On Good Bad Reviews
b'In which we discuss the validity and necessity of the negative review (or what we like to simply call critical engagement); how rare it is to find negative reviews these days; and the shift that has seen Western reviewers of Arabic literature move from one extreme to another. But is it more condescending to dismiss outright or to offer all-around encouragement?
Show notes
- Hisham Aidi\'s lovely portrait and critical re-evaluation of Juan Goytisolo was published by MERIP \\u201cJuan Goytisolo: Tangier, Havana and the Treasonous Intellectual.\\u201d For non-subscribers (and everyone should consider supporting this excellent publication!), a version can be found on academia.edu. And here is Aidi\\u2019s piece in The Nation: \\u201cIs Morocco Headed Toward Insurrection?\\u201d
- Ursula also recommends Aidi\\u2019s Rebel Music (2014) which she wrote about here.
- Rafia Zakaria penned \\u201cIn Praise of Negative Reviews.\\u201d It references both Elizabeth Hardwick\\u2019s \\u201cThe Decline of Book Reviewing,\\u201d which ran in Harper\\u2019s in 1959 and Kristina Marie Darling\\u2019s more recent \\u201cReaderly Privilege and Textual Violence: An Ethics of Engagement.\\u201d
- Marcia has written on Arablit about John Updike\\u2019s infamous dismissal of Abdelrahman Munif\\u2019s Cities of Salt, from a time when negative reviews of Arabic literature were more than common.
- The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (\\u201cArabic Booker\\u201d) shortlist was announced on February 21. The biggest controversy was around the inclusion of Shahed al-Rawi\\u2019s The Baghdad Clock, which is forthcoming in translation by Luke Leafgren in May (US) and June (UK).
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