Memories in Translation

Abstract

The book’s title and subtitle are both concise and apt characterizations. Aftermore than sixty years of work as a translator and a writer, Johnson-Daviestakes the reader on a journey through memories told as if relived throughwriting. The language is clear, fluent, and businesslike. Interspersed in theaccount are humorous anecdotes about some of his more embarrassing experiencesas a translator.The book has a foreword by Naguib Mahfouz (d. 2006), the Nobel Prizewinning(1988) Egyptian writer with whom the author had an acquaintanceshipgoing back sixty years and several of whose books he translated.Twenty-two photographs show the author at various times in his life (1922-2000) at work, with friends, writers, poets, and various personalities. Everyphotograph is fully documented as regards location, names, date, and other ...