It has a very naturalistic element to it, much like Old Goriot by Balzac. When I first read Old Goriot I fell in love with it, which I wondered why since it's really rather boring. I realized later that it was Balzac's style of writing, which is very naturalistic and describes the monotony of everyday events. It's deceivingly simple. 

Old Goriot and Midaq Alley both remind me of my first love: 100 Years of Solitude. 100 Years of Solitude is an amazing book that also describes (somewhat) the monotony of everyday life in a span of 100 years. I decided that if I was ever to write a novel it would take on this style although I am quite aware that this style of writing has gone out of fashion decades ago.

Anyway, just as I was writing this post I realized something, Old Goriot was originally written in French and translated into English, Midaq Alley was originally in Arabic and 100 Years of Solitude was originally in Spanish. 

So yeah, Valentines day is coming up. 

More on this later.