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Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry by Mahmoud Darwish, Adonis, Samih al-Qasim
ashkitty93's review against another edition
5.0
Intense work from all three poets.
On the day you kill me
You'll find in my pocket
Travel tickets
To peace,
To the fields and the rain,
To people's conscience.
Don't waste the tickets.
-- Travel Tickets, by Samih al-Qasim
My era tells me bluntly:
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull.
from The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982), by Adonis
On the day you kill me
You'll find in my pocket
Travel tickets
To peace,
To the fields and the rain,
To people's conscience.
Don't waste the tickets.
-- Travel Tickets, by Samih al-Qasim
My era tells me bluntly:
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull.
from The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982), by Adonis
zilha's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
alonidote's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Moderate: Grief, Death, and Child death
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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