The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of the first (of four) volumes of Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq's seminal 1855 classic, Leg Over Leg.
This is one of the first volumes in NYU Press' new Library of Arabic Literature -- "Arabic editions and English translations of key works of classical and premodern Arabic literature" (i.e. attempting to do something like the Harvard University Press' Loeb Classical Library does for classical Greek and Latin writing) -- and, as my enthusiastic review suggests, it's a big, big deal. Zibaldone -- see the Farrar, Straus & Giroux publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk -- may well be the most impressive translation-achievement of the year, but as far as literary-historical significance goes I think Leg over Leg has it (easily) beat (and Humphrey Davies gives them a run for their money as far as translation goes, too).
Oh, yeah, it's pretty damn good book, too.
It will certainly eventually get the review-coverage it deserves -- though I wonder if publications are holding off until the complete four-book set is available (next year).
This is one of the first volumes in NYU Press' new Library of Arabic Literature -- "Arabic editions and English translations of key works of classical and premodern Arabic literature" (i.e. attempting to do something like the Harvard University Press' Loeb Classical Library does for classical Greek and Latin writing) -- and, as my enthusiastic review suggests, it's a big, big deal. Zibaldone -- see the Farrar, Straus & Giroux publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk -- may well be the most impressive translation-achievement of the year, but as far as literary-historical significance goes I think Leg over Leg has it (easily) beat (and Humphrey Davies gives them a run for their money as far as translation goes, too).
Oh, yeah, it's pretty damn good book, too.
It will certainly eventually get the review-coverage it deserves -- though I wonder if publications are holding off until the complete four-book set is available (next year).