In The Big Night, Mohamed El-Fouly departs from the familiar paths of realist fiction to dive into a surrealist allegory, rooted in the daily life of those who live on society’s farthest edge. The novel opens with a startling event: a flying saucer descends upon Ard Al-Mawqaf, a neglected district in the “backside of the world”, followed by the appearance of a blue dome that cuts the neighbourhood off from the outside world. What might sound like the premise of a science-fiction thriller becomes, in El-Fouly’s hands, a lens through which to examine the very real fractures of class, identity, and power.
El-Fouly recalls a feverish night that sparked The Big Night: “I’m not sure whether what I saw was a dream or a hallucination… but I know I saw the opening scene, with the flying saucer descending on a crowded neighbourhood and forming that blue dome around it.” The next day, he wrote it down exactly as he had experienced it, and the writing flowed naturally. “My writing process is that I let the writing lead.”
The author deliberately maintains a tone of irony from the very beginning. Even the dedication — “to the lovers of refined language” — stands in sharp contrast to the rough, chaotic atmosphere of the story, setting the reader’s expectations for a narrative that is both sarcastic and subversive. El-Fouly resists simple labels: “In general, I’m against labelling literature. Some forms of satirical writing can actually be more serious than what we call ‘realist literature.’” He adds that while some people classify The Big Night as fantasy, it is really a mix of gravity and satire, reality and imagination, making any single label inaccurate.
El-Fouly introduces the reader to a vivid ensemble of characters, many inspired by real people; he builds on real-life traits to create back stories, motives, and psychological depths. For instance, the character of Khashaba Al-Hattab was inspired by a real figure who managed a tuk-tuk stand, though his past and characteristics were entirely imagined.
Other characters carry the quiet scars of relationships, the blend of humour and violence, or the tragic weight of unrealised ambitions. Of Antar Adma, a character who deeply touched him, El-Fouly says, “he is extremely complex, deeply layered and intense. That’s why I chose to write the chapters where he appears in a style that matches his personality.” The language mirrors each character’s depth, reflecting El-Fouly’s literary experience as a translator and reader of Spanish literature.
Looking beyond the absurdity and chaos of The Big Night reveals the deep trauma shaping each character. Alaa Box, once an innocent boy who dreamed of becoming footballer, suffered domestic abuse and false accusations from his father, which eventually pushed him into the hands of criminals. As El-Fouly explains, “there must be an end to domestic violence. There must be awareness about parenting, and about the relationship between a father and his son.” Similarly, figures like Taher exploit religion and opportunity, cloaking corruption in respectability. “The idea is that religion should not be exploited...”
Moreover, Antar Adma’s neglected and chaotic childhood shows how abandonment hardens a child, leaving them to bare survival and misunderstandings. El-Fouly also highlights modern societal issues, from the social media obsession to forced marriage and infidelity, illustrating how personal traumas ripple through communities. In the author’s own words, Ard Al-Mawqaf “is a miniature model of situations we see in everyday life,” and the novel serves as a warning that unresolved social problems will continue to produce tragic outcomes, affecting not only individuals but everyone around them.
Some readers have noted the novel’s scarcity of dialogue, but this was intentional. As El-Fouly clarifies, “whether a work contains a lot of dialogue or very little depends on taste… I felt that the structure of this novel required narration more than dialogue, and that what dialogue does appear should serve a purpose.” For some, the minimal dialogue allows for a rich, immersive view of the characters and neighbourhood; for others, it can feel slow or drawn out.
By relying on narration, El-Fouly tailors the writing to the atmosphere of the setting and the personalities of the characters, creating a voice that is present and grounded in realism. The approach prioritises storytelling and immediacy over polished literary form, breaking with traditional expectations of classical narration. Some readers have expressed discomfort with the frequent use of vulgar or coarse language which, while authentic to the neighbourhood’s voice, may feel excessive or jarring to certain audiences.
Although the arrival of the flying saucer may initially strike the reader as absurd, the intrusion is purposeful. It forces the district to confront truths it has habitually ignored: poverty, social isolation, and the darker sides of its residents. The dome not only physically isolates the neighbourhood; it also exposes what was already socially isolated. The real danger, it becomes clear, does not come from the aliens but from the people themselves, whose actions reveal cruelty, selfishness, and chaos, often more extreme than the measured behaviour of the “aliens.”
Regarding the ending, El-Fouly offers two perspectives: “Either the events really happened, or the narrator is simply a madman.” He also emphasises the novel’s tragicomic nature, explaining that the comedy and tragedy coexist throughout the story and in the fates of the characters.
When it comes to influences, El-Fouly cites authors like Isabel Allende, Guillermo Arriaga, and Juan Pablo Villalobos alongside Naguib Mahfouz and contemporary writers such as Mohamed Abdel-Gawad. Reflecting such diverse tastes, he doesn’t like to confine himself to a single genre. “I can write on many different subjects,” he insists, mentioning that he’s written a short story collection that is also far from satirical, a book on football, one about translation, and even a dark comedy about domestic violence. The Big Night is not about extraterrestrial visitations so much but about how catastrophe reveals the truths a society prefers to keep hidden. El-Fouly delivers a daring, unrefined, and deeply human work.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 4 December, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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