Let me start off by saying that this is not an easy read. This book is a gritty, depressing and at times rather disgusting book that looks at the break down of society. But all these features - all the terrible things about the book - are exactly what makes the book so successful.

Set in the year 2023, Egypt is divided into the rich and the poor. There is no more middle class. The rich live in a fenced off and heavily guarded utopia. The poor live in squalor, although some are bussed into Utopia everyday to do jobs for the wealthy. Although we may not be quite here yet, the author paints a grim and believable image of our future. I can definitely see things sliding into such extreme divisions in the future with war, climate change and all the other problems that humans are creating and facing.

This book follows two points of view - one of a rich boy who snuck off to explore the world because he's bored and because he can, and that of his guide. We get to see the similarities and differences of the two worlds and how much disdain they have for each other. Some of the imagery resonated with me as some of the descriptions very much remind me of some of the poorer areas that already exists and how people live in them. Both of these characters are pretty terrible, but I definitely feel more hatred towards our rich snob He learns nothing during his time exploring the darker world outside Utopia and remains just as entitled and violent as ever.

Did I love this book? Yes. As can be seen by the rating. But I also hated it just as much. Be warned if you choose to read it. It shows a dark and broken down society with very little light. But it is very well written and definitely worth reading if you can stomach it. ( )

كويسة بس سوداوية قوي ( )

مش عارف بصراحه الراجل ده بيعمل فينا كده ليه
انا بكره الواقعيه والروايه واقعيه بشكل مخيف جدا فعلا رغم انها في زمن المفروض انه بعدين
الغني خلاص بيوصل لمرحله انه بيفتكر نفسه اله فعلا وبيتصرف علي اسا كده وانه بيمتلك الدنيا والفقير بيفقد كل حاجه فعلا لدرجه انه تقريبا مابيكونش حي
ف زمن بتختفي كل حاجه في المعسكرين من اخلاق , من دين , من قيم , من امل , من طموح , من مشاعر , من اي حاجه
وفي المعسكرين بينحط الانسان لحاجه دون الانسان
في ناس كتير موجوده دلوقت فعلا كده , بني ادمين بالفطره انما ف الحقيقه هما حاجه دون البشريه
مش عارف بقي الغلط من مين , تراكمات مجتمع دي ودا اختيار ولا ايه
هل ينفع حاجه زي دي تتحل بعيد عن اصلها وسببها ونقول سيبك من السبب والماضي وخلينا ف ازاي نصلح الحاضر
مشكله البيضه ولا الفرخه , ندرس الماضي علشان نعرف نصلح الحاضر ولا ارمي الماضي علشان تعرف تقدر تفكر في المستقبل ( )

Amazing .. it has some disgusting things but it can be overlooked .. 100 % worth it ( )

Le Caire, 2023. Utopia est une ville barricadée, gardée par des ex-marines à la retraite. Les habitants y vivent dans le luxe et ont accès à tout ce que l’on peut se procurer par le biais de l’argent. Les jeunes, qui y sont nés et qui y grandissent, cherchent à rompre l’ennui par tous les moyens. L’une des activités les plus prisées est la chasse à l’homme. Il faut ramener une proie vivante à Utopia en se faufilant incognito chez Les Autres, les pauvres. Seulement voilà, lorsque Larine et son amie Germinal tentent l’aventure, les choses ne se déroulent pas tout-à-fait comme prévu ; de chasseurs, ils deviennent proies.

C’est un roman dystopique où le proverbe « l’oisiveté est mère de tous les vices » prend tout son sens, où l’on est amené à réfléchir sur le fonctionnement actuel du monde par peur de ce que demain pourrait probablement être et où l’on a un aperçu de ce que l’être-humain est prêt à faire pour survivre, faute de vivre. ( )