Review of the Arabic translation by Dr. Fadi Alshalabi

When I first read the book "More equal animals: The subtle art of true Democracy", upon friendly advice from the translator, who is a big fan of the author and his ideas, I admit that I fell in love with the book and its ideas in addition to the way the author argues in important and sensitive issues.

 As a bilingual person, I could see how difficult it is to translate such a rich book and transfer its true meaning and spirit. The Challenges are not only restricted to finding the right words and terminologies in Arabic in order to convey the same idea, but they extend to other two issues. First, the author depends on relatively new ideas and concepts that are still immature in public awareness in the Arab World. Second, to understand the ideas and the underlying meanings between the lines, the reader should have a decent understanding of blockchain and Bitcoin concepts. Therefore, I Consider translating this masterpiece into Arabic for Arab readers a very difficult and challenging mission.

When Dr. Amroush Shared with me the translation of the first couple of chapters, I was very impressed, not only by the high quality of the translation but also with his ability to provide the context and frame that enable the Arab reader to deeply understand the true meanings of the original text.

After reading the whole book in Arabic, I was even more impressed with the translator’s ability to transfer the spirit of the original book and the genius style of the author even seamlessly. Dr. Amroush, very skillfully, inserted a lot of footnotes and extra explanations to ease the reader's mission and make it not only comfortable but very enjoyable.

 As someone who taught English-Arabic translation at the university, I could realize the amount of effort put into providing all needed information and explanations to clarify the author’s intent. This was remarkably clear from the very beginning, in the title. The translator used the word ‘living creatures’, instead of ‘Animals’ which appears in the original title to as it will be strange for Arabic readers, However, he provided an explanation why he did that and even the clarification where the author had this idea from the satirical allegorical novella ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell. The translator kept this system for the entire book, so readers won’t miss any single hint of the author and get all his connotations.

On top of that, and to make sure that the readers have all that they need to understand the book and its smart ideas, the translator provides his readers with two extra chapters: one on the blockchain, and one on Bitcoin. He advised the readers to go through these two chapters before reading the book so they can get the context right.

Away from the quality work and translation, Dr. Amroush showed in this great piece of work, it is a great addition to the Arabic library and content. Moreover, it is noteworthy that this product is very significant, as it is presented in the same year of the publishing the original book. This is a seldom incident in the Arab World. Therefore, Dr. Amroush deserves great credit for such an achievement.

Finally, I would say that I have very much enjoyed reading the original book and its Arabic translation. I strongly advise everyone to add it to their to-read list.

Sincerely,

Dr. Fadi Alshalabi

Founder and CEO of Niuversity

Berlin 02.09.2021