Customer Reviews

A Time Between Ashes & Roses (Middle East Literature in Translation)

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This book of poetry is worth it because it contains Adonis's legendary poem "Grave for New York," (sometimes translated "Funeral for New York.") This poem is absolutely stunning. Every time that I read it out loud, I am floored. Adonis calls out the corruption and the disease of New York in a long, lyrical, radical poem. He mourns the Statue of Liberty and the materialism of the streets. He mourns for the people while New York does battle with the Earth. This poem was written before 9/11 and is written by a compassionate Arab. Poems like this are the reason why Adonis has been nominated more than once for the Pulitzer Prize. He stands up for the suffocation of the planet in a physical location responsible for a lot of the suffering. This poem is one of the most profound that I have ever read.

Post-add: I just wanted to say that the other poems in this collection are outstanding in their own right. This book as a whole is the best book that I have read by Adonis that has been translated into English. It also is laid out very nicely. I would highly recommend this for anyone with a serious interest in poetry that is both inspirational and educational. It is not often that I find a new poet (new in the sense that I have not discovered them before) whose works I instantly want to read all of. Adonis is one such poet. And a Time Between Ashes and Roses is the best place to start (provided that you like longer lyrical non-rhyming poems).

For those interested, I heard that his pen name became Adonis when he could not get published under his Arab name...

A Time Between Ashes And Roses brings to the attention of a Western readership the poetry and prose of Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said), a controversial writer in the Arab world who provocative thoughts are grounded in traditional poetic styles. Very ably translated into English by Shawkat M. Toorawa (who also provides an informative Afterword), A Time Between Ashes And Roses is a bilingual edition and a welcome contribution to Arabic Culture Studies. A freedom fighter traces his name in fire, and in the frozen throats/He dies/Jerusalem traces her name:/The State still exists/The State still exists.//Even so, the butchered river flows:/All water is the face of Jaffa/Every wound the face of Jaffa.