Reviews
Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry by Mahmoud Darwish, Adonis, Samih al-Qasim
laydownyoursoul's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible. In particular, this was the first time I really sat down and read this much of Adonis' work, and his poems are a revelation. Get him his Nobel prize already! Masterful work from all three authors, who work really nicely alongside each other, while being very different. The translation was good, although there will always be some wordplay, images and devices that are extremely difficult to translate. Will definitely be reading again. Such an intense, enveloping experience. So many highlighted notes and images to go back to. Look forward to reading more from all of these authors.
lucyarditi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
asm21's review against another edition
5.0
3 poets with 3 very different styles and energy. The mourning and sorrow in these poets are so tangible! I read this books as an introduction to Arabic poetry and oh boy if I was mesmerized by it. I have read somewhere that Adonis happens to be the most mature of these poets. Yet, I actually found my self liking the other 2 way more. Mahmud Darwish has this fantastic ability to convey hope and sorrow through beautiful imagery, I think a beautiful example "We are entitled to love Autumn". I loved Samih al-Qasim, his genius comes out especially in short poems that tickle you and makes you read them multiple times. The poem "Abandoning" had me sobbing, which was completely unexpected.
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