RANDA JARRAR

of Tristam Shandy. The internet can be so good.

The London Times has a review of Margaret Atwood’s newest, The Penelopiad, which tells the Odyssey from Penelope’s point of view.

Mona Anis, who once translated Pinter’s No Man’s Land into Arabic, writes about Pinter, the theater fire incident last month during Albee’s The Zoo Story, and Mohamed Abdel-Wahid’s Mothaqafoun taht al-talab (Intellectuals for Sale). It’s a beautiful article. Check it out here.

An Arabised version of The Simpsons is showing on Arabic TV this Ramadan.

I spent last night looking over the Odyssey to re-familiarize myself with it. I read until midnight, at which point I turned out the lights and got under the covers and passed out. That’s when the side effects began.

I dreamt all night that I was in the ocean– easily my favorite place to be– being courted by Poseidon. Eventually, I gave in, even though he’s grudgy and doesn’t heal well, and has tendencies to be violent, all qualities that don’t match with my list of non-negotiables for a partner.

But I was too horny to fight, and we ended up having all sorts of, um, intercourse, even though he was at least 20 feet tall. The funniest part was when he put me on a leash while I swam around.

Eventually, I convinced him to come over for dinner, on land, but as soon as he showed up, we had sex on the stoop in front of my apartment. I became convinced that our relationship was too sex-centered, and dumped him by waking up.

I’m brushing up on the Iliad next. I predict/ hope for dreams about orgies with the Myrmidons.

With the internet off at home and the kiddo at school, I’ve been-gasp!- doing a bit of reading. Books, not blogs. It’s been nice. Here’s a little list of stuff I’ve read (the strarred ones I am still in the process of inhaling):

SISTER, by Jim Lewis.

This book is extraordinary. I read it in one sitting.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS, by Gertrude Stein.

I guess this book doesn’t really need an introduction. I went to Sarah Lawrence, and rebelled against reading books that everyone was reading, but I’m glad, because when I finally did read it, I loved it.

*BECOMING AMERICAN, by Alixa Naff.

All about how Arab-Americans came, peddled, and almost assimilated their culture away.

WATERLOO, by Karen Olsson.

I have no idea what the NYTBR was talking about. Every character in this book is vivid and well-crafted. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

EL PUENTE, THE BRIDGE, by Ito Romo.

A gorgeous little book that bridges the stories of several Mexican/American women on both sides of the border.

*THE END OF THE AFFAIR, by Graham Greene.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read this. Better late than never?

WWB is looking for suggestions for stories and poems from Sudan for a forthcoming anthology. If you’re a literary translator, or know anyone who is, and have ideas, please email me at randajarrar at yahoo dot com. Thanks.

Sorry for the silence around these parts this week. Translations+child’s week off from school+no internet access at home+last minute weekend trip+grad school apps= zero blogging.

I’ll be back next Tuesday!

Here is the list:

FICTION:

E.L. Doctorow, The March (Random House)

Mary Gaitskill, Veronica (Pantheon)

Christopher Sorrentino, Trance
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Renè Steinke, Holy Skirts (William Morrow)

William T. Vollmann, Europe Central (Viking)

NON-FIC:

Alan Burdick, Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Leo Damrosch, Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius (Houghton Mifflin)

Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking (Alfred A. Knopf)

Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers (Times Books)

Adam Hochschild, Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves (Houghton Mifflin)

POETRY:

John Ashbery, Where Shall I Wander (Ecco)

Frank Bidart, Star Dust: Poems (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Brendan Galvin, Habitat: New and Selected Poems, 1965-2005
(Louisiana State University Press)

W.S. Merwin, Migration: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press)

Vern Rutsala, The Moment’s Equation (Ashland Poetry Press)

YOUNG PEEPS:

Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks (Alfred A. Knopf)

Adele Griffin, Where I Want to Be (Putnam)

Chris Lynch, Inexcusable (Atheneum)

Walter Dean Myers, Autobiography of My Dead Brother (HarperTempest)

Deborah Wiles, Each Little Bird That Sings (Harcourt)

I read, and liked, Veronica. I hope it wins.

If you’re in TX and still haven’t heard about the nonsense coming our way in November, go here.