Dear Commons Community,
I have just finished reading The Egyptian, a novel written by Finnish author, Mika Waltari. It was recommended to my wife, Elaine, by a colleague and Elaine recommended it to me. It was written in 1945 and an abridged version translated into English in 1949. It follows Sinuhe, an orphan who grew up to be a doctor in Ancient Egypt, mostly during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten of the 18th Dynasty, whom some consider the first monotheistic ruler in the world. The novel is known for its high-level historical descriptions regarding the life and culture of the period depicted. At the same time, it also carries a pessimistic message of the essential sameness of flawed human nature throughout the ages. I found it a fine educational read with extensive background information on Egypt and surrounding areas (Crete, Babylon, Hatti) in the Middle East. It is also a fine novel that keeps the reader wanting to know what will happen next to Sinuhe. Below is a summary of reviews of The Egyptian courtesy of Wikipedia.
In sum, I found The Egyptian a golden oldie!
Tony
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Wikipedia
The Egyptian was first published by the Werner Söderströmin Corporation(WYSOY) in 1945. Initially knowledge of the novel spread through word of mouth in Finland; WSOY hadn’t advertised it due to concerns over erotic content. It gained some early notoriety through an incident by historical novelist Maila Talvio: after hearing lewd sections read out beforehand in an autumn 1945 literature event, she took offense, marched into WSOY’s office and demanded that the novel’s printing be stopped, even in vain offering to buy the whole edition when told the printing machines were already in full action. The first two editions were sold out by the end of the year, and it became one of the most discussed topics in societal and literary circles.
The few reviews before the end of the year were positive: Huugo Jalkanen of Uusi Suomi and Lauri Viljanen of Helsingin Sanomat said that the novel was no mere colourful retelling of history, but was relevant to the current attitude shaped by the events of recent years.[2][56] More reviews followed in January, and a common element among the more negative or lukewarm reviews was the scolding of Waltari’s previous work, but many saw it as a turning point for his career. The sexual depictions drew ire. Eino Sormunen of Savon Sanomat recommended discretion due to plenitudes of horrifying decadence at display, and Vaasan Jaakkoo of Ilkka warned about it as unsuitable for children. Yrjö Tönkyrä of Kaiku wrote: “Not wanting to appear in any way as a moralist, I nonetheless cannot ignore the erotic gluttony that dominates the work, as if conceived by a sick imagination – the whole world revolves for the sole purpose that people can enjoy…”
French Egyptologist Pierre Chaumelle read The Egyptian in Finnish and, in a letter featured in a Helsingin Sanomat article in 13. 8. 1946, wrote of his impressions:
“I shall with utmost sincerity attest that I haven’t read anything as remarkable in a long time. The book is indeed a work of art, its language and effects fit splendidly with the French language, it contains not a single tasteless nor crude spot nor archaeological error. Its word order, language, closely resembles the language of Egypt, and it would be a crime to translate it with less care than what it has been written with.”
Critics had been concerned that Waltari might have played fast and loose with historical events, but this article dispelled these doubts and begot a reputation of almost mythical accuracy around the novel. This lack of errors was also confirmed by the egyptological congress of Cairo, and Egyptologist Rostislav Holthoer also has since then noted that later research has confirmed some of Waltari’s speculations.
First translations
The Swedish translation by Ole Torvalds was published in late 1946, abridged with Waltari’s approval. Torvalds was careful not to omit anything essential while streamlining the pacing. Waltari praised the result. In 1948 a complete French version came out, as well as the Danish and Norwegian versions. The novel sold one million copies in Europe within the first five years after its publication.
The Egyptian saw an English release in August 1949. Putnam Publishers had asked a Swedish woman of culture (coincidentally the wife of an editor who’d previously rejected the novel) for input, and she had urged them to publish it. It was translated by Naomi Walford, not directly from Finnish but rather Swedish, and abridged even further at the behest of the aforementioned Swede, the same also hired to abridge it. About a third of the text was lost: aside from the excision of repetitions, the philosophical content suffered and key facts were omitted.
Edmund Fuller of The Saturday Review described the narrative as “colorful, provocative, completely absorbing”; he compared it to Thomas Mann‘s Joseph and His Brothers, writing: “Again, Mann’s great work is a study of ideas and of personality. The Egypt emergent from his formidable style is shown within a limited social range and is detailed only in isolated scenes. If there are deeps of the personality that Mann plumbs further, Waltari makes an exciting, vivid, and minute re-creation of the society of Thebes and of Egypt and the related world in general, ranging from Pharaoh and his neighbor kings to the outcast corpse-washers in the House of the Dead. We see, feel, smell, and taste Waltari’s Egypt. He writes in a pungent, easy style and it is obvious that he has been wonderfully served by his translator, Naomi Walford.” Gladys Schmitt, writing for The New York Times, commented on the unresolved philosophical dilemma posed between Akhnaton’s generosity for bettering the world and Horemheb’s pragmatic belligerence for stability, and praised the vibrancy and historical research evident in the characterisation of countries and social classes; however, she criticised social struggles surrounding Akhenaton as obscured, and found events oversensational and the characters composed of predictable types. Kirkus Reviews wrote: “He [Sinuhe] observes- and remembers- and in his old age writes it down, – the world as he knew it. It’s a rich book, a bawdy book, a book that carries one to distant shores and makes one feel an onlooker as was Sinuhe. The plot is tenuous, a slender thread never wholly resolved. But the book opens one’s eyes to an ancient world, nearer to ours than we think.”
Soon after its release in the USA, it was selected book of the month in September 1949, and then entered the bestseller lists in October 1949, where it remained the unparalleled two years – 550 000 copies were sold in that time. Marion Saunders, the agent who had arranged its US publication, remarked that she had never seen anything like it during her 15-year career.mIt remained the most sold foreign novel in the US before its place was taken over by The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco. Overall the reception was highly positive and some predicted Waltari as being a Nobel prize candidate.
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