Memories in Translation A Life between the Lines of Arabic Literature by Denys Johnson-Davies (Cairo and New York: The American University in Cairo Press, 2006. 139 pages.)

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Naama Ben Ami

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Abstract

The book’s title and subtitle are both concise and apt characterizations. After
more than sixty years of work as a translator and a writer, Johnson-Davies
takes the reader on a journey through memories told as if relived through
writing. The language is clear, fluent, and businesslike. Interspersed in the
account are humorous anecdotes about some of his more embarrassing experiences
as a translator.
The book has a foreword by Naguib Mahfouz (d. 2006), the Nobel Prizewinning
(1988) Egyptian writer with whom the author had an acquaintanceship
going back sixty years and several of whose books he translated.
Twenty-two photographs show the author at various times in his life (1922-
2000) at work, with friends, writers, poets, and various personalities. Every
photograph is fully documented as regards location, names, date, and other ...

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