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BOOKS I N BR I E F cleverly conveys the tone and register of the original. Bar Alto is Guène’s third novel, following her accalaimed Just Like Tomorrow and Dreams from the Endz, also translated by Sarah Ardizzone and reviewed in Banipal 37. Vintage Books, London, 156pp, pbk, £7.99. ISBN 9780099539575. CB. The Conquest of Andalusia by Jurji Zaidan (1861–1914), the prolific Lebanese novelist and intellectual leader of the Arab Renaissance, is the first English translation of the author’s great historical novel. His works, though widely translated into other languages, had until recently not been available in English.The story is set just before the Muslim conquest of Spain in 710 CE. Its hero is Alfonso, son of the deposed king of Spain. The usurper, King Roderic, has fallen in love with Alfonso’s fiancée, Florinda, and the betrothed couple must use all their wits and daring to maintain their engagement. When Florinda’s father hears of the King’s desires, he sides with the Muslim forces in an attempt to depose the King.The story is fast-paced and full of adventure, entwined with historical details of the conquest of Spain under Tariq ibn Ziyad. This is one of the first historical novels written in Arabic. Translated by Roger Allen, The Conquest of Andalusia is published by the Zaidan Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland, 2010, pbk, 369pp, ISBN: 978-0-61549-959-8. FC. WeAre All Equally Far from Love by Adania Shibli, translated by Paul Starkey. Shibli creates a good sense of isolation and longing in her second novel as the different – generally anonymous – characters reveal the frustrated passions and dashed hopes of fleeting, ephemeral relationships, with letters sent to an unknown man, a woman glimpsed in a town square or encountered in a supermarket. Paul Starkey notes that the English differs from the Arabic original as the author withdrew the letters referred to above as well as making other small changes during the translation process. With three chapters already published, translated by other translators,, online and in print, and a section of the novel set text for a 2010 British Council translation workshop, whose results Paul managed to incorporate, with some modifications – it is very much an experimental work in translation. Clockroot Books, USA, pp148, pbk, ISBN 9781566568630. $15. CB. 214 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES
page 217
BOOKS I N BR I E F Taxi by Khaled AlKhamissi, translated by Jonathan Wright. This is a new edition of the Egyptian bestseller, first published in English in 2008. Of Cairo’s 80,000 taxi drivers, fifty-eight briefly tell their stories, be they hilarious or poignantly sad. They are woven together by AlKhamissi into a patchwork that careens the reader through the streets of Cairo. Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, Doha, 2011, pbk, 179pp, ISBN: 978-9-992-17871-3. FC. POETRY Gathering theTide: An Anthology of Contemporary Gulf Poetry is an unusual volume. It started life as a project by students of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Doha, Qatar to collect and translate poems by established and emerging poets from the Gulf region for use in their poetry classes. Over three years, it grew to be the first major anthology of the region’s poetry, with works by 48 poets from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (and almost as many translators). Saudi poet Nimah Ismail Nawwab writes in the book that the anthology shows how poetry “can build bridges in this global world” and “cross boundaries”. The poems themselves show the ever-widening range of themes, styles and imagination, in contemporary poetry from the Arab world, including surrealism, social protest, portraits of loss, love and social change. Edited by Patty Paine, Jeff Lodge and Samia Touati with an introduction by the poet David Wojahn. Ithaca Press, hbk, pbk, 366pp. MO. The War on Idigna by Waleed Al-Bazoon. Although his work has appeared in various anthologies, this is Al-Bazoon’s first poetry collection and focuses on war and conflict, particularly the 2003 Iraq War, but also the Gulf Wars of the previous decades.Al-Bazoon depicts the way these conflicts crippled his home country. However, although the BANIPAL 43 – SPRING 2012 215

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BOOKS I N BR I E F

cleverly conveys the tone and register of the original. Bar Alto is Guène’s third novel, following her accalaimed Just Like Tomorrow and Dreams from the Endz, also translated by Sarah Ardizzone and reviewed in Banipal 37. Vintage Books, London, 156pp, pbk, £7.99. ISBN 9780099539575. CB.

The Conquest of Andalusia by Jurji Zaidan (1861–1914), the prolific Lebanese novelist and intellectual leader of the Arab Renaissance, is the first English translation of the author’s great historical novel. His works, though widely translated into other languages, had until recently not been available in English.The story is set just before the Muslim conquest of Spain in 710 CE. Its hero is Alfonso, son of the deposed king of Spain. The usurper, King Roderic, has fallen in love with Alfonso’s fiancée, Florinda, and the betrothed couple must use all their wits and daring to maintain their engagement. When Florinda’s father hears of the King’s desires, he sides with the Muslim forces in an attempt to depose the King.The story is fast-paced and full of adventure, entwined with historical details of the conquest of Spain under Tariq ibn Ziyad. This is one of the first historical novels written in Arabic. Translated by Roger Allen, The Conquest of Andalusia is published by the Zaidan Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland, 2010, pbk, 369pp, ISBN: 978-0-61549-959-8. FC.

WeAre All Equally Far from Love by Adania Shibli, translated by Paul Starkey. Shibli creates a good sense of isolation and longing in her second novel as the different – generally anonymous – characters reveal the frustrated passions and dashed hopes of fleeting, ephemeral relationships, with letters sent to an unknown man, a woman glimpsed in a town square or encountered in a supermarket. Paul Starkey notes that the English differs from the Arabic original as the author withdrew the letters referred to above as well as making other small changes during the translation process. With three chapters already published, translated by other translators,, online and in print, and a section of the novel set text for a 2010 British Council translation workshop, whose results Paul managed to incorporate, with some modifications – it is very much an experimental work in translation. Clockroot Books, USA, pp148, pbk, ISBN 9781566568630. $15. CB.

214 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES

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