By Night the Mountain Burns

By Night the Mountain Burns by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, translated by Jethro Soutar

In the early part of 2021, I was trying to take part in the Invisible Cities project, reading one work of translation from a country prompt per month. Unfortunately, the end of April to the end of May was a difficult reading and reviewing period for me, so although I had read By Night the Mountain Burns in time for a review in April, I was not able to post it until now. I am pleased that I am finally able to review this interesting book, even if it is a little later than planned.

Translating Libya

Translating Libya by Ethan Chorin

When I started reading Translating Libya for this month’s Invisible Cities prompts, I thought this would be simply a collection of short stories from Libya. However, I soon came to realise that this book was as much about the process of discovering these stories and the places they are set as it was sharing the actual translated stories. Whilst I enjoyed this aspect of it on an academic level, I did find myself wishing that I had read a physical copy of it rather than reading on my Kindle, since I find that an easier medium for more academic reading. However, I did enjoy this book and am glad for the introduction that it has given me to Libyan short fiction.

The Book of Cairo

The Book of Cairo, edited by Raph Cormack

Towards the end of last year, I came across the Invisible Cities Reading Project (you can find out more information about it here), in which every month three countries are chosen as prompts for readers to direct their reading, with the goal of encouraging discussion around translated works. I decided that I wanted to take part, setting myself the very small goal of simply reading one book from one of the prompt countries a month. Unfortunately, I was not able to take part in January, but for February I have read The Book of Cairo, an anthology of Egyptian short stories about the city of Cairo. As with any short fiction anthology, there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, but overall I really enjoyed this anthology and the way that it manages to so easily transport you to the city of Cairo.