Circling the Square: Stories from the Egyptian Revolution - Softcover

Wendell Steavenson

9781783782345: Circling the Square: Stories from the Egyptian Revolution

Softcover

ISBN 10: 178378234X ISBN 13: 9781783782345

Publisher: Granta Books, 2015

In January 2011, as the crowds gathered to protest Mubarak's three decades of rule in Egypt, Wendell Steavenson went to Cairo to cover the story. But the revolution defied historical precedent, and it defied the templates of storytelling. There was no single villain, no lone hero, no neat conclusion that wouldn't be overturned the next day., Tahrir Square changed its moods like the weather; fickle, violent, hopeful, carnival. As she walks among the tents and the tanks, falling into conversation, sharing cigarettes and cold soda, Steavenson tells the story of a seismic historical moment as it is experienced by ordinary citizens. Here, we meet a young man from the slums with his homemade pistol; a seasoned observer who gives up on analysis; a leader who doesn't want to lead thrust uncomfortably into the spotlight; a Muslim Brotherhood politician trying to smooth over a restless parliament; and a military intelligence officer convinced that only the army can save Egypt., Steavenson captures the cacophony of dizzying events as protests and elections ebbed and flowed around the revolution, tipping it towards democracy and then back into the military's hands. Mixing reportage and travelogue, Circling the Square shows how the particular and the personal can illuminate more universal questions: what does democracy mean? What happens when a revolution throws everything up in the air?

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

'Steavenson is frank about the pressure on her as a journalist to 'explain' Egypt, to distil the revolution's swirling currents into an authoritative account of 'characters and beginnings and middles and conclusions'...Circling the Square eschews this manufactured certainty for a kaleidoscope of impressions that reflect the sensory onslaught of Cairo in general and revolutionary Cairo in particular. This is the revolution up close and personal, a vivid taste of the fear and exhilaration of protest in the square, embellished with excursions - to a subsidised bakery, to play pool with local strongmen, on a beach holiday with a military intelligence officer - that illuminate the subtler workings of Egyptian society.' --Rachel Aspden, The Guardian

'Steavenson writes beautifully, layering images and details in packed, breathless sentences that show rather than tell what it was like to witness the frequent and often incomprehensible eruptions of violence in the square, the street battles between police and protesters, the stone-throwing, the crowds running as the security forces charged and tear gas filled the air, the elections and the mixture of hope and despair that drove the country's youth. Circling the Square provides valuable testimony to the inspiring spirit of unity and selflessness in Tahrir so evident during those 18 days and, periodically, during the first year after the revolution before polarisation and cynicism took over' -- Financial Times

'When Steavenson sticks to her craft of densely layered reportage, the results are impressive. She moves easily between the most privileged sections of Egyptian society, from the liberal bourgeoisie and the military to the depths where life is utterly desperate, providing vivid pen portraits along the way' --Literary Review

From the Back Cover:

What happened to the promise of Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring?

On January 25, 2011, the world was watching Cairo. Egyptians of every stripe came together in Tahrir Square to protest Hosni Mubarak's three decades of brutal rule. After many hopeful, turbulent years, however, Egypt seems to be back where it began, with another strongman, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in power. How did this happen?

In Circling the Square, Wendell Steavenson uses literary reportage to describe the intimate ironies and ad hoc movements of the Egyptian revolution--from Mubarak's fall to Mohammed Morsi's. Vignettes, incidents, anecdotes, conversations, musings, observations and character sketches cast a fresh light on this vital Middle Eastern story.

Closely observing a wide range of people from a thug in a slum with a homemade gun to the democracy/documentary makers on Tahrir Square, to fundamentalist imams and military intelligence officers, Steavenson dares to ask: what am I looking at and how can I begin to understand it?

With a novelist's eye for character, Steavenson paints indelible, instantly recognizable portraits and dilemmas that illuminate universal questions. What does democracy mean? What happens when a revolution throws the ideas and values of a society into crisis? What is a revolution, and, finally, what can it accomplish?

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.