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Rating: 
Summary: An outstanding journey of the mind and soul
Review: Nakhjavani has created an excellent example for all those who strive to enrich the English language. Furthermore, she introduces us to a series of events and perspectives that mirror every angle of human emotions that surround the unfurling of one's bliss. "The Saddlebag" is a beautiful work that inspires the soul to draw upon faith and reason, passion and intuition to face the Unknown.
Rating:
Summary: A Titanic for the desert!
Review: Nakhjavani's story is simple enough to be a short story or a fable, as the title suggests. The characters are, at first glance, simple, too. But, as the title suggests, each is a seeker, a doubter, or both. And each brings a diversity and depth to the story that is hard to find in other books. The main event in the fable is told over and over again, each time from a different perspective, each time from the point of view of a different seeker or doubter. With each telling, the event moves forward and becomes deeper and more complex. The writing style was a off putting for me at first. It felt dry, like a poor translation, but like the desert after a rain, the text blooms and compels. This book is worth owning and rereading!
Rating:
Summary: A Titanic for the desert!
Review: Nakhjavani's story is simple enough to be a short story or a fable, as the title suggests. The characters are, at first glance, simple, too. But, as the title suggests, each is a seeker, a doubter, or both. And each brings a diversity and depth to the story that is hard to find in other books. The main event in the fable is told over and over again, each time from a different perspective, each time from the point of view of a different seeker or doubter. With each telling, the event moves forward and becomes deeper and more complex. The writing style was a off putting for me at first. It felt dry, like a poor translation, but like the desert after a rain, the text blooms and compels. This book is worth owning and rereading!
Rating: 
Summary: Not an ordinary story
Review: The book is a cyclical tale of a saddlebag stolen in the desert of Persia in the late 19th century. Each chapter focuses on a different character and his/her interaction with the saddlebag, and the way its mysterious contents affect their lives. It deals with mysticism and a variety of religious theme without being sappy in its treatment of metaphysical subjects. Some of the references in the book are obscure, and it definitely challenges the reader - not so easily swallowed as something like "The Celestine Prophecy", because of the ambiguity of its characters and the way it resolves; there are unanswered questions in the end that some readers may feel disappointed by. The characters are well developed, though some chapters shine more than others, such as the thief, the priest, and the slave. Others, like the moneychanger, feel a little more cobbled together, but overall the book does not disappoint. The writing itself is subtle, alternately delicate and striking. The desert world of the caravan is vividly portrayed, and some of the moments in the book are absolutely classic. As a first novel, this is an admirable effort, and could be recommended to those who are seeking a novel that transcends the ordinary and the apparent and is not mired in pop-culture and self-reference.
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Summary: A Pearl in the Sea of Published Crap
Review: The book is excellent: fantastically well written, with an interesting story from different characters' perspectives. The story stands alone very nicely and is even better, like an onion, has many layers for the person who has a well-rounded knowledge of world religions.
Rating:
Summary: Sheba the slave
Review: There was a slave trade throughout the world at the time. I was not surprised to find a slave from "Abyssinia". I am sure there were slaves in the middle-east who were Ethiopians as there were slaves from may other countries. The author could have chosen another country in her own neighborhood; but she did not.
Ethiopia is called Abyssinia by Europeans who do not want to accept its existence in antiquity. The fact she called it Abyssinia instead of Ethiopia is the first indication of her European upbringing (I probably should said her immersion into the European culture.) She gave her slave character the nickname "Sheba" probably equating a queen of Ethiopia to a slave. She also made her a Falasha (An Ethiopian Jew) probably to denigrate Jews without offending the ones in Europe and America. She could have chosen a middle eastern Jew but then she had to imagine a slave that is not of African origin. The natural choice is to find a black Jew. And where does on find a black Jew in those days? Ethiopia, (her Abyssinia) of course. She made Sheba beautiful; at first. She must have seen some beautiful Ethiopians in London or some U.S cites. However, she could not swallow even that unintentional compliment that she had to introduce smallpox in order to make her ugly. Maybe it wasn't so unintentional. Sheba had to sleep with her master who happened to be a Zoroastrian from eastern Persia. And how can this person from such dignified race sleep with an ugly black slave? Peter the great had more respect to an Ethiopian in real life than this author in a novel. Any way, all this did not bother me as much as the next two sentences in one of her chapters about this poor slave. " By the time she was fourteen, she was stunningly beautiful, with alabaster skin and jewelled eyes. Her maid (that is Sheba the slave) adored her with a blind devotion known only to dogs." Well, the fact that this author writes in English for the benefit of English speaking people shows her loyalty to the English culture. Such loyalty can not even be matched by a dog. Amha Asfaw
Rating:
Summary: Sheba the slave
Review: There was a slave trade throughout the world at the time. I was not surprised to find a slave from "Abyssinia". I am sure there were slaves in the middle-east who were Ethiopians as there were slaves from may other countries. The author could have chosen another country in her own neighborhood; but she did not.
Ethiopia is called Abyssinia by Europeans who do not want to accept its existence in antiquity. The fact she called it Abyssinia instead of Ethiopia is the first indication of her European upbringing (I probably should said her immersion into the European culture.) She gave her slave character the nickname "Sheba" probably equating a queen of Ethiopia to a slave. She also made her a Falasha (An Ethiopian Jew) probably to denigrate Jews without offending the ones in Europe and America. She could have chosen a middle eastern Jew but then she had to imagine a slave that is not of African origin. The natural choice is to find a black Jew. And where does on find a black Jew in those days? Ethiopia, (her Abyssinia) of course. She made Sheba beautiful; at first. She must have seen some beautiful Ethiopians in London or some U.S cites. However, she could not swallow even that unintentional compliment that she had to introduce smallpox in order to make her ugly. Maybe it wasn't so unintentional. Sheba had to sleep with her master who happened to be a Zoroastrian from eastern Persia. And how can this person from such dignified race sleep with an ugly black slave? Peter the great had more respect to an Ethiopian in real life than this author in a novel. Any way, all this did not bother me as much as the next two sentences in one of her chapters about this poor slave. " By the time she was fourteen, she was stunningly beautiful, with alabaster skin and jewelled eyes. Her maid (that is Sheba the slave) adored her with a blind devotion known only to dogs." Well, the fact that this author writes in English for the benefit of English speaking people shows her loyalty to the English culture. Such loyalty can not even be matched by a dog. Amha Asfaw
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