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Summary: Lover and Madman
Review: "Madjnoun," a word meaning both lover and madman, is a word aptly applied to the hero of this exquisite and exquisitely written novel. Ali Khan Shirvanshir is a passionate lover of many things...freedom, the desert, his native country, and the lovely Nino...and yet, his single-minded devotion to his country leads ultimately his destruction. Set against the backdrop of war and the contrast of several exotic cultures and religions, this beautiful book has a great sense of time and place and captures an era that is forever gone. The descriptions of of Ali Shah's boyhood in Baku and of his and Nino's stay in Persia are particularly romantic, detailed, and compelling. This book is a minor classic, faultless in its clear, poetic prose and unforgetable in its magical imagery of another time and place.
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Summary: From "A Man from the East" The New Yorker October 4, 1999
Review: "The novel is slender and fast-paced, and evokes the vibrant cultural mosaic of turn-of-the-century Baku. There was also something of the eighteenth century about the book, as if 'Candide' had been written with realistic characters and the intention of sweeping readers off their feet. Each scene continues only long enough to spring some miniature gear forward. When the Random House edition came out, the Times reviewer, referring to the novel's 'subtle charm' and 'spun-glass' irony' -- wrote, 'One feels as if one has dug up buried treasure.'"
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Summary: The most facsinating novel you will ever read
Review: 1000 words are not enough to praise this book. It is written by a Russian jew who converted to islam, flew for the Russian revolution, but he wrote also a hagiography about Stalin. The book is a comparison between Asia and Europe, where Asia (the East) wins. It is also a love story and a political novel. Whatever, it is a book which makes you cry, a year after you read it!
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Summary: A beautiful love story, and so much more ...
Review: Ali & Nino is an exquisite, timeless portrait of young love in a brutal, unforgiving climate. In the 20 years since I first discovered this book, I've read and re-read it and I can't praise it highly enough. Just allow yourself to enter the magical world Kurban Said creates in this masterpiece and -- like a poem, like a song -- Ali & Nino's story will forever haunt you.
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Summary: House of Shirvanshir
Review: Ali Khan is a young man and a member of the house of Shirvanshir, a respectable family in Azerbaijan. He takes Nino, a Georgian girl as his wife, just when the country is under siege by Russian and Armenian forces. The story details his life and relationship. The most interesting aspect of the novel is how the writer Kurban Said (actually a Jew who embraced Islam) describes the world of cultural and religion so alien to the western mind. It's a time of extreme chaos for Ali Khan's people as the Azeri, a Turkic population, is faced with the destruction of their homeland. Another striking aspect is the portrayal of Armenians. For years Armenians have chosen to play the role of the innocent race, being subjected to the so-called genocide - however, they seem to ignore the fact that they allied themselves with the Russians and began slaughtering innocent Muslims in the first place. A very informing novel which has to be read.
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Summary: okay..
Review: An interesting, provocative book. I could not put it down! However it is very much orientalist in perspective. East and West and juxtuposed against one another with the west being progressive and the east being backward and irrational. Muslims are ignorently referred to as Mohammadians and are potrayed as stupid and savage acting. The book is a great entertaining read but only if u can see through its orientalist if not racist agenda.
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Summary: Insufferable
Review: Back in 1997 I was in college, forced to read what I thought would be another stupid book for a stupid humanities class. In one night I read ALI and NINO and was totally captivated. The love in this book is so intense it defies description. But it is not just a love story. The story has a dream-like quality to it, and like with many dreams, we are left with a longing to go back and experience it again.
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Summary: YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THIS HAUNTING LOVE STORY
Review: Back in 1997 I was in college, forced to read what I thought would be another stupid book for a stupid humanities class. In one night I read ALI and NINO and was totally captivated. The love in this book is so intense it defies description. But it is not just a love story. The story has a dream-like quality to it, and like with many dreams, we are left with a longing to go back and experience it again.
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Summary: A beautiful love story and much more...
Review: First of all Ali and Nino is indeed a love story. It describes a beautiful relation between 2 people who overcome differences of strong religion beliefs by the power of their mutual profound love. The love for Nino softens Ali's traditions. It is very interesting to see the paradox contrast between situations along the plot. Such as the contrast of Nino being one day in a harem in Teheran with a eunuch watching her and checking her mouth and than a little later in Bacu Nino is entertaining foreign ambassadors in a dress with a large back décolletage... This novel is interesting in many aspects. As a woman I admire Nino's strength in standing up for herself in spite of the low state of women in the oriental Muslim tradition. As an Israeli and a Jew I found it interesting to see how the Muslims feel and act toward other religions seeing them as heretics and barbarians and wanting to eliminate them. I think that this is a typical fundamentalist way of thinking that can be found in all fanatic believes. The mystery around the identity of the writer also adds a layer of interest to the novel and makes it unique. I certainly recommend this book.
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Summary: What a Hidden Jewel!
Review: First, you simply must read this book. There's no way around that. Ali and Nino is a lyrically written story of love and war, honor and country, cultural blend and clash set in WWI-era Transcaucasia (ie, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia). The novel has simply *all* the elements of greatness: well-developed characters, a vivid setting, a gripping plot, and an examination of larger themes -- all crammed into this little-known, relatively compact work. Love in the face of cultural obstacles, in the face of war and patriotic duty. Love in its innocence, its longing, its maturity. Love between people, love for a people, and the tragedy of a lost world. It's really an incredible, incredible book -- one which, despite its age, seems more capable of tackling the issues we see in our own post-cold-war world than any other book I've read. Read this book. It will delight and reward you.
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