Double exposure for New Moon fans

Anna Seaman

• Last Updated: November 15. 2009 12:25AM UAE / November 14. 2009 8:25PM GMT

SHARJAH // Although you would have to be in California to catch the first glimpse of New Moon on the big screen, you don’t have to go far to feast your eyes on the new Arabic written translation of the second instalment of the Twilight vampire romance series, written by Stephanie Meyer.

New Moon, the novel, which went on sale locally last month, has been selling briskly in the run-up to the release of the movie, which has its premiere tomorrow in Los Angeles. It opens in US theatres on Friday and in UAE cinemas next week.

“The whole saga is a real page-turner. If you read Twilight it is impossible to stop,” said Haissam Fadel, the general manager of Sama publishing house, a subsidiary of the Arab Cultural Centre. “You simply have to find out what happens next.”

“Readers in the Arab world have been waiting for the second book to come out and the fact that it has coincided with the movie is even better for them. It’s been really popular, especially over the last couple of weeks.”

Many book and entertainment stores across the Emirates yesterday were low on stocks; some expected replenishment soon.

Arun Krishna, who works in the book section at Virgin Megastore in Mercato Mall, Dubai, said yesterday that the Arabic translation of New Moon had sold out.

“We only have the French one at the moment, but we are expecting more,” Mr Krishna said. “People still prefer the English version, but very often Arabs buy the Arabic translation for further explanation of certain paragraphs.”

A member of staff at Magrudy’s in Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai, said: “New Moon is still one of our bestsellers, especially with the movie being released soon. Sales of the Arabic version are also catching up.

“We replenish stocks as they go down but certainly it is one of the books we are constantly replenishing. All four books are in our top five bestsellers.”

Staff at the Virgin Megastore in Abu Dhabi Mall, where the English version of the books has also been selling quickly, said they had been fielding requests from customers for an Arabic translation of New Moon, which the store does not yet carry.

Although it was released to major UAE bookstores last month, Mr Fadel has been selling discounted copies of Twilight, New Moon and the third book, Eclipse, from his stand at the Sharjah International Book Fair this week.

He said the reason for the books’ popularity was that the story was universal. “There are no sex scenes, no violence and no swearing. It is just plain-and-simple romance and everyone can relate to that.”

The story of Isabella Swan, a schoolgirl who falls in love with Edward Cullen, a teenage vampire who yearns for her blood, has gripped readers all over the world since the first book’s publication in 2005.

When the first film was released in November 2008 it grossed US$35.7 million (Dh131m) on the opening day and made superstars of several of its young cast members, including the British actor Robert Pattinson and American actress Kristen Stewart.

Aggregate sales of the book series have topped 70 million. Stephenie Meyer was the biggest-selling author in the US in 2008. Her books have been translated into 38 languages.

Although many young adults were able to read the saga in English, Mr Fadel said there was a huge demand for the Arabic version.

“I was initially under the assumption that most young people were reading in English but that is simply not the case, at least not with this book,” said the 35-year-old native of Lebanon, who grew up in Morocco. “In fact some people have said they already had the book in English but wanted to have the Arabic version, too. It is their mother tongue after all and because the translation is good, it has been well received.”

The translation was done over nine months by Faten Sobouh and Zuhair Ismael, professionals employed by Mr Fadel’s publishing house. The pair also translated the third novel, Eclipse, which was published at the same time as New Moon.

The fourth and final instalment in the series, Breaking Dawn, is still in the translation process and will be completed by March when Mr Fadel said the complete box set would be launched at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

“The fourth novel is a masterpiece,” he said. “[The] characters are constantly evolving and Meyer’s imagination is amazing. I can’t wait to bring the book to the readers.”

Mr Fadel said he really enjoyed hearing reactions to the translation. “It is so fascinating to see people react to the story and to know that you have helped open up this great book to a whole new audience,” he said.

Since the translation of the Twilight series, Mr Fadel has attempted to fill what he said is a void of material for young adults in the Arab market.

On his stall at the book fair were four novels from the popular Japanese author Haruki Murakami as well as translated copies of the French title Je L’aimais (Someone I Loved) by Anna Gavalda. Mr Fadel also confirmed that he had just bought the rights to translate the crime trilogy Millennium by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson.


aseaman@thenational.ae

* With additional reporting by Leah Oatway

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