Les cavaliers

by Joseph Kessel

Kessel a situé en Afghanistan une des aventures les plus belles et les plus féroces qu'il nous ait contées. Les personnages atteignent une dimension épique : Ouroz et sa longue marche au bout de l'enfer... Le grand Toursène fidèle à sa légende de tchopendoz toujours victorieux... Mokkhi, le bon sais, au destin inversé par la haine et la découverte de la femme... Zéré qui dans l'humiliation efface les souillures d'une misère qui date de l'origine des temps... Et puis l'inoubliable Guardi Guedj, le conteur centenaire à qui son peuple a donné le plus beau des noms : « Aïeul de tout le monde »... Enfin, Jehol « le Cheval Fou », dont la présence tutélaire et « humaine » plane sur cette chanson de geste... Ils sont de chair les héros des Cavaliers, avec leurs sentiments abrupts et primitifs. Et pourtant le souffle de la fable et du mythe les anime et nourrit le roman.

Genres: Fiction, France, Historical Fiction, Roman, French Literature, Novels, 20th Century

608 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Joseph Kessel was a French journalist and novelist. He was born in Villa Clara, Entre Ríos, Argentina, because of the constant journeys of his father, a Lithuanian doctor of Jewish origin. Kessel lived the first years of his childhood in Orenburg, Russia, before the family moved to France. He studied in Nice and Paris, and took part in the First World War as an aviator.

Kessel wrote several novels and books that were later represented in the cinema, notably Belle de Jour (by Luis Buñuel in 1967). He was also a member of the Académie française from 1962 to 1979. In 1943 he and his nephew Maurice Druon translated Anna Marly's song Chant des Partisans into French from its original Russian. The song became one of the anthems of the Free French Forces.

Joseph Kessel died in Avernes, Val-d'Oise. He is buried in the Cimetière de Montparnasse in Paris.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The land of the ancient tribes and nomads, the domain of valour and cruelty, the realm of religion and superstitions where people pray to Allah but abide omens… The country of brave horsemen where an equestrian and his steed are an undividable whole…
Uraz – the controversial hero of the novel – is possessed by the demons of pride and vainglory so any defeat for him equals the end of life.

His lackluster eyes had sparks dancing in them; and because the demons of chance dwelt in Zaman Hajji, Uraz felt more akin to this odious man than to the good Amjad Khan, who went on peacefully counting the beads of his rosary.

The Horsemen, a profound and colourful parable of pride, avarice and envy is a real volcano of human passions.

…Uraz had the feeling of being apart from them, above them, and even of another race. Their lumpish pleasure, their delighted vanity filled him with mere disgust. Was their glory satisfied by parading like so many monkeys? A glory to be shared among sixty.

The old sage, periodically appearing in the tale, once said: “Every man must feel himself necessary to another being,” but Uraz feels a breed apart and his hubris remains untamed.
Riding high horse feels good… Pride cometh before the fall.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

July turned itself into Horse Book Month, at least in each of my print book selections. The Horsemen, my final print book for July, was written by Joseph Kessel in 1966 and translated two years later. The book was made into a film in 1971, with Omar Sharif (sigh) playing the main character Uraz. I can assure you without spoiling anything that the outline of the movie, given at its Wiki page, is vastly different from the plot of the book. I would say that perhaps the director felt that Uraz as written would make a despicable lead role for anyone, even Omar Sharif (sigh) so he decided to alter the storyline enough to give the character some redeeming features.

He had none in the book. Uraz was solely interested in and concerned about himself. I have never been as disgusted by a main character as I was by this man. He was harsh, cruel, ignorant, deceitful, paranoid, and above all else, immature. His one reason for living was to try to prove to himself that he was a better man than his father Tursen, one of the most famous horsemen of the country. Piffle. Uraz was just a thirty-something year old infant in an adult suit. Everything that happens to him as the story goes along, from breaking his leg in a royal buzkashi game to the difficult journey he undergoes when he runs away from hospital, is due solely to his own emotional immaturity and overall foolishness. I wanted to smack him upside the head on nearly every page. Usually when I dislike a main character as much as this, I do not continue with the book, but I had to see what would happen, I had to see if he would wise up at the end or continue being totally Uraz and nothing but that.

Besides that curiosity, I was enchanted by the trip through Afghanistan that reading this book gives. Set in modern times, at some unnamed date before the Soviet invasion of the country but after a time when the sound of planes passing overhead no longer makes even the most isolated shepherds look up to the sky, The Horsemen will transport any reader with imagination to a country that fascinates. The Hindu Kush. Kafiristan. The Bamyan valley. The lakes of Band e Amir. We visit them all. We meet the poorest of 'little nomads' (known elsewhere as gypsies) and the noble 'great nomads' whose leaders ride Bactrian camels as they migrate with their flocks and herds. We explore markets, see ram fights, sleep in caravansaries that have hosted travelers since ancient times, and we play buzkashi.

This can be a harsh book, but Afghanistan is even now a harsh land. Not too much has changed there in several centuries, let alone a mere 50 or so years. There are some horrible scenes of cruelty towards animals and women. Well, woman. There is only one major female character in the book. Basically this is a story about primitive men. You must be prepared for that. I imagine there are still many men of this type in the country. Truthfully there are many such men all over the world, it is simply that some are better at pretending to be civilized than others.

And the horses? What about the horses? Again, a reader must be prepared for harshness. There is love and respect for the horse but they are expected to obey without question anything that is asked of them. Uraz does not even feel love and respect, and he has the greatest horse of all: Jahil, a stallion trained to be the best at buzkashi, and given to him by his father. This horse endured more than most horses face in a lifetime. A favorite chapter of mine was 'Jahil's Revenge' where he gave Uraz a demonstration of his pride, his nobility and his loyalty. It made an impact at the time, but will Uraz remember the lesson in the future and behave differently towards Jahil? Will he finally understand him?

This is a complex book. Or maybe I have become more complex myself since first reading it thirty years ago. I know I picked up on a lot more undercurrents than I noticed back then. Perhaps the next time I read it I will see even more. And there will be a next time, because even with all of its brutality it is an amazing adventure.

But I do not plan on seeing the movie. When you know after reading a few sentences of plot outline that the movie is so very different from the book, it is better to avoid the irritation. Even if it does star Omar Sharif (sigh).

[Neo Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

حسم بهم می‌گفت که خوبه، ولی فکر نمی‌کردم که انقدر خوب باشه! مثل خیلی از کتاب‌های گمنامی که مدت‌هاست تو صف تجدید چاپن و تو گرد و غبار کتاب‌های مشهور و پُرسروصدا خاک می‌خورن، این کتاب هم جواب اعتمادمو داد و یه تجربه‌ی کم‌نظیر از داستان‌نویسی رو بهم هدیه داد.
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داستان در افغانستان دوره‌ی ظاهرشاه رقم می‌خوره. زمانی که تو این کشور نه خبری از شوروی بود، نه طالبان و نه آمریکا. زمانی که افغانستان خیلی زیبا‌تر بود و هنوز خاکش رنگ و بوی خون و خشخاش نگرفته بود. شروع داستان تو یه جاده‌ی تنگ و دره‌ی پرت و عمیق شروع می‌شه. هیاهو و تنشی که به خوبی خبر از قدرت قلم نویسنده می‌ده.
یکم از هنرنمایی نویسنده در فضاسازی می‌گذره، کم‌کم شخصیت‌ها وارد می‌شن و بُعد مهم بعدی داستان‌نویسی، یعنی شخصیت‌سازی نویسنده وارد می‌شه. شخصیت‌هایی که هرکدام پیشینه و ویژگی‌های خاص خودشون رو دارن و مهم‌تر از همه تکراری نیستن، یعنی حتی خارج از این کتاب هم شبیهشون رو ندیدین. البته این بکر و بدیع بودن محدود به شخصیت‌ها نیست، اصولاً ما با یک داستان و بستر بکری مواجهیم که وقایعی که توش پیش میاد هم تازه و بکر هستن. وقایعی که با آداب و رسوم و فرهنگ افغانستان گره خورده. ما تو این داستان مسابقات بزکشی و جنگ قوچ‌ها رو داریم. اسب و اسب‌سواری‌های جنون‌آمیز داریم که به‌خوبی توصیف و تصویرسازی شدن. نکته‌ی جالبی که باید بدونید اینه که نویسنده نه‌تنها افغان نیست، بلکه حتی آسیایی هم نیست، یه لیتوانیایی‌تبار فرانسویه که تو آرژانتین‌به دنیا آمده. این داستان ثمره‌ی سفر نویسنده به افغانستانه. ولی شما تا داستان رو نخوانید نمی‌فهمید یه آدم چقدر باید در فرهنگ و مذهب یک کشور و مردمش عمیق شده باشه تا چنین داستانی خلق کنه.
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هیجانی که تو این داستان جریان داره کم‌نظیره و شما می‌تونید این هیجان رو حس کنید. احساسات و عواطف انسانی بین پدر و پسر، عاشق و معشوق، نوکر و ارباب به‌خوبی پرداخته شدن. ولی این پایان ماجرا نیست. تو این داستان ما یه اسب داریم که خودش کم از شخصیت‌ها نداره و رسماً یکی از کلیدی‌ترین مُهره‌هاست.
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اگه از یکنواختی کتاب‌هایی که می‌خوانید خسته شدید، سوارکاران یه تجربه‌ی بکر و ساده‌ست که شما رو به وجد میاره.

[Davide · Rating 4 out of 5]

In un Afghanistan ancora medievale, benché si sia negli anni '50, si svolge la vicenda di Uroz, leggendario eroe del "buzkashi", gioco nazionale degli afgani e una delle più belle e emozionanti gare del mondo. Sconfitto e ferito nel "buzkashi" di Kabul, Uroz scappa dall'ospedale per tornare nelle steppe del nord.

Decenni dopo, vaghi ricordi.

[Manuel Alfonseca]

FRANÇAIS: Uroz, le jeune et fier Afghan, son père et son cheval Jehol, sont les protagonistes de ce roman qui traite de la honte de la défaite et du refus de l'accepter. L'intrigue s'épaissit car le serviteur d'Uroz et sa putain veulent le tuer pour lui voler son argent et son cheval.

Je l'ai aimé presque autant que "Le lion".

ESPAÑOL: Uroz, el joven y orgulloso afgano, su padre y su caballo Jehol son los protagonistas de esta novela sobre la vergüenza de la derrota y la negativa a aceptarla. La trama se complica porque el criado de Uroz y su puta quieren asesinarle para quitarle su dinero y su caballo.

Me gustó casi tanto como "El león".

ENGLISH: Uroz, the young and proud Afghan, his father and his horse Jehol, are the protagonists of this novel about the shame of defeat and the refusal to accept it. The plot thickens because Uroz's servant and his whore intend to murder him to steal his money and his horse.

I liked it almost as much as "The Lion."

[Seyed Morakabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

گمان می‌کنم هر کس بخواهد درباره‌ی مردمان خراسان بزرگ (افغانستان و حتی مردمانی که امروز در مرزهای شرقی ایران زندگی می‌کنند، به‌ویژه مشهدی‌ها که از درون می‌شناسمشان) چیزی بنویسد، باید از چیزی نزدیک به غرور یا سرسختی یا یک‌دندگی آغاز کند. ژوزف کسل، یار رومن گاری، این را دریافته و به تصویر کشیده است. این رمان سال ۱۳۴۶ خورشیدی نوشته شده و داستانش در نیمه‌ی نخست همان سده می‌گذرد؛ زمانی که هنوز افغانستان به این آشوب و جنگ ده‌ها ساله پا نگذاشته بود. اگر می‌خواهید بدانید این کتاب ارزش خواندن دارد یا نه، کافی است نیم‌نگاهی به امتیازهایش در همین گودریدز بیاندازید تا دلتان قرص شود.
اما آن‌چه این کتاب را برای من بی‌مانند کرد، یکی از شخصیت‌های کتاب است که در سرتاسر داستان حضور دارد: اسبی نژاده و بی‌مانند به نام «جهول». نه‌تنها نام خودش جهول است بلکه نام همه‌ی پدرانش نیز جهول بوده است. جهول‌ها به دست خاندانی نگهداری می‌شوند که این اسب‌ها نسل‌درنسل میانشان به ارث می‌رسد. جایی در آغاز کتاب پیش‌کار صاحب جهول از او می‌پرسد مگر جهول به معنای دیوانه نیست؟ چرا به این اسب می‌گویند دیوانه؟ صاحب جهول می‌گوید «چون این اسب باهوش‌تر از آن است که در فهم مردم بگنجد». و می‌دانیم که «جهول» وصف انسان در قرآن ۳۳:۷۲ است: همان که حافظ نیز در «قرعه‌ی فال به نام من دیوانه زدند» به دیوانه برش گردانده. داستان می‌گذرد تا آن‌جا که در میانه‌ی کتاب صاحب جهول در وضعیتی بسیار هولناک که بیش از یک تار مو با مرگ فاصله ندارد، ناچار می‌شود روی جهول قمار کند؛ او چون هیچ چیز دیگری برایش نمانده، اسب دیوانه‌اش را ضمانت قمار می‌کند؛ در وضعیت ویژه‌ای که اگر اسبش برود خودش هم حتما می‌میرد. و از آن‌جا که هیچ کس را یارای پرداخت بهای آن اسب دیوانه نیست، همه‌ی شهر از والیان تا رعایا پول‌هایشان را جمع می‌کنند و مقابل جهول شرط می‌بندند. شرط‌بندی‌ای بی‌اندازه دردناک و به همان اندازه باشکوه؛ قماری چنان باشکوه که اگر در آن ببازد، باز هم چیزی از شکوه آن کم نمی‌شود.
داستان جهول برای من داستان قمار باشکوه و غرورآلود و بی‌اندازه دردناک خداوند است روی انسان، روی جهول؛ داستانی که ممکن است به قتل خودش منجر شود و دست کم چند باری در طول تاریخ شده است! البته برخی معتقدند بسیار بیش‌تر و شاید هر روز خداوند به دست انسان کشته می‌شود… قماری که ما پیش‌کاران او، خواسته یا ناخواسته در برد و باخت آن شریکیم. اگر بخواهم بیش‌تر درباره‌ی این قمار جنون‌آمیز صحبت کنم ناچارم گره‌های اصلی داستان را لو بدهم پس شما را دعوت می‌کنم به خواندن داستانی شیرین و پرشور و شوکت و البته آشنا.

[Stephen Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pick up a 50-year-old book to read for the first time. It is set in Afghanistan, but it is Afghanistan before the US invasion, before the Soviet invasion, before the 1978 Communist coup, before the 1973 Republican coup. It was an almost unimaginably different world. And yet it is in my lifetime.

And when the book was first published, in 1970, who could have imagined the changes that would take place in Afghanistan over the next 50 years?

The plot centres on buzkashi, a game played on horseback, which was then popular in northern Afghanistan, when the king (who was to be overthrown in the 1973 coup) decides to hold a national tournament in Kabul, the capital. It gives interesting descriptions of the people, cultures and scenery of Afghanistan, and especially those of the Hindu Kush, the mountain range that divides the steppes of northern Afghanistan from the rest of the country.

It includes descriptions of the Buddha statues of the Bamyan Valley, which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Could Joseph Kessel even have imagined their destruction when he wrote the book?

But the strongest impression the book made on me was of an utterly alien culture.

In South Africa one of the values people pay at least lip-service to is ubuntu, basic humanity, and compassion for other people. The Afghan culture depicted in the book is the exact opposite of ubuntu, shown in the lives and behaviour of the main characters. The northern Afghan culture, as depicted by Kessel at least, is based on honour, and honour as a zero-sum game, in which my honour can only be achieved by bringing someone else into dishonour. And perhaps that culture is epitomised by the Taliban's destruction of the statues. The Buddha taught something like ubuntu, compassion for all sentient beings, and those values are the exact opposite of the kind of values depicted in the book.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after my return from a summer trip to Afghanistan in 1973. It was an incredible read because it confirmed as well as contextualized for me culturally and historically so much of what I experienced as a teenager traveling in Afghanistan.

I still have an old dis-coloured paper back of this book. For me it is a classic - a book I'll never part with.

I can still picture the buzkashi events, central to the book, from the novel descriptions.

Wow!

[Nevcihan Oktar]

Joseph Kessel'in, konusu Afganistan'da geçen, 1971'de sinemaya da uyarlanan Atlılar adlı bu romanı 1967 yılında yayımlanmıştı.
Her daim okunası bir kitap...
Atlılar, eski ticaret yollarının kesiştiği, sert rüzgarların estiği, sarp dağlarla çevrili, Afganistan’ın, koçların, horozların kıyasıya dövüştürüldüğü pazar yerlerinde, esrar dolu, ilkel hanlarında, bey malikanelerinde, paha biçilmez atların yetiştirildiği haralarında, onurun pey olarak ortaya sürüldüğü buzkaşi yarışlarında, kahramanlığın sınandığı sarp dağlarda bir renk cümbüşü içinde geçer.
Kıtabın kişileri atlara tutkundur. Öfkeleri, kıskançlıkları, nefretleri yoğundur. Güçlü olduklarını sürekli kanıtlamak isterler. Bütün bu frenleyemedikleri şeref, cesaret, gurur gibi tutkuları içinde huzursuzdurlar, yalnızdırlar.
Destan anlatıcısı Gardi Geç bir gün Osman Beyin topraklarına gelir. Dağlardan başka bir şey bilmeyen köy halkına şehirde oynanacak olan “buzkaşi” oyunundan söz eder. Buzkaşiyi kazanmak Afganlar için onurların en büyüğüdür.
“Atların Efendisi” olarak anılan Osman Beyin haralarının idarecisi Büyük Tursen'in oğlu Uraz yarışmalara katılır ama bu geleneksel oyunu kazanamaz. Utancını örtmek ve kendini kanıtlamak için evine dönmek üzere kendini sarp dağlara vurur. Sert Afgan doğasında Uraz büyük güçlüklerle karşı karşıya kalacak, aman vermez dağlarda kendini sınayacak, ve galip geldikçe özsaygısını ve onurunu yeniden kazanacaktır.
Onuru yüzünden kimseye yanaşamayan, gerçek bir ilişki kuramayan babası "Atların Efendisi" Büyük Tursen, kitabın sonunda bir başkasının yardımını, utanç duymadan kabullendiğinde ve gönlüne sınır koymadan verebildiğinde bu yalnızlıktan kurtularak huzura kavuşacaktır.
Çünkü : “Kendi postu içinde yalnızlıktan boğulup kalmak istemeyen herkes kendini bir başkası için gerekli hissetmek ister. İnsan bazen korumak, bazen de sığınmak ister."

[Lea Saurusrex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une lecture qui me laisse partagée.

Partagée parce que la langue est belle, la plume emporte complètement, les paysages sont à couper le souffle, l'histoire intense, et la description des rites traditionnels vraiment intéressante. Le récit est riche. Riche de beaucoup d'informations sur ce pays méconnu qu'est l'Afghanistan, riche de la beauté des montagnes et de la steppe, et de la force impitoyable de la nature. Riche de traditions séculaires qui voient soudainement apparaître de petites touches de modernité, ces petites touches qui aident à situer l'époque, même si on n'en a pas besoin pour se perdre totalement dans les pages.
La lecture m'a complètement emmenée avec elle, et pendant quelques heures j'ai vécu ailleurs et j'ai pu difficilement lâcher les pages d'un roman qui m'auront portée jusqu'à la dernière d'entre elles.

Mais partagée parce que le roman est aussi incroyablement dur. Des scènes presque insoutenables, des hommes dont l'orgueil mène aux pires comportements, de l'inégalité à chaque instant et jamais remise en cause, mais au contraire à chaque fois aggravée. Aucun des personnages n'a réussi à me convaincre entièrement. Aucun. De temps en temps, l'espoir renaît, grâce à la merveille de la vulnérabilité, mais il y a quelque chose dans le sang de ces hommes qui repousse toute douceur et qui se laisse impitoyablement mener par un sens de l'honneur qu'il m'est difficile de partager. Et je dis bien ces hommes car de femmes il n'en est quasiment pas question, et les seules qui trouvent leur place dans ce roman ne plaident vraiment pas en la faveur de la cause féminine...

Ceci dit, à chaque fois que je tombe sur un roman qui me rend aussi perplexe, je suis assurée d'en conserver le souvenir des mois, voire des années après. Et est-ce que ce n'est pas là la marque d'un vrai bon livre, d'être difficilement oubliable et oublié ?

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an older book I read as a teenager, upon my parents' recommendation. I loved it then because it seemed a grand adventure story involving a horse of almost supernatural powers. I reread it recently as an adult and was impressed at how good it is. It is a character study of a father/son relationship. It's a story about all kinds of relationships really. It's a story about courage and cruelty and the difference between the two. It's a story about Afghanistan. It provides a rare glimpse inside this country (before Russia and America got hold of it)and makes you understand and appreciate the Afghan people. It's just a wonderful read all around and one of those rare books that I think men and women might enjoy equally.

[Jehol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joseph Kessel nous guide à travers l'Afghanistan des années 1960, loin des guerres et de l'absurdité des chefs de guerre, occidentaux et fondamendalistes. Il s'agit d'une des aventures les plus belles et les plus féroces que l'auteur ait raconté, à travers des paysages aux descriptions fantastiques. A noter l'extraordinaire et haletante partie de buskashi, tradition bannie aujourd'hui par les talibans et pseudo modernistes.

[Moshtagh hosein · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب خوب و پرکششی هست از افغانستان دوره‌ی شاهنشاهی ، کاش همان سالی که خریده بودم میخواندم که بهش ۵ ستاره میدادم.

[Robert Wechsler]

I hadn’t realized that Patrick O’Brian, the novelist famous for his naval novels, also did a good bit of translation from the French, including the famous Papillon, the later works of Simone de Beauvoir and, just before Master and Commander, this novel. I have never picked up a book by O’Brian, so I was happy to find what a great ear he had and what great control of long sentences.

Sadly it was the writing (not, I think, the translation) that put me off what appears to be a fascinating book about northern Afghan culture before the Soviet and American invasions. The writing is what I would call “heightened,” that is, exaggerated by adding in lots of words (especially those adjectives) to make the prose more exciting. Everyone (and thing) is the best, the most, just amazing. For me the classic modern version of the heightened novel is Mark Helprin’s A Soldier of the Great War, which I once parodied as “A Soldier of the Absolutely Greatest War Ever.” This kind of prose makes me break out in the most horrible hives so, to stop scratching all of my skin off, I moved on.

[Elsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entre les steppes et les hautes montagnes d'Afghanistan, le grand Toursène ,vieil homme sévère et austère, qui est maître des écuries, envoie à Kaboul, son fils, cavalier virtuose, et sa plus belle monture, pour jouer le Bouchkazi du Roi. Mais ce voyage à travers les montagnes, est en réalité un véritable parcours initiatique à la haine pour ce fils, orgueilleux et méprisant, à la luxure et la convoitise pour le fidèle serviteur, et à l'orgueil et la sagesse pour le vieux père.

Ce roman est à proprement parler une fresque qui sait mêler avec adresse de grands paysages et des sentiments très violents. On suit avec impatience le parcours de ces personnages, qui semblent bien réels, car chacun est en proie aux tourments de l'âme humaine et aux différents âges de la vie. Par petites touches, Kessel transforme ses personnages, les mûrit, les transfigure dans leurs passions. Mais c'est aussi un conte que ce merveilleux roman, imprégné de saveurs rudes mais enivrantes de l'orient, avec ces descriptions de caravansérails, de caravanes... La plume de Kessel est belle, simple mais légère, et quelques mots lui suffisent pour dresser une scène poignante ou épique.

Un très beau récit, qu'il ne faut manquer sous aucun prétexte !

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have strong reservations. If I remember rightly I did as a young teenager when I first read and loved this; I wondered then whether I was adult enough, but I'm adult now and I still can't follow him through much of the second half of the plot. At times I thought this was plain bad. Yet the magic was there for me again, with a revisit: the evocation, heightened by a lovely old-fashioned translation from Patrick O'Brian; an inclination for perverse psychology, that just became a bit laboured later on. Tursen and his son Uroz are not people to like; Uroz is fairly insane, in ugly ways; they are eaten up by 'the fiend of pride' and neither can for the life of him display emotion. Nevertheless I threw myself into Uroz, back then, and my eyes wet for Tursen, now.

One note. Whatever the position of women was in 50s Afghanistan (I wouldn't know) I detect that the author adds his own sexism. It comes with a caution that way.

[PPEsquire · Rating 3 out of 5]

C’est un roman étrange à découvrir aujourd’hui. Kessel écrit merveilleusement, notamment dans la première et la dernière partie.

Et pourtant, je ne peux m’empêcher de ressentir un peu de malaise en parcourant ce roman de pur exotisme, conçu pour étonner le français des 60´s façon grand reportage sur les afghans mystérieux et pleins d’honneur.

C’est un beau roman, mais c’est aussi un roman furieusement daté, qui célèbre une vision elle-aussi à mon avis très datée de l’honneur et du rôle des femmes.

[Melon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at a culture of Afghanistan fifty years ago. An adventure story and a character study, this novel has action scenes, changing fortunes, deceit, suspense, and more. Very enjoyable.

[Δημητρης Παπαγεωργιου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πολυ δυνατο βιβλιο-περιπετεια-εσωτερικη αναζητηση και μια ματια στις παραδοσεις του Αφγανισταν...must read!

[Audrey RZR · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Très beau récit d'aventures qui nous plonge en Afghanistan, dans les steppes et les montagnes au contact d'hommes et de cavaliers qui continuent à faire prospérer des coutumes qui peuvent paraître sauvages et archaïques aux yeux du lecteur occidental. Un beau voyage servi par une plume magnifique mais qui réserve très peu de place aux personnages féminins (le seul personnage féminin est antipathique au possible, cupide et sans morale).

[Nevcihan Oktar · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Kendi postu içinde yalnızlıktan boğulup kalmak istemeyen herkes kendini bir başkası için gerekli hissetmek ister. İnsan bazen korumak, bazen de sığınmak ister."

Atlılar, eski ticaret yollarının kesiştiği, sert rüzgarların estiği, sarp dağlarla çevrili, Afganistan’ın, koçların, horozların kıyasıya dövüştürüldüğü pazar yerlerinde, esrar dolu, ilkel hanlarında, bey malikanelerinde, paha biçilmez atların yetiştirildiği haralarında, onurun pey olarak ortaya sürüldüğü buzkaşi yarışlarında, kahramanlığın sınandığı sarp dağlarda bir renk cümbüşü içinde geçer.

Kıtabın kişileri atlara tutkundur. Öfkeleri, kıskançlıkları, nefretleri yoğundur. Güçlü olduklarını sürekli kanıtlamak isterler. Bütün bu frenleyemedikleri şeref, cesaret, gurur gibi tutkuları içinde huzursuzdurlar, yalnızdırlar.

Destan anlatıcısı Gardi Geç bir gün Osman Beyin topraklarına gelir. Dağlardan başka bir şey bilmeyen köy halkına şehirde oynanacak olan “buzkaşi” oyunundan söz eder. Buzkaşiyi kazanmak Afganlar için onurların en büyüğüdür.

“Atların Efendisi” olarak anılan Osman Beyin haralarının idarecisi Büyük Tursen'in oğlu Uraz yarışmalara katılır ama bu geleneksel oyunu kazanamaz. Utancını örtmek ve kendini kanıtlamak için evine dönmek üzere kendini sarp dağlara vurur. Sert Afgan doğasında Uraz büyük güçlüklerle karşı karşıya kalacak, aman vermez dağlarda kendini sınayacak, ve galip geldikçe özsaygısını ve onurunu yeniden kazanacaktır.

Onuru yüzünden kimseye yanaşamayan, gerçek bir ilişki kuramayan babası "Atların Efendisi" Büyük Tursen, kitabın sonunda bir başkasının yardımını, utanç duymadan kabullendiğinde ve gönlüne sınır koymadan verebildiğinde bu yalnızlıktan kurtularak huzura kavuşacaktır.

[DoctorM · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems odd to think of "The Horsemen" as historical fiction, since it's set in Afghanistan in the 1950s, but that time and that place are as lost and alien now as anything that might have happened a few hundred years ago. It's a story about professional buzkashi players, men who play a game that once marked the contempt of horseback steppe warriors for settled farmers, a game that helped train mounted warriors, a game that in the 1950s was still something feudal landowners and tribal chiefs sponsored to show their wealth and power. "The Horsemen" is a story of obsession and pride and redemption, about a world of constant and hovering violent death and injury, a world of grand gestures, a world where buzkashi still symbolises individual honour. The Afghanistan of the novel is a world that's still only dimly part of the twentieth century, a backwater where everything that's happened there since 1978 could never have been imagined. It's a tale that will hold your attention, and one about a lost world. Read it--- and watch the rather good c. 1970 film version, too.

[Euskobelga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sans doute bien écrit mais d'une lenteur et d'une lourdeur atroce; pas du tout à mon gout (mais c'est personnel); des passages mieux que d'autres mais dans l'ensemble j'ai du persévérer pour en venir à bout. Assez déçu après les Les mains du miracle qui m'avait beaucoup plu.

[LetCap]

Scrittura incredibile, speravo che tutti i personaggi morissero improvvisamente liberandomi di loro e delle loro serie di ingiustizie.
Secondo un mio amico è questo il motivo per cui è un libro straordinario, perché fa molto arrabbiare.

[Veronique Rahmati · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lire absolument.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Épique!

[Jean Blondet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cest un vieux classique . Vieux trouvé dans les cartons de ma mère. Très très belles descriptions . Très chouette à lire et ça fait voyager dans le tête et à travers le temps.

[Raphael Galvao · Rating 4 out of 5]

ouroz va reste à l'hôpital la prochaine fois il t'arrivera moins de galr

[Lolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un roman qui se déroule dans un Afghanistan, intemporel, où la modernité de l'occident est encore lointaine. Les personnages principaux sont deux tchopendoz de légende, père et fils, les meilleurs cavaliers à un jeu qui exige beaucoup de force, d'abnégation et de dextérité. Avec un côté presque mythologique dans l'épopée qui nous est contée, il est question du temps, de l'âge, de fierté, de dignité, de possession de ses moyens, de ce qui fait ou non l'essence de la vie, de la relation père-fils, etc.. Un roman captivant, qui fait découvrir autrement l'Afghanistan, ses traditions, sa géographie et son peuple varié.

[Butylphenyl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un roman d’aventure qui explore la relation conflictuelle entre un père et son fils, où l’incroyable talent de conteur de Kessel parvient à restituer l'âme de l’Afghanistan des années 60 et à magnifier l'âpre et parfois même détestable âme de ses personnages, ici des cavaliers.

Avec un personnage féminin mieux travaillé (et dont le traitement me semble en tout cas discutable) il y avait matière à chef-d'œuvre. Je précise aussi qu'il y a des scènes de dressage et de combats d'animaux très difficiles.

(Et tendresse infinie pour Jehol, le meilleur personnage <3)