismail casually asks his interrogators: “Would you like the story from the beginning or the end?”
Ismail’s life before thievery was ordinary, but he recounts it as if it was extraordinary. His own recollection of his memories and past, a series of introspective thoughts and eye-opening opinions about life and how to live it, captivate Mamoun.
“The records stated that he was over fifty, but his face and body paid no heed to the records. Powerfully built, he was possessed of a considerable charisma which stemmed from an unfeigned gravity of manner,” the author says of Ismail in the book.
Through the confession, Mamoun learns that the captivating supposed criminal has written a manuscript called “The Book of Safety” as a guide to the art of thievery and also as a guide to life.
The book moves back and forth between the past and present, weaving through the lives of Cairo’s residents who all seem to be connected in one way or another. They conduct their lives between the areas of Shubra, Heliopolis and Madinet Nasr, living out romances, tragedies, obsessions and secrets. Love of the city, its ancient ruins and the history that underlies Cairo is embedded in the characters and their existence, revealing deeper, and sometimes haunting, tales.
Details of the main characters’ lives are littered throughout the book along with details about Ismail’s thievery — it is as if all these characters are searching through unknown territory, looking for what to steal and what worthless items to leave behind.
Hafez’s novel is haunting in its characterization of Cairo’s residents and reveals modern storylines and dark desires. His characters have characters within themselves, every one of them emulating a time period or a specific class. They are everyday humans with everyday eccentricities playing out their lives on a stage for the reader.
There is also an Orwellian vibe to the book. The government may be watching, as it was in George Orwell’s “1984,” but in this book, “Big Brother” and “Winston Smith,” employee of the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s classic tale, reside in one body, as if one must keep oneself in constant check. That unease is brought to the fore when one interrogator asks Ismail what his motives to commit his crimes were if not for money or fame, to which he simply replies: “All the dangers this path may bring are preferable to living and dying without discovering who you are.”
Throughout the novel, all the characters undergo some form of metamorphosis — they have changed and grown into something unfamiliar, revealing parts of themselves they did not previously know existed.
Ismail is the catalyst, affecting different people in different ways, and his disruptions spark a ripple effect that continues throughout the city. Within themselves, the characters are free to feel and think, to emote and obsess, for they are on their own journey and it is up to them to seek adventure or to stay safe.
As Ismail says, “your house is nothing but a station on the way, a door from one world to another.”
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