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Podcast: New Books in Biography & Memoir
Episode: Hadi Abdullah, "Critical Conditions: My Diary of the Syrian Revolution" (Doppelhouse Press, 2025)
Description: Hadi Abdullah's Critical Conditions: My Diary of the Syrian Revolution (DoppelHouse Press, 2025), translated by Alessandro Columbu, is no ordinary diary. It’s a testimony written in the heat of events (demonstrations in Daraa and Homs, the bombardments of Aleppo, sieges, and funerals). Through Hadi’s words, we glimpse the Syrian revolution not through statistics, but through the eyes of someone who was there, who risked his life to record what others tried to silence.
Alessandro’s translation conveys not only the urgency of testimony but also the rhythms of protest chants, the tenderness of Syrian idioms, and the weight...