شيكاجو

i am intrigued by alaa al-aswany’s latest novel (scroll down, it's the third book discussed behind the link). i'm about halfway through an english translation of al-aswany's last book which i'm really enjoying. the usual problem with books in translation is that both the original author and the translator need to be good writers for the translated novel to be good, which doubles the chance that the translated book will be bad. anyway, i lucked out with "the yacoubian building"; the translation is quite readable.

"the yacoubian building" is about life in modern cairo, a city that i've never seen (yet). so how can i resist an arab view of modern life in chicago, a city that i lived in for several years? unfortunately, my arabic is not good enough to sit down and read a novel. hopefully this humphrey davies guy will do the translation.