وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: Culture

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: When they write about Arab culture in the Western ...: "I mean, you really have to know no Arabic, and you really have not know nothing about Arab culture in translation, and you really have to ha..."

Click on the first sentence link and continue, then, on to acquaint yourself with the poetry of Adonis... wouldn't hurt to take an Arabic class or two, but that's one of your New Year's resolutions.
Beautiful poetry and very much political I should say, being right in the middle of the passions which inform our days and nights. There are things you may not like to read, so be forewarned, and if exposing your sensibilities to things that disagree with you is not your cup of tea, consider that there is a PG 40 on the poetry: parental guidance for everyone under 40 years of age.

The article refers to an interview in the NY Times, and we subscribe to the NY Times Sunday edition and we have found that their reviewers leave a lot to be desired. Some of the reviews are so sophomoric with vague reference to iconic names that really do not have much to do with the work of art under discussion that it is almost an embarrassment to read them.

I studied Arabic and Hebrew,  but I spent more time reading Isaac Singer in Yiddish, which I learned somewhat reading the Forverts! newspaper.I still read Zakaria Tamir in Arabic, and find him very much empathetic.

One thing you will discover learning language is that reality tends to take a few side-steps and turn-abouts as you get into a different way of doing that thing we call "intelligence". Words are intelligent communication and poetry raises language to the high level of cinema which is intelligent imagery in communication, or to the level of musical communication on a high level, and all of these will affect the very basis of your existence as an intelligent being.....  so be forewarned.