The Egyptian: A Novel

Great book. Condition as stated.

Originally read this as a teenager. It's set at the time of the heretic pharoah, Akenaten. The style of writing may not be to everyone's taste being a little "dated" but a good story nevertheless.

Fantastic story, recommended

On the face of it, a fictional autobiography set in the time of certain, historically existing, pharaohs. But all of that is just window dressing on a lesson of power and truth. What is truth? What is good? Good is what succeeds, and bad is what fails, and is found out.

"A woman who combines malice with intelligence and beauty is dangerous indeed – more dangerous still when she can add to this the power of a royal consort." The Egyptian is a classic historical novel by Finnish writer Waltari and set in the Egypt of the 14th century BCE. The main protagonist and narrator is Sinuhe, priest-physician to the Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Akhenaten (called Akhnaton in the story), whose consort, Nefertiti, is the subject of the above quotation. What I found surprising in the story is that Nefertiti plays a much lesser role than history implies. he Egyptian is not a novel to read for great excitement or high romance. The strength and beauty of Waltari’s work lies rather in the wealth of historical information and in the interaction of the historical figures he introduces in novel format. Perhaps unusually for a novelist in the 1940s, his scenes of sex and violence are quite graphic and he depicts the realities of life and death in all their sordid and gory detail. The Egyptians are presented as a people stuck in a rich/poor society, dominated by a polytheistic priesthood and consanguinious monarchy yet, despite their hardships, resistant to change. Actually, I'll give it three nd a half stars!

Thought I’d try this book after reading about the movie. Not really read anything else like it - a history of ancient Egypt- a philosophy of human nature- and a damn good read

Interesting and different

Story about the ancient world, based in the Egypt of the pharaohs. About the fictional life of the physician Sinuhe, who travelled around exercising his skills.

Plutôt attirée par les romans historiques sur le Moyen Âge, j'ai été agréablement surprise par cette histoire qui raconte l'Égypte ancienne, ses codes, ses travers, ses cruautés. Et Kaptah m'a fait rire plus d'une fois. Je ne lis pas le finnois mais la traduction anglaise est très agréable à lire, malgré les nombreuses fautes de frappe dans le fichier Kindle. Dommage que la version papier ne soit pas disponible en anglais, ce livre aurait été une excellente idée cadeau.

I read this book in my youth and have kept the hard copy all this time intending to read it again. When I saw it on kindle I purchased it and I am so glad I did. It is a wonderful story. I thoroughly enjoyed it once again.

The setting of the ancient world is very detailed. I'm not entirely sure what the moral of the story is (If Sinuhe observed Aton-ism fail under Akhenaton's reign, why did he ask Horemheb to bring it back?). I would recommend the book to anyone interested in classical history

母のすすめで読み始め、気がつくとのめり込んだ本です。世界観が素晴らしい。日本語で読んでいましたが、内容がほぼ頭に入ったので次に英語版に挑戦しています。

The drama unfolds, in a story. Nive to read. A good book on Egypt and its life.