Book Review;Revolution inEgypt;Square eyes

　　书评;埃及的革命;广场上的旁观者

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

　　开罗：我的城市，我们的革命。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.

　　历史的主干由胜利者书写，而敏锐的旁观者用细节丰富历史。一年前穆巴拉克在开罗被推翻，当时，小说家AHDAF SOUEIF是旁观者之一。她出生于埃及，大部分时间都居住在伦敦。革命的前三天，她不在场，未能经历新时代最初的斗争。鉴于在重大战斗取得胜利后，是伊斯兰主义者控制了街道，作为自由左派的AHDAF SOUEIF最多算半个胜利者。

　　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.

　　所以她对革命的看法决不可能成为埃及正在准备的新教科书的主要观点。那些大胡子的男人很可能把自己的意志印作教材，但AHDAF SOUEIF记录下了推倒暴君及其死党的最初十八天，他们没法完全忽略这些记录。清晰的细节意味着明白无误的真相，修正主义的历史学家却忽略细节，结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女士整理笔记汇集成书。此书最想传达给读者的是：当身处动荡的解放广场时，当在尼罗河桥上与警察对峙时，当无意中踏进挤满浑身血污青年的临时医院时，会有什么样的感受。作者独具慧眼，发现了一些广阔舞台边上转眼即逝的小事：过期的催泪瓦斯过滤罐不仅没失效，反而更有效;去年七月解放广场出现一面沙特国旗;士兵们拿走他们搜到的每一张美元，说是作为示威者是外国间谍的证据。

　　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.

　　她留意到了年轻人对旧统治者深深的蔑视。作者有个熟人不到二十岁，她引用了此人评论穆巴拉克份子的话：他们说谎不用开口，因为他们呼吸的都是谎言。当革命者游行经过开罗贫穷社区的时候，为了赢得支持，他们提醒那些居民：物价上涨没人管，你马上就要连床和桌椅板凳都卖掉了，作者记录下了这些充满想象力的口号。

　　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.

　　在作者记录的那些日子里，开罗明显比以前更有生命力。作者的语调：夸张浮躁、扣人心弦以及充满悲怆，好似开罗街上的气氛。她的叙述和革命本身一样，有点匆忙、不够完整。在对18天革命的描述中，她在中间插入了一段对未来的展望。在展望中，她梳理出革命之后会发生的情况，特别是伊斯兰主义者的崛起。所有这些增加了本书的戏剧性。

　　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.

　　此书最成功的地方在于把私人生活与政治事件联系起来。在叙述巷战的那段，作者插叙了一些自己过去生活的回忆：某处是至爱的姑妈家，某处是她曾经拍电视剧的摄影棚。对埃及的混乱，读者能发自内心地与革命者感同身受。

　　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.

　　本书没有什么精彩的分析，但瑕不掩瑜。多年之后以及现在本书都能使自由主义者回想起他们最光荣的时刻。这是本振奋人心的书，它提醒人们只要团结并勇敢，就有能力得到自己追求的东西。

　　Book Review;Revolution inEgypt;Square eyes

　　书评;埃及的革命;广场上的旁观者

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

　　开罗：我的城市，我们的革命。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.

　　历史的主干由胜利者书写，而敏锐的旁观者用细节丰富历史。一年前穆巴拉克在开罗被推翻，当时，小说家AHDAF SOUEIF是旁观者之一。她出生于埃及，大部分时间都居住在伦敦。革命的前三天，她不在场，未能经历新时代最初的斗争。鉴于在重大战斗取得胜利后，是伊斯兰主义者控制了街道，作为自由左派的AHDAF SOUEIF最多算半个胜利者。

　　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.

　　所以她对革命的看法决不可能成为埃及正在准备的新教科书的主要观点。那些大胡子的男人很可能把自己的意志印作教材，但AHDAF SOUEIF记录下了推倒暴君及其死党的最初十八天，他们没法完全忽略这些记录。清晰的细节意味着明白无误的真相，修正主义的历史学家却忽略细节，结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女士整理笔记汇集成书。此书最想传达给读者的是：当身处动荡的解放广场时，当在尼罗河桥上与警察对峙时，当无意中踏进挤满浑身血污青年的临时医院时，会有什么样的感受。作者独具慧眼，发现了一些广阔舞台边上转眼即逝的小事：过期的催泪瓦斯过滤罐不仅没失效，反而更有效;去年七月解放广场出现一面沙特国旗;士兵们拿走他们搜到的每一张美元，说是作为示威者是外国间谍的证据。

　　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.

　　她留意到了年轻人对旧统治者深深的蔑视。作者有个熟人不到二十岁，她引用了此人评论穆巴拉克份子的话：他们说谎不用开口，因为他们呼吸的都是谎言。当革命者游行经过开罗贫穷社区的时候，为了赢得支持，他们提醒那些居民：物价上涨没人管，你马上就要连床和桌椅板凳都卖掉了，作者记录下了这些充满想象力的口号。

　　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.

　　在作者记录的那些日子里，开罗明显比以前更有生命力。作者的语调：夸张浮躁、扣人心弦以及充满悲怆，好似开罗街上的气氛。她的叙述和革命本身一样，有点匆忙、不够完整。在对18天革命的描述中，她在中间插入了一段对未来的展望。在展望中，她梳理出革命之后会发生的情况，特别是伊斯兰主义者的崛起。所有这些增加了本书的戏剧性。

　　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.

　　此书最成功的地方在于把私人生活与政治事件联系起来。在叙述巷战的那段，作者插叙了一些自己过去生活的回忆：某处是至爱的姑妈家，某处是她曾经拍电视剧的摄影棚。对埃及的混乱，读者能发自内心地与革命者感同身受。

　　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.

　　本书没有什么精彩的分析，但瑕不掩瑜。多年之后以及现在本书都能使自由主义者回想起他们最光荣的时刻。这是本振奋人心的书，它提醒人们只要团结并勇敢，就有能力得到自己追求的东西。