The Orientalist : Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life

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Summary: THE DISORIENTALIST
Review: This book should be entitled "The Disorientalist" - not "The Orientalist". To start with Tom Reiss completely dismisses any serious role for Baroness Elfriede Ehrenfels in her involvement in writing two novels under her pseudonym Kurban Said, one of which is the world-class novel "Ali&Nino" published in German in 1937. Note that at the time all official book registries in Germany identify "Ali&Nino" with Elfriede Ehrenfels, not Essad Bey, not Lev Nussimbaum.
But Reiss' attempt at sleughting out the details in the guise of scholarly research is also responsible for his not being able to furnish one single substancial proof in the process of trying to uncover Essad Bey's true identity. Instead Reiss transforms Essad Bey into a jew, who he insists was forced by circumstances to disguise himself into numerous identities throughout his life.
By dealing with a biography of an unfathomable personality in a strictly sensationalist and superficial manner, he is contributing even more to building up barriers. This, in a time when real understanding between different peoples and their respective cultural and religious heritages is of vital necessity to us all.

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Summary: A fascinating portrait of an obscure writer & exotic region
Review: This is one of the most absorbing books I've read in a long time. Not only is it a suspenseful, globetrotting investigation of a relatively unknown writer who penned the grievously underappreciated novel "Ali and Nino," but it is a thoughtful study of area of the world about which Americans know very little. This is an area of the world where the first Christian nation was established; where Christians lived harmoniously with Jews and Moslems.

This book by Tom Reiss is a remarkable synthesis of social and historical topics that can help us understand better the world we live in today.

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Summary: A powerful question
Review: Who was "Kurban Said"? This was maybe not the most pressing question in my life before I began reading this scholarly yet utterly readable and fascinating book. But the question at the heartv of the book soon became a deeply meaningful, many-layered one. It not only asked about the mysterious real life-- lives? -- behind the name, but somehow it also began to ask something (or say something) important about the forces that caused the twentieth century to go as it did.

A pretty powerful question, as it turns out! For a proper answer, every page of Reiss's gorgeous, plaintive, and meticulously researched book is required. And was enjoyed.(Reiss can be quite amusing as well.)

In the heartbreaking end, Reiss leaves no doubt about the strangeness and the complexity of things: world events, the human psyche, etc.
That's on one hand.On the other, he leaves no ounce of doubt about the true identity of Kurban Said either. He even gives him the last word.A very sad end to the really amazing story of a man who tuly was a victim of history, and then became a victim of himself.