''The Picnic at Sakkara'' is a 1955 novel by P.H. Newby. It is about a lecturer at Cairo University, Edgar Perry, during the rule of King Farouk. He becomes tutor to a

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

, and is swept into a conflict between Western ways and the

Moslem Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( '), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic studies, Islamic scholar and scho ...

. It is a comedic novel.

Reception

Anthony Thwaite Anthony Simon Thwaite (23 June 1930 – 22 April 2021) was an English poet and critic, widely known as the editor of his friend Philip Larkin's collected poems and letters. Early years and education Born in Chester, England, to Yorkshire par ...

called it "wonderful", and said that it was Newby's "most successful and memorable achievement."Obituary:P.H. Newby
in The Independent; published September 9, 1997; retrieved September 11, 2019 ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', however, found it to be "idiosyncratic" and an

acquired taste An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most persons without ...

.THE PICNIC AT SAKKARA
reviewed in ''

''; first published August 23, 1955; retrieved September 11, 2019

References

1955 British novels English-language novels Novels set in Egypt Jonathan Cape books {{1950s-novel-stub