Book Review;Revolution inEgypt;Square eyes

　　書評;埃及的革命;廣場上的旁觀者

　　Cairo: My City, Our Revolution. By Ahdaf Soueif.

　　開羅：我的城市，我們的革命。作者：AHDAF SOUEIF。

　　The big themes of history may be written by thevictors, but it is the observant bystanders who fill inthe details. When Hosni Mubarak was overthrown inCairo a year ago, among those watching was AhdafSoueif, a novelist born in Egypt and mostly residentin London. She missed the first three days as wellas some of the postnatal struggles of the new era. As a liberal leftist she is at best a partialvictor, given that Islamists took control of the streets after the big battles were won.

　　歷史的主干由勝利者書寫，而敏銳的旁觀者用細節豐富歷史。一年前穆巴拉克在開羅被推翻，當時，小說家AHDAF SOUEIF是旁觀者之一。她出生于埃及，大部分時間都居住在倫敦。革命的前三天，她不在場，未能經歷新時代最初的斗爭。鑒于在重大戰斗取得勝利后，是伊斯蘭主義者控制了街道，作為自由左派的AHDAF SOUEIF最多算半個勝利者。

　　So her view of the revolution maynever dominate the new textbooksnow being prepared in Egypt. Thebearded men who will most likelydictate what is in them, however, cannot entirely ignore what she recorded during theinitial 18 days that felled the tyrant and his cronies. Well- observed details have anunmistakable ring of truth and revisionist historians ignore them at their peril.

　　所以她對革命的看法決不可能成為埃及正在準備的新教科書的主要觀點。那些大胡子的男人很可能把自己的意志印作教材，但AHDAF SOUEIF記錄下了推倒暴君及其死黨的最初十八天，他們沒法完全忽略這些記錄。清晰的細節意味著明白無誤的真相，修正主義的歷史學家卻忽略細節，結果使得真相可能模糊不清。

　　Ms Soueif has collected her notes in a book that above all conveys what it felt like to be inTahrir Square, to face the police on the Nile bridges, to stumble into makeshift hospitalsfilled with bloodied youths. She has an eye for ephemera at the edge of a vast stage: thattear-gas canisters become more not less potent when they pass their expiry date, that in Julylast year a Saudi flag appeared in Tahrir Square, that the soldiers took possession of anyUS dollar bills they came across as evidence of demonstrators being foreign agents.

　　SOUEIF女士整理筆記匯集成書。此書最想傳達給讀者的是：當身處動蕩的解放廣場時，當在尼羅河橋上與警察對峙時，當無意中踏進擠滿渾身血污青年的臨時醫院時，會有什么樣的感受。作者獨具慧眼，發現了一些廣闊舞臺邊上轉眼即逝的小事：過期的催淚瓦斯過濾罐不僅沒失效，反而更有效;去年七月解放廣場出現一面沙特國旗;士兵們拿走他們搜到的每一張美元，說是作為示威者是外國間諜的證據。

　　She captures the deep contempt of the youths for the old rulers, quoting a teenageacquaintance as saying of the Mubarak men: Before they open their mouths theyre liars;they breathe lies.And she records imaginative chants of revolutionaries marching throughhard-up districts of the city trying to win allies by warning the residents: Prices up and noone cares / Next youll sell your bed and chairs.

　　她留意到了年輕人對舊統治者深深的蔑視。作者有個熟人不到二十歲，她引用了此人評論穆巴拉克份子的話：他們說謊不用開口，因為他們呼吸的都是謊言。當革命者游行經過開羅貧窮社區的時候，為了贏得支持，他們提醒那些居民：物價上漲沒人管，你馬上就要連床和桌椅板凳都賣掉了，作者記錄下了這些充滿想象力的口號。

　　The lifeblood of Cairo visibly quickens during the days and months she chronicles. Her tonecan be bombastic, breathless and laden with pathos, just as it was on the city streets. Thenarrative has a rushed, unfinished quality, much like the revolution itself. She inserts aflash-forward halfway through the account of the 18 days of revolution, in which she picks atwhat followed, especially the rise of the Islamists. All of it adds to the sense of drama.

　　在作者記錄的那些日子里，開羅明顯比以前更有生命力。作者的語調：夸張浮躁、扣人心弦以及充滿悲愴，好似開羅街上的氣氛。她的敘述和革命本身一樣，有點匆忙、不夠完整。在對18天革命的描述中，她在中間插入了一段對未來的展望。在展望中，她梳理出革命之后會發生的情況，特別是伊斯蘭主義者的崛起。所有這些增加了本書的戲劇性。

　　The most successful passages juxtapose the personal and the political. The narrative ofstreet fighting is interleaved with personal memories of a previous age: here the house of abeloved aunt, there the studio where she acted in a television drama. The reader gets avisceral sense of the dislocation the revolutionaries felt in their own city.

　　此書最成功的地方在于把私人生活與政治事件聯系起來。在敘述巷戰的那段，作者插敘了一些自己過去生活的回憶：某處是至愛的姑媽家，某處是她曾經拍電視劇的攝影棚。對埃及的混亂，讀者能發自內心地與革命者感同身受。

　　There is little clever analysis in the book, but that hardly matters. In years to come it will bea reminder to liberalsnow once again in the opposition following the recent electionvictory of Egypts Islamistsof their most glorious hour. It should serve as a hearteningreminder of what they are capable of achieving when united and courageous.

　　本書沒有什么精彩的分析，但瑕不掩瑜。多年之后以及現在本書都能使自由主義者回想起他們最光榮的時刻。這是本振奮人心的書，它提醒人們只要團結并勇敢，就有能力得到自己追求的東西。

　　Book Review;Revolution inEgypt;Square eyes

　　書評;埃及的革命;廣場上的旁觀者

　　Cairo: My City, Our Revolution. By Ahdaf Soueif.

　　開羅：我的城市，我們的革命。作者：AHDAF SOUEIF。

　　The big themes of history may be written by thevictors, but it is the observant bystanders who fill inthe details. When Hosni Mubarak was overthrown inCairo a year ago, among those watching was AhdafSoueif, a novelist born in Egypt and mostly residentin London. She missed the first three days as wellas some of the postnatal struggles of the new era. As a liberal leftist she is at best a partialvictor, given that Islamists took control of the streets after the big battles were won.

　　歷史的主干由勝利者書寫，而敏銳的旁觀者用細節豐富歷史。一年前穆巴拉克在開羅被推翻，當時，小說家AHDAF SOUEIF是旁觀者之一。她出生于埃及，大部分時間都居住在倫敦。革命的前三天，她不在場，未能經歷新時代最初的斗爭。鑒于在重大戰斗取得勝利后，是伊斯蘭主義者控制了街道，作為自由左派的AHDAF SOUEIF最多算半個勝利者。

　　So her view of the revolution maynever dominate the new textbooksnow being prepared in Egypt. Thebearded men who will most likelydictate what is in them, however, cannot entirely ignore what she recorded during theinitial 18 days that felled the tyrant and his cronies. Well- observed details have anunmistakable ring of truth and revisionist historians ignore them at their peril.

　　所以她對革命的看法決不可能成為埃及正在準備的新教科書的主要觀點。那些大胡子的男人很可能把自己的意志印作教材，但AHDAF SOUEIF記錄下了推倒暴君及其死黨的最初十八天，他們沒法完全忽略這些記錄。清晰的細節意味著明白無誤的真相，修正主義的歷史學家卻忽略細節，結果使得真相可能模糊不清。

　　Ms Soueif has collected her notes in a book that above all conveys what it felt like to be inTahrir Square, to face the police on the Nile bridges, to stumble into makeshift hospitalsfilled with bloodied youths. She has an eye for ephemera at the edge of a vast stage: thattear-gas canisters become more not less potent when they pass their expiry date, that in Julylast year a Saudi flag appeared in Tahrir Square, that the soldiers took possession of anyUS dollar bills they came across as evidence of demonstrators being foreign agents.

　　SOUEIF女士整理筆記匯集成書。此書最想傳達給讀者的是：當身處動蕩的解放廣場時，當在尼羅河橋上與警察對峙時，當無意中踏進擠滿渾身血污青年的臨時醫院時，會有什么樣的感受。作者獨具慧眼，發現了一些廣闊舞臺邊上轉眼即逝的小事：過期的催淚瓦斯過濾罐不僅沒失效，反而更有效;去年七月解放廣場出現一面沙特國旗;士兵們拿走他們搜到的每一張美元，說是作為示威者是外國間諜的證據。

　　She captures the deep contempt of the youths for the old rulers, quoting a teenageacquaintance as saying of the Mubarak men: Before they open their mouths theyre liars;they breathe lies.And she records imaginative chants of revolutionaries marching throughhard-up districts of the city trying to win allies by warning the residents: Prices up and noone cares / Next youll sell your bed and chairs.

　　她留意到了年輕人對舊統治者深深的蔑視。作者有個熟人不到二十歲，她引用了此人評論穆巴拉克份子的話：他們說謊不用開口，因為他們呼吸的都是謊言。當革命者游行經過開羅貧窮社區的時候，為了贏得支持，他們提醒那些居民：物價上漲沒人管，你馬上就要連床和桌椅板凳都賣掉了，作者記錄下了這些充滿想象力的口號。

　　The lifeblood of Cairo visibly quickens during the days and months she chronicles. Her tonecan be bombastic, breathless and laden with pathos, just as it was on the city streets. Thenarrative has a rushed, unfinished quality, much like the revolution itself. She inserts aflash-forward halfway through the account of the 18 days of revolution, in which she picks atwhat followed, especially the rise of the Islamists. All of it adds to the sense of drama.

　　在作者記錄的那些日子里，開羅明顯比以前更有生命力。作者的語調：夸張浮躁、扣人心弦以及充滿悲愴，好似開羅街上的氣氛。她的敘述和革命本身一樣，有點匆忙、不夠完整。在對18天革命的描述中，她在中間插入了一段對未來的展望。在展望中，她梳理出革命之后會發生的情況，特別是伊斯蘭主義者的崛起。所有這些增加了本書的戲劇性。

　　The most successful passages juxtapose the personal and the political. The narrative ofstreet fighting is interleaved with personal memories of a previous age: here the house of abeloved aunt, there the studio where she acted in a television drama. The reader gets avisceral sense of the dislocation the revolutionaries felt in their own city.

　　此書最成功的地方在于把私人生活與政治事件聯系起來。在敘述巷戰的那段，作者插敘了一些自己過去生活的回憶：某處是至愛的姑媽家，某處是她曾經拍電視劇的攝影棚。對埃及的混亂，讀者能發自內心地與革命者感同身受。

　　There is little clever analysis in the book, but that hardly matters. In years to come it will bea reminder to liberalsnow once again in the opposition following the recent electionvictory of Egypts Islamistsof their most glorious hour. It should serve as a hearteningreminder of what they are capable of achieving when united and courageous.

　　本書沒有什么精彩的分析，但瑕不掩瑜。多年之后以及現在本書都能使自由主義者回想起他們最光榮的時刻。這是本振奮人心的書，它提醒人們只要團結并勇敢，就有能力得到自己追求的東西。