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Summary: Ali and Nino - Kurban Sayd
Review: For some of us, our nomad experience has given us a profound longing to know where we come from. We have been raised up at the crossroads of cultures. After that first childish parting, we see everything as an ebb and flow of impermanence and all people as another opportunity for cherished memories. For these of us, this book is a gift. One may find in these pages something ancient that will not be denied. It is full of bitter ironies, both ancient and new. Ali and Nino are like all of us, raised in a homeland that after being swept away by events can never be recaptured. Baku is a homeland like what we carry in our hearts. The sacred ground where opposing forces can live together and love each other. Can a pure love that seems clean and new be soiled and yet, reclaimed? It is rare indeed. This is a book you can feel. It is rich with symbols that will delight your senses and activate your mind. It will challenge you to understand this Mohammedan and taste with intensity something connected to tradition, something different about belonging. I wept.
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Summary: Great book, indeed
Review: I am a Georgian and my name is Nino. And I found the book wonderfull. It is not true that this book is political and that it is about Stalin. Unfortunantely, People in the world know about Caucasia very little... actually they know just about Stalin and even that they have heared, but are not sure was he a real person, or an invented monster. This book is not about winning of Asia or Russia. It describes unfortunante reality, that happened and happens till now - it will continue, until Russia has interests in Caucasia. I beg all readers of this book to go there and to see the part of the world, that has a lot to be proud of. Otherwise, it would be impossible to appreceate the book completely.
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Summary: Insufferable
Review: I am rather stunned that this absurd little book has been so enthusiastically reviewed. AT first I liked it -- there is an entertaining plot, characters, "exotic" setting, blah blah blah. ...I was quite prepared to indulge in the enthusiastic sentimentality and painfully self-conscious exploration of East and West of colonial-era writing. Unfortunately, this book got way out of control, especially the romantic scenes in which the convergence of all that is ridiculous about the writing and colonial mentality about the Islamic world merge into hilarious fireworks of absurdity (if one can only stomach the pervasive racism, that is). Tragically, I neglected to dog-ear the passage about how her milk-white European bosom all a-flutters as the savage Mohammedan roves like a desert bandit through her pleasure-gardens... I kept going, mostly because I was trapped on an airplane with nothing to do but read this awful book, but also because it really is a fascinating study of Orientalism-in-action; I was especially curious about whether/how the genocide of the Armenians would be portrayed; it is entertaining, not completely brainless, and well-written in its more restrained moments; and I wanted to see just how bad this book could get. I was snickering and reading passages out loud to the amusement of my seat-mate as well. The plane passengers were wondering how on earth I had gotten ahold of such a ridiculous novel.One last parting shot I need to repeat because I think it is so important: this book is NOT about Muslim society. The portrayals in this book are steeped in colonial mystiques and racism. I would recommend this book ONLY has a window into that mentality...
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Summary: love in a culture clash
Review: I bought this thinking it a love story, but it is much more. Love conquers not all, but almost all, here. The clash between east and west, where they do actually meet, in the Caususes, plays out most vividly. The total east is given as Persia, the total west, the Russian state of Georgia. The story takes place in the middle, among the hills of the Caucauses, an area the Russians have fought over for centuries. Love doesn't stop the fight completely. This is not the easiest read, but the love story moves it along.
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Summary: A great discovering
Review: I don't think that many people have heard about this novel. I hadn't until recently, and it was first published in 1937. Anyway, this book is about a Muslim boy and a Christian girl who fall in love just prior to World War I. It's a powerful story about the strength of fate, and though it was a touch predictable, I was nonetheless very much caught up in its pages.
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Summary: Brilliant, essential reading
Review: I have written a guide book to Azerbaijan for Trailblazer which gives you the practical information you need for visiting that country, but to get a feeling for the spiritual complexity and historical paradox all wrapped up in a truely timelss and beautiful novel, read Ali and Nino.
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Summary: A true treasure
Review: I remember checking this book out of the library over and over again in junior high 25 years ago and it was indeed spellbinding. A current article in National Georgraphic on Iran brought back memories of this lovely book and I decided to see if it was still in print. I'm thrilled it has been "rediscovered."
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Summary: The *best* novel I ever read !
Review: I'm told a Chinese curse is "May you live in interesting times!"
This book is much more than an intoxicating love story, it is a
love story set in *very* interesting times and places.
The time is early twentieth century; the characters Azerbaijani,
Armenian, Georgian, Persian; the place mostly Causasia (including
Karabagh); the writing is exquisite.
See "http://salamis.emu.edu.tr.:80/~semiz/fv-bk.html#ali-nino" for more detail.
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Summary: Insight into a culture unlike my own........
Review: I've just finished a book you might like...ALI AND NINO by "Kuban Said" a nom de plume of a Jewish man from Baku who converted to Islam in his youth. A&N was written during the 30's, and published psuedonomously because the author's Jewish identity was discovered by the Germans while he was living in Berlin. Actually, I found all of this through a terrific New Yorker article that someone gave me with the book, the article was written in '99. The book itself is a "Romeo and Juliet" story, well written and provides a sense of what Baku has faced in terms of a national identity. Very well done. In light of current events...this novel may provide insight into a culture and worldview that is quite different than that of the Christian American/European view that we are used to. Sometimes fiction can convey important truths more easily than non-fiction.
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Summary: Very touching novel.
Review: Indeed, this is a great work of litterature. Rarely have I been so engrossed in a novel like this. Some pages I would return and read over and over again. I admired the purity of the two characters and their love toward each other. This is a book truelly unique and there is no sequel. (...) I recommend this to anyone who enjoys tales of unfufilled love.They say one does his or her most important readings during the childhood. But I have never been touched by a love story like this before. I always believed the Thornbirds, the tale of Ralph and Meggie,was the perfect tale of unfulfilled love. In the traditon of Leily and Majnoon, Romeo and Julliett, Khosro and Shirin, Ralph and Meggie, now we have Ali and Nino, a newly discovered jewel.
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