Ebook Samarkand Amin Maalouf 9783458360872 Books
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Ebook Samarkand Amin Maalouf 9783458360872 Books
"Novels help our imagination to live other time and places. I am traveling to Samarkand next month and was very satisfied with the book."
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Samarkand Amin Maalouf 9783458360872 Books Reviews :
Samarkand Amin Maalouf 9783458360872 Books Reviews
- Samarkand is a delightful read, full of images I can surely say that this is my favorite book in the world I don't think you can find many authors have this ability to make the reader feel this way. For me it was a sublime experience.
- The story of Samarkand is woven around the history of the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam, from its creation by the poet and sage in eleventh-century Persia to its loss when the Titanic sank in 1912. Unwittingly involved in a brawl on the streets of Samarkand, Omar Khayyam is brought before a local judge who recognizes his genius as a poet and gives him a blank book in which to inscribe his verses. Thus the head of a great poet is saved and the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam is born. The threads of his life become interwoven with the designs of the vizier, Nizam al Mulk, and of Hassan Sabbah, the founder of the Order of the Assassins who later hides the precious manuscript in his famous mountain fortress. At the end of the nineteenth century the poems fire the imagination of the West in Edward Fitzgerald's evocative translation. An American scholar learns of the manuscript's survival and recovers it with the help of a Persian princess. Together they take it on the fateful voyage of the Titanic.
- Amazing storytelling, the likes of which I though were impossible to find again in literature. A historic, emotional and spiritual story unfolding with a very beautiful use of the English language. I don't know if this book was written in English or translated, but the text is beautiful and the story unfolds beautifully (although the story itself is far from being of a rosy hue, it's a poetic-existential razor's edge). Excellent.
- Samarkand tells the story of Omar Khayyam and the writing of his Rubaiyaat. It crosses that biographical story with the story of an American scholar who discovers the real book later, in the midst of a journey to the Middle East.
Samarkand breaks nearly every rule that I have for myself about what kind of historical fiction I dislike. It name-drops famous people (characters sail on the Titanic. Khayyam is close to Hassan-i-Sabah and their stories intertwine, etc.). It makes historical characters modern. It indulges in fancy dress and exotic places. But still, that didn't really bother me. Perhaps that is because in the character of the student it seems Maalouf turns the camera back on himself. By giving a young, well-intentioned but ultimately callow character the role to interpret not only the past but the culture of the present, the reader is reminded that such things can not be so easily understood. Maalouf seems to remind us that their is no such thing as an omniscient narrative. And then somehow, just like that, I forgive him the rest of the devices in his book.
Samarkand is not perfect. The latter half, in particular is a little bit clunky. There is something not quite right about the structure. It may be the translation, but I am not completely sure. Still, a worthwhile read. A good use of time. (And now I have to run out and re-read the Rubaiyaat, which I will confess I did not take as seriously as I ought.)
This is the second book that I have read by Maalouf, the first being the magnificent Crusade Through Arab Eyes. I'm definitely going to keep reading in his body of work. - Novels help our imagination to live other time and places. I am traveling to Samarkand next month and was very satisfied with the book.
- Yet another wonderful book by Amin Maalouf. He paints a vivid picture of 11th century Persia, seen through the eyes of Omar Khatami, philosopher, scientist and poet. A manuscript with a collection of his poems, as well as his biography is lost for centuries after the Mongols burn the library of Alamitos, the stronghold of the Assassin's. It resurfaces in the early 20th century, and Maalouf sketches the struggle of Iran against the Imperial powers of that time, again a fascinating historical period.
Well worth reading for everyone with an interest in history in a beautiful and gripping narrative. - What a wonderful book this was. I have known about the celebrated Omar Khayyam's poetry for quite a while but had never had a chance to learn about his life in detail. Although, technically, this is a work of fiction, it is mostly based on history and specific events. It is both a lesson in ancient and modern oriental history (mainly Persia) interwoven with Omar Khayyam's life and poetry. Maalouf is one of the few people who can write with such eloquence and imagination that keeps you asking for more.
- Great book, my Middle Eastern studies teacher recommended this to our class. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say this one book has two books worth of content. Reading this made Omar Khayyam a personal hero of mine.
