அலியும் நினோவும் [Aliyum Ninovum]

by Kurban Said, பயணி தரன் (translator)

‘அலியும் நினோவும்’ நாவல், 20ஆம் நூற்றாண்டின் முற்பகுதியில் ரஷ்யா, ஈரான், அஜர்பைஜான், ஜியார்ஜியா பகுதிகளின் கொந்தளிப்பான பின்னணியில் அமைந்த அழுத்தமான அழகான காதல் கதை. இஸ்லாமிய அஜர்பைஜானி இளைஞருக்கும் கிறிஸ்துவ ஜார்ஜிய இளவரசிக்கும் இடையிலான ஆழமான, சிக்கலான காதலைப் பேசும் இந்தக் கதை வரலாறு, அடையாளம், பண்பாடு என்கிற அடுக்குகளில் பயணித்துக் காலத்தை வெல்லும் படைப்பாக மாறுகிறது.
முதலாம் உலகப் போர் காலத்தில் சோவியத் நாட்டின் ஆதிக்கத்தின் கீழ் இருக்கும் அஜர்பைஜான் நாட்டின் வரலாற்றையும் இக்காதல் கதையுடன் இணைத்திருக்கிறார் நாவலாசிரியர்.
இதுவரை 30 மொழிகளில் வெளிவந்து, 100 பதிப்புகளுக்கு மேல் கண்ட நூல் இது. திரைப்படமாகவும் வந்திருக்கிறது.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Classics, Asia, Historical, War

390 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Lev Nussimbaum (1905 - 1942) was a prolific Jewish writer who reinvented himself as a Muslim under the pseudonyms Essad Bey and Kurban Said. Despite his being an ethnic Jew, his politics were such that, before his origins were discovered, the Nazi propaganda ministry included his works on their list of "excellent books for German minds".

Reviews

[Mohamed Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

"إنّ الفن يزلزلني" عبارة لفولتير أستحضرها كلما أنهيت قراءة عملٍ عظيم كهذا العمل.

[Shovelmonkey1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ali and Nino: A Love Story. Believe me dear reader, there is nothing guaranteed to make me run further or faster from a book than printing the words "love story" on the front cover. Listen... that's the gently pitter patter of my size 41's disappearing into the distance....

Bleurgh. No love here.

But this exceptional book made it onto the mountainous TBR pile which is currently threatening to cause my living room floor to collapse, for one major reason. It was praised and recommended by the greatest sulky travel misanthrope, Mr Paul Theroux. I love Theroux's travel books because not only are they excellent reading material, Theroux is a conscientious and giving writer who provides you with a constant list of books relating to his travels which he has found significant (even if he outright detests them), inspiring, informative or just downright unusual.

The discovery of Ali and Nino came from reading Ghost Train to Eastern Bazaar his 2008 revisiting of a journey by rail across over 1/6th of the worlds land mass. Theroux cites it as a hidden gem. Golly-gosh-darnit he was right... again (for previous correct assertions on hidden gems I'd refer you to Carlo Levi's Christ Stopped at Eboli which was mentioned in Theroux's Pillars of Hercules where he circumnavigates the Mediterranean wearing a sun hat and a frown).

Ali and Nino are childhood sweethearts; he, a Shiite Muslim from noble bloodlines and she a Greek Orthodox Princess from Georgia. Together they inhabit the oil-soaked, palatial and multi cultural landscape of Azerbaijan; a melting pot of wealth, religion and culture influenced by Georgian, Armenian, Turkish and Russian fusion over many centuries. The advent of World War I tears holes in the community in which they live forcing both Christian and Muslim alike to make a choice- look to the West, Europe and rapid secular change or cling to the East and the poetry, spiritualism and tradition of a hundred generations.

I cannot express adequately how poetic this book is, nor how beautifully penned the landscapes, sariyes, palaces, bazaars and camis. Added to the beauty of this book is the long standing mystery over its author and the original publication - originally it was believed that the book was written by an Austrian Baroness under an assumed nom de plume, however it is now more likely that Kurban Said was the alter ego of Lev Nussimbaum, a Jew who converted to Islam and escaped Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution.

A classic as timeless and mesmerising as the shifting desert sands.

[Chrissie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hesitate to write any review b/c I feel I cannot do this book justice. I simply adored it. Probably the best book I will read this year!!! Of course it is a love story, but so much more too. It is a love story between a Georgian Christian girl and a Mulim boy from an historically famous family from Azebaijan. Their love explores how dramatically different cultures can be blended given the right circumstances - in this case true love. West meets East in this novel. You explore both ways of looking at life. The author was born a Jew, but became a Muslim. This makes his description of Eastern customs all the more vivid because he loved them and chose to follow these principles. Eastern culture is magnificently rendered. Muslim ideology, Sunni versus Shiite differences, Ottoman and Persian and Georgian beliefs - all are vividly depicted through legends and customs. How both Ali and Nino are portrayed is so amazing because you understand how these two who love each other STILL see everything so completely differently. It is beautiful to see how they compromise for each other. And it is horrible to see when there is no possible compromise. The reader gets both a familiar and an exotic world laid out before them. You read about blood feuds, camels, the landscape and the history of Azerbaijan and much much more. I simply cannot do this book justice.

I wanted to quote dozens of paragraphs, but I simply couldn't choose one. On every single page ideas are beautifully expressed. If you do not believe me - well just pick a page number and I will quote a bit to show you........ Every single page has the reader thinking WOW or pondering a particular thought or way of looking at life.

Now I will read The Orientalist Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life, which is about this author of Ali and Nino. Much of what happened in his own life is reflected int this novel.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a large genre of novels related to WWI that deal in the heartbreak of "the last summer" before the storm, the coming death of the old world and the founding of the new (Le Grand Meulnes, which is still the quintessential French coming of age novel, is one example). The histories on this theme are scarcely less legion.

This novel is both a part of that genre and so much more than that. It is told from the first person perspective of Ali Khan Shirvanshir, who has turned a request from the town gossip to "write down what a hero's feelings are," into a personal diary. Ali Khan is a Muslim growing up in Baku, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, in what is at the time a Russian possession. He is in love with Nino Kipiani, a Georgian Christian who becomes a Georgian Princess through the courtesy of the Czar. If you're thinking that this will turn out to be a typical star-crossed lovers meet at garden walls and ne'er dare speak their love, you'd be wrong. For this is a melting pot of a society, an oil-boom town, where Georgians, Armenians, Westerners, Persians and Muslims (who, interestingly, are the group referred to by their religion, not their nationality- they are called "Mohammedans") all mix together. Everyone does have a place, but there are many factors which factor into deciding who matters, who is where on the social scale- schooling, family, money, and family history.

No, the book focuses on the much more interesting task of how one makes a cross-cultural life in a world that is becoming ever more divided along every line possible- religion, politics, economics, and of course the powerful new god of Nationalism.

This is, more than anything else, a meditation on definitions, explanations, lines and musings on Who I Am and Who I Am Not, and perhaps more importantly for geopolitics, Who We Are and Who We Are Not. Ali visits many towns around his area and they all have some great story of their background, a legend that makes where they live the best place on earth, and no one seems to mind that the next town over also claims that they’re the best ever. Not in this melting pot of an area. Everything that everyone does seems to have to be attributed to some part of their background or heritage- such as: there’s a moment where Ali goes wild with fury after a friend of his kidnaps his fiancée (after seducing her with the idea of living in Europe and escaping the Asia that scares her) and he kills the man while taking a bite out of his throat, and afterwards says, “I am an Asiatic, not a European. I never mastered the art of hitting below the belt. I can only go mad like the desert wolf.” In this charged atmosphere, every action is a statement, every minute one chooses sides in this meeting place of “Asia and Europe”. Everyone judges those actions to determine which side you are on. Ali is a man caught by this transformative moment in time- 1914. He is a man who is “Asiatic in his blood” and yet is in love with a woman who loves Europe and by extension does many things that might make him seem to lean towards Europe for the sake of “putting the smile back in Nino’s eyes”… and yet, and yet. He cannot let go of the desert, and freaks out at the possibility of being posted to Paris where he cannot ride out into the desert, or stand on top of his roof looking over the sand.

There are many quotes here where people try to philosophize their way to a solution to what makes people so different, and how this Asia and Europe is divided. People at the time weren’t quite sure what to make of it, where the line was. And so conversations like these happened:

“What have you against trees? To me they are the embodiment of life fulfilled.”
“Ali Khan is afraid of trees the way a child is afraid of ghosts,” said Nino

“It’s not as bad as that. But what you feel for trees I feel for the desert,” I replied

Dadiani’s childish eyes blinked. “The desert,” he said, “fallow bushes and hot sand.”

“The world of trees perplexes me, your Highness. It is full of fight and mystery, of ghosts and demons. You cannot look ahead. You are surrounded. It is dark. The sun’s rays are lost in the twilight of the trees. In this twilight everything is unreal. No, I do not love he trees. The shadows of the wood oppress me, and it makes me sad to hear the rustling of the branches. I love simple things: wind, sand and stones. The desert is simple like the thrust of a sword. I lose my way in the woods, your Highness.”

Dadiani looked at me thoughtfully: “You have the soul of a desert man,” he said. “Maybe that is the one real division between men: wood men and desert men. The Orient’s dry intoxication comes from the desert, where hot wind and hot sand make men drunk, where the world is simple and without problems. The woods are full of questions. Only the desert does not ask, does not give, and does not promise anything. But the fire of the soul comes from the wood. The desert man- I can see him- has but one face, and knows but one truth and that truth fulfills him. The wood man has many faces. Maybe that is the main difference between East and West.”

The example there would seem to have quite the Western interpretation, but there’s just as many conversations the other way. And I wonder if I only see the representative of the “East” coming off worse there because of my own Western or modern biases about tolerance. I don’t know. But if this all seems too much just remember this was written in 1937, by a man who was born in Baku in 1904, and who therefore must be presumed to know what he is talking about. He gives all sides a voice, lets everyone express both their superiority and their shortcomings in more or less equal measure- no one group is allowed to be pure. For instance, our hero repeatedly thinks about killing Westerners for looking at his wife’s shoulders or and is shocked by them asking about her in conversation- interest in another man’s wife being indecent in his society. While at the same time he is the man who gives up the most of himself for love, tries his best to do whatever makes Nino happy even at the cost of his own identity, and is generally the most honest, kind, and reflective character in the book. Characters representing the West are often shown to have the most drive, the most passion, and the clarity to see the way the world works, and yet they’re also shown to be hypocritical, and of course.. the horror of WWI. Sadly, the author only has to conjure up the image of the machine gun or say the word “trenches,” to condemn what all the “civilization” of Europe has come to. The fact that he wrote this on the eve of yet another world war is even more poignant. I’ve heard that this is considered the Azeri national novel- I’d believe that. It gives a visceral picture of the history, culture and every day life of the area at the time, and more than that deals with the larger conflicts that still plague the region today. And not only the region- elsewhere in the world as well.

The story of the author ties in to the theme of this work. As fascinating as the novel, really. He was born a Ukranian Jew, converted to Islam and became Essad Bey, and published under the name of Kurban Said. He lived in Baku (left for Berlin after the Russian Revolution), Berlin (until Hitler), Austria and Italy. There is evidence, actually, that the Austrian baroness he became friends with in the 1930s deserves co-authorship of this book- it is certainly based on his interactions with her, as is the other novel published under his name, The Girl From the Golden Horn. This was a man who was used to trying on different identities and seeing what became him, what came closest to his Self, and a man who would know what it was like for someone to tell you what you were when you didn’t consider yourself to be anything of that kind.

Reading this, I often had to remind myself that it was written in 1937. All of these things are still immediately important now- East v. West, the answer to the question ‘What is Europe?’, the balance between preservation of culture and the natural progress of society, societal structures in a mixed religious society, the problem of what identity one really wants to fix one’s Self to. The questions of the twentieth century aren’t over yet, not by a long shot, and it is truly amazing how far we have not come from the days of this novel.

[AiK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Как хорошо, что роман не канул в Лету, что немецкая художница Женя Граман раскопала его в лавке букиниста и дала ему вторую жизнь! А сколько еще в мире забытых романов… В споре об авторстве я склоняюсь к тому, что автором мог быть человек, живший в Баку, может быть, хотя бы небольшой отрезок времени. Я сомневаюсь, что баронесса фон Бодмерсхоф могла бы написать роман о жизни в го��одах и селах региона, который она не посещала. Даже сейчас в эпоху интернета, попробуйте написать об Азербайджане, находясь в Вене. Вместе с тем, если роман написан на немецком языке, это требует не просто свободного владения им, но и возможность творить на этом языке. Наверное, только совсем узкий круг писателей мог писать на двух и более языках (Набоков, Бродский, Сэмюэл Беккет, Джозеф Конрад, может быть еще пара имен), хотя мультилингвами были многие. В общем, я думаю, что роман был написан азербайджанцем, либо жителем Азербайджана, но затем переведен на немецкий. Значение романа не только в его познавательности, а это действительно, редкая возможность узнать о жизни людей в довольно обособленном месте в мире. Мне нравится, что в романе люди разных культур, национальностей, вероисповеданий жили вместе, влюблялись, и вместе преодолевали все препятствия, создаваемые бурной эпохой. У автора очень правдивое отношение к столкновению культур Европы и Азии на рубеже веков. Толерантность выковывается именно через принятие обеих культур, через взаимные уступки. Там, где люди разных культур женятся, там и есть эта толерантность, поскольку именно в браке, люди учатся уступать, прощать и принимать. Конечно, были и, к сожалению, есть негативные проявления культур, которые вызывают содрогание, такие как кровная месть или избиение собак, которым дают кличку врага, или факты подавления одной культуры другой, например, обучение в гимназии, где подавляющее большинство учеников были мусульмане, на русском языке. С другой стороны, и сейчас есть школы, где все предметы на английском, так что это - дело личного выбора, главное, чтобы этот выбор был – но по крайней мере в романе о наличии выбора не говорится. Бережное отношение Али к Нино во время бегства в Тегеран, в место чуждое ей по культуре: «Я для нее и театр, и кофейня, и друг, и муж» - не может не трогать. У романа открытый финал – как сложилась дальнейшая судьба Нино?

[Dmitri · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Thank God we are in Europe. If we were in Asia they would have made me wear the veil and you couldn’t have seen me.”

“I suppose you will make your wife wear the veil? ‘Maybe, it depends. It is very useful to protect against the sun, dust and strangers looks.’ Nino blushed. ‘You will always be Asiatic, Ali. A woman wants to please.’ ‘Only to please her husband.”

“You may have one, two, three or four wives. The woman’s place is in the inner part of the house. A well brought up man does not talk of them, ask about them or give regards.”

“Wise old men sit in a circle and pass sentence according to the laws of Allah. A sack is carried through the alleys when the night is darkest. A muffled groaning, a soft splash in the sea, and the sack disappears. The next day a man sits on the floor, his eyes full of tears. He has fulfilled the law: death to an adulteress. Let me be born a Muslim of the Shiite faith.”

“I sat at home and pondered the futility of Latin learning on the coast of the Caspian. All of these were disturbing and unnecessary books of western knowledge - of chemistry, physics and trigonometry - foolish stuff invented by western barbarians to create the impression that they are civilized.”

*************

Kurban Said is the pen name of Lev Nussimbaum, a Jewish writer whose pregnant mother fled pograms in Kiev to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea. Tom Reiss wrote about him in his biography ‘The Orientalist’. Said’s identity was disputed for decades, and his life as a refugee in Europe after the Bolshevik revolution is an amazing saga of WWI & II adventure and adversity. He became a bestselling author at 24 and died at 36. Along the way he adopted the alias of a Muslim noble.

Ali begins his story shortly before high school graduation during the Russian Empire. Baku is a wealthy oil boom town, with an ancient inner city now surrounded by noveau riche
mansions. The majority of Azers were Shiite Muslims, with immigrants from Christian Europe. Ali had been in love with a Christian girl, Nino from Tbilisi, Georgia since he was a boy. He lived in a stately home in the old city, she in a rich house in the new city. Ali, enamored with Eastern tradition, is skeptical of the West.

Nino’s aristocratic mother and Ali’s pious father are both unaware of their plans to marry and may not approve. Ali is conflicted between the old values of Islam and a society on the cusp of modernity. The harem, the veil, the blood feuds and codes of honor are foreign to Nino. The school year done, Nino’s family goes to the Armenian mountains for summer. Ali follows her there, dreaming of their future wedding. As he pursues Nino the Tsar declares war on the Kaiser in the dog days of 1914.

Ali resolves not to fight for Russia, to the dismay of his father whose clan had fought alongside the Shah of Persia for generations. Muslims were exempt based on religious law, but many joined before the Ottoman Empire declared jihad on Russia. Consulting a mullah Ali gains his father’s blessing to be wed. Nino’s father relents and they travel to Tbilisi to meet her family. She mourns the loss of a European past and her pending Asian future, as Turkish and Russian soldiers march closer to Baku.

The Armenian who helped arrange Ali’s engagement with Nino kidnaps her. Ali learns by word of mouth, faster than telephone, and overtakes an automobile on horseback. Now wanted by the imperial police, and under a threat of blood feud, Ali hides in a mountain village where he is joined by Nino. The October Revolution removes the Tsar from power. On return to Baku, Muslims battle Bolsheviks for control of oil and independence. A massacre ensues and Ali escapes with his father and wife.

As Ali sails south on the Caspian Sea for Persia he reflects that he is no longer part of the Asia he loves. It’s boundaries had changed, he was educated by Europeans and then had married one. In Tehran they stay in a harem that belongs to his uncle. Nino is not allowed outside its walls as she refuses to wear the veil. Britain had made a treaty to protect and develop Persia in turn for its oil. Turkish forces close in to liberate Azerbaijan. Ali, a hero during the defense of Baku, longs to return home.

On the tenth day of Muharram, the month when Shia mourn the death of Muhammad’s grandson Husayn, penitents whip their backs with chains and beat their breasts, joined by Ali. Nino sees him from a window of her parents villa. Shocked by the fanatical ritual she begins to hate both him and the East. Returning to their ransacked home, it is renovated in European style. Turks patrol the streets and Ali becomes a diplomat of the new republic until the Soviet army arrives and sweeps it all away.

‘Kurban Said’ tells the story with a sly sense of humor and irony. His descriptions are authentic observations he made during his youth. He was born in 1905 and left Baku in 1918 fleeing the Russian civil war. He and his father crossed the Uzbek and Persian deserts and passed over the Caucusus mountains before traveling through Istanbul, Rome, Paris and Berlin. The novel was first published in 1937 and has become a national treasure of Azerbaijan, translated into over thirty languages.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read on the WondrousBooks blog.

This book is widely compared to Romeo and Juliet and even Dr. Zhivago and advertised as one of the best love stories of the last century. But in my opinion it is much more than just a love story. In fact, I'm not sure if I should call this a love story at all. Many may decide to contradict me, but I will explain below. Due to the fact that I found much more depth to Ali and Nino than just the star-crossed-lovers theme, I showed some generosity with the rating, even though the narrative and writing weren't so much to my taste.

Another note that I would like to make is that I usually review books in the language I read them, in this case - Azerbaijani, but there are some things about Azerbaijan that I would like to say here and which I hope will reach my western friends.



(I'm also very excited about the movie which, I think, is currently filming. starring the lovely Maria Valverde as Nino.)

Ali and Nino does start out as a romance. As we flip through the pages of Ali's memoirs of sorts, we see just how in love he is with her and that she also shares his feelings. What is beautiful about their love at the beginning is how uncomplicated it is. They love each other and that is that. Their families accept it, their friends accept it, society accepts it. Despite of religion, culture and personal beliefs, the simple fact exists that Ali and Nino are in love.

With the development of the plot, however, we witness a completely other side of this story. Layer after layer all sorts of events add up to form a relationship between the characters which is so complicated and at moments even dark, that I state again my uncertainty to see this book as a love story. The childish romance between the characters becomes stained with blood after Nino is kidnapped by another man and by the laws of honor killing, Ali can take her life for it. He doesn't - out of love, out of honor?

After Ali flees Baku he spends a very long time away from Nino. A narrative about Nino's actions after he leaves show a much darker shade of her personality. She is no longer the dear child he dreams of, but instead a girl who only dances with the Russian boys at balls and has a dog she regularly beats in public.

The rest of their relationship develops in a whirlwind of events, in the middle of which we see its many sides. Love is such a small part of it - there is passion, hate, tenderness, honor, stubbornness, shame, helplessness, belief, anger and so much more. Page after page we are shown not only the character's personalities on their own, but also how they change when they are together and also due to the unfolding events in Azerbaijan.

So is this love? And if so, what is love? Is it the simple fact that your world is someone else? Or should love be looked for in the not-so-beautiful reality of being with someone for many reasons and not just childish romance? Maybe it's the latter. I am just going to leave this here. The quote is my own translation, so forgive me if it doesn't do justice to the original.

"Suddenly I felt that nothing in this world is more valuable and sacred to me than Nino's eyes full of laughter..."

On the other hand, Ali and Nino is also extremely valuable on several other subjects out of which I'm going to talk about one, and I would like here all westerners to think about it: This book shows the struggles the Azerbaijani people go through in their self-identification. With one foot their are standing in Asia, proud, beautifully wild, owners of ancient traditions and a religion which at that period has no place in the West. And then, with their other foot, they are tiptoeing on Europe, their culture is changing and developing, both thanks to their geographical location and due to the fact that they have such a (painfully) strong relationship with Russia. Of course it is confusing - from the way they should treat their women, to the questions which are posed many times in the book: Should we keep our tradition to eat with hands or instead eat with knives and forks? Should we drink wine, like the western people, or should we follow the Islamic rule of abstaining from it? And what about pork then?

And yet, Azerbaijan is the first Muslim country to grant the women the right to vote(1917) and it did earlier than Austria and Germany(1918), France(1945) and much earlier than Portugal(1976). There are many more to be added to this list, but I think you got the point that I'm making. Azerbaijan is also the first Muslim country to have operas and theaters, for that matter. Why am I getting into this? Because there are certain countries we don't know all that much about and with the help of Ali and Nino you can learn not only how developed Azerbaijan was even at the beginning of last century(not even going to talk about today, Google it and see for yourselves), but also how they came to be like that and what struggles they went through to get there. Because I, on behalf of other people, get ashamed when I tell someone I've visited Azerbaijan and they reply something within the vicinity of "Ohmigosh didn't they like shoot at you and like make you wear like a veil???". No. Not even close.

[mai ahmd · Rating 4 out of 5]

رواية ذات سرد جميل جدا تشدك للنهاية خاصة فيما لو كنت مهتما بتاريخ منطقة القوقاز ، إن كان يخيل إليك إنها تحكي قصة حب نينو وعلي فهي
أكثر من ذلك بكثير إنها تروي قصة باكو شعبا وثقافة وبوتقة انصهرت فيها مذاهب وديانات وأجناس عدة ، استطاع قربان سعيد أن يقرب لنا الصورة و يجمع كل أنواع الصراعات والعلاقات التي حددت هوية منطقة القوقاز..
فنجد أنفسنا مرة في باكو ثم كاراباخ أرمينيا إيران القوقاز وجورجيا
الرواية من الروايات المكانية التي تعطي للمكان بطولة لا تقل أهمية عن شخصياتها .. لقد كانت باكو بكل عنفوانها وحيرتها وتحولاتها البطل الأول في الرواية .. العروس التي تقف على ساحل بحر قزوين شديدة الحيرة بين آسيا أم أوروبا بين الإسلام أم المسيحية بين الشرق أم الغرب لتشكل الهوية والإنتماء ما بين قارتين هائلتين تختلف إحداهما عن الأخرى بعاداتها وثقافتها دينها وأشكال
سكانها أهم قضية تطرحها الرواية ..

لا زلت أتذكر عبارة قالها قربان على لسان أحد شخصيات الرواية
نحن نود لو نقتل الروس والروس يودون لو قتلوا الأتراك والأتراك يتمنون لو قتلوا الأرمن والأرمن يودون لو قتلونا
عبارة تعلق بالذهن لشدة ماكانت تلخص ما حدث وما يحدث صراعات سياسية الصراعات المأساوية والمؤلمة والتي تركت أثرها في المجتمع الأذربيجاني ..

هناك مشاهد ثرية في الرواية تعكس ثقافة ذلك المجتمع المتعدد الثقافات مثل مشهد خيانة الصديق الأرمني ، ومشهد علي وهو في إيران يلطخ نفسه بدماءه ومشاهد نينو وهي في الحرملك وهي تغسل أرجل والد زوجها وغيرها ..

الشخصيات كتبت باحتراف وإتقان من علي سليل الأسرية الثرية الذي حاول أن يقف في المنتصف ولكن جذوره تشده من كل جهة ونينو الفتاة الجورجانية الأصل المسيحية المتمردة والغارقة في حب رجل مسلم
إلى رفاق علي الذين ذهبوا ضحية حرب ليست حربهم


هناك أيضا مشاهد غارقة في الرقة على الرغم من كل هذه القضايا الجادة والصراعات السياسية وأزمة الهوية والإنتماء التي تطرحها الرواية ..


تستحق وقتكم :)

[Cynnamon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other than the title would make you assume this is not a romance novel, but rather a history book.

The author uses the muslim Ali and the Georgian, christian Nino as personification of the oriental respective European culture and describes the heavy culture clash taking place in Aserbaijan at the beginning of the 20th century.

I did not particularly enjoy this book but in acknowledgement of its historical importance I rate it with 3 stars.

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Man könnte - schon allein durch den Titel - vermuten, dass es sich hier um einen Liebesroman handelt. Am Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts verlieben sich in Baku die Teenager Ali und Nino, beides verwöhnte Sprößlinge reicher und mächtiger Familien. Trotz des kulturell unterschiedlichen Hintergrunds kommt es nach einigem Hin und Her zu einer Eheschließung.

Als Leser merkt man dannn aber recht schnell, dass Ali und Nino nur Platzhalter für die orientalische bzw. europäische Kultur sein sollen, anhand derer der Autor das heftige Aufeinanderprallen der unterschiedlichen Weltsichten beschreibt.

Mir hat das Buch nicht sonderlich gefallen. Insbesondere habe ich mich an dem Blutdurst und blindem Nationalismus der jungen Männer gestört und der allgegenwärtigen Frauenverachtung. Natürlich weiß ich, dass das den Tatsachen geschuldet ist, dennoch macht es keinen Spaß darüber zu lesen. Möglicherweise spielte es auch eine wesentliche Rolle, dass der Autor Ali als Ich-Erzähler angelegt hatte, der dadurch die Möglichkeit hatte seine unreifen und reaktionären Ansichten im Übermaß an den Leser zu bringen.

In Anbetracht des historischen Werts dieses Buches, gebe ich 3 Sterne, obwohl die Lektüre für mich kein Genuss war.

[Mrs.Martos · Rating 4 out of 5]

~ AZERBAIYÁN ~

[Salma · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصة حب جمعت بين علي المسلم الأذربيجاني و نينو المسيحية الجورجية في باكو عاصمة أذربيجان حيث الأعراق و الأثنيات و الصراعات و المطامع و الخلافات زمن الحرب العالمية الأولى و اكتشاف النفط و السلطان التركي و القيصر الروسي و شاه إيران و الثورة البلشفية... قصة جميلة و رقيقة و حزينة و مليئة بالتفاصيل عن عادات و حيوات تلك الشعوب... نشأت القصة في أحضان التشتت بين الشرق و الغرب... بين آسيا و أوروبا... بين الصحراء و الغابة... بين عادات الدماء و الثأر... بين الماضي و الحاضر... بين التقاليد و الحداثة... بين البساطة و التعقيد...0

قربان سعيد هو اسم مستعار كان يكتب به المؤلف، و اسمه الحقيقي ليف نسيمباوم (Lev Nussimbaum) و أيضا أسعد بيك... و هو مستشرق و كاتب من أوائل القرن الماضي كتب بالألمانية، أذربيجاني من أصول يهودية... اعتنق الإسلام و قدم نفسه على أنه أمير اسمه أسعد بيك...0

مع أني شخصيا لا أفهم كثيرا مشاعر الارتباط بالمكان و الحنين للتراث إلا أني لا أنكر تأثرا بألمه و محبته لتاريخه و بلدته التي ضُيّعت...0
رواية جميلة جدا بنكهة شرقية و غربية فريدة، ألفها كاتب كانت حياته القصيرة مثيرة و غريبة...0
مع أني قرأتها قبل عام، إلا أن شيئا ما ذكرني بها و لذلك وضعتها الآن

[تسنيم · Rating 4 out of 5]

أتعبتني هذه الرواية .. كلاسيكية .. الأحداث متوقعة لكنها جميلة .. الكاتب مبدع في الوصف بشكل رهيب .. تخيلت نفسي في بيت علي خان في باكو وفارس كلها تقبع داخل البيت وجورجيا مع نينو.. وفارس طهران إيران مرة أخرى والقصور جميعها واللوحات والبيوت والنساء والمخصيين.. أظن أنني رسمتها كاملة في عقلي .. جميلة وأنيقة .. والحرب مثوانا الأخير دائما ..

[Mohammed Orabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

بعض الاعمال الادبية قادرة ان تاخذك الى رحلة عبر المكان والزمان الى بيئة قد لا تكون سمعت عنها من قبل وعالم مجهول لم تكن تعلم عنه شيئاً ، تلك الرواية من نوعية تلك الاعمال فعقب الانتهاء منها وجدتها رحلة مميزة الى مدينة باكو الأذربيجانية وقت الحرب العالمية الاولي لتسرد واقع تلك المدينة بتضاريسها الجبلية وتعدد طوائف سكانها ، كيف كانت حياتهم اليومية وعلاقتهم رغم اختلافهم في اللهجات وفي الاديان ، كيف واجهت تلك المدينة الحرب القادمة عليها رغم انها لم تكن طرف فيها وكيف كان رد فعل سكانها من تلك الحرب التى اشتعلت بين الروس والاتراك ، كل ذلك من خلال قصة حب نشأت بين على ونينو الشاب المسلم ذو الاصول المسلمة الشيعية والاميرة الجورجية المسيحية ، تعطيك احساس بانها تشبه روايات روميو وجوليت او حتى الف ليلة وليلة ومثل تلك الحكايات القديمة الكلاسيكية التى لا تمل من قراءتها ابدا .. كانت تجربة مميزة للغاية والرواية تم انتاجها كفيلم سينمائي العام الماضي وكان جيد جدا واستطاع نقل الرواية بشكل مميز

[Alberto Delgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una maravilla de libro, lo tiene todo para disfrutar. Gracias que Asteroide lo publicara hace unos años y yo buscando libros para el marzo asiático que se salieran de la zona de Asia Oriental lo encontrara. Historia de amor entre un musulmán y una cristiana en la Azerbaiyán de principios de siglo xx en una Bakú en la que convivían todas las etnias (armenios, georgianos, turcos, rusos) hasta que llega la primera guerra mundial y la revolución rusa y todo cambiará para siempre. Me ha gustado por ver la historia de la primera guerra mundial vista desde otra visión diferente a la habitual europea occidental. Me sorprende que en estos tiempos de plataformas con infinitas adaptaciones en películas y series a nadie se le haya ocurrido todavía llevar esta historia a la pantalla. Tiene esa esencia de historia de amor en escenarios exóticos que tenía El paciente ingles.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Did not finish because it's written by a pair of scholars who are neither from Azerbaijan nor are they Muslim, making this not as eligible for my Around the World reading as I'd like. It's been on my tbr shelf almost ten years but now I will donate it onward. I found too much to be cringeworthy in the first 50 pages. I can see why the melodrama made it appealing to readers prior to WWII, the same people who flocked to Casablanca.

[نشوى · Rating 5 out of 5]

عن على ونينو والمشاعر القاسية والمربكة والجميلة ...

لم انهدّ حتى اتممت تلك الرواية ... رغم قهر المذاكرة الا انها كانت عالما جميلا قاسيا اطل عليه بين الحين والحين اتأكد انه بجانبى .... اتممتها ..

كيف تعلم الرواية الجيدة ؟ ...
الرواية الجيدة هى التى يجافيك النوم بسببها ... تدور فى فلكها أيام وليال متأثرا

بلاد ما وراء النهر .. اذربيجان .. القوقاز ... الشيشان ... سمرقند ..

بلاد كان اول اكتشافى لها فى رواية قمر على سمرقند للمنسى قنديل
بلاد لم اكن اعلم عنها شيئا تماما وتسقط من حساباتى ... فاذا بالرواية تدور فى فلك تلك البلاد
وما عانته من احتلال روسى وسيادة للعقيدة الشيوعية بالغصب

كنت اتمتم كما تمتمت اثناء قرائتى لثلاثية غرناطة انا اسفة لاننى لا اعلم عنكم شيئا ولا احمل همومكم حتى ... لا افكر فيكم ..

على يمسك ببندقيته مدافعا عن بلاده الذى يعرفها يقول له صديقه الذى لا اتذكر اسمه نحن لا نحارب وحدنا وتضحيتنا لن تذهب هدرا فهناك 25 الف جندى يزحفون من اجلنا ..
رد عليه على لا بل هناك 250 مليون مسلم سيأتون لينصروننا لكننى لست ادرى هل سيأتون فى الوقت المناسب ام لا ... وكانت تلك آخر كلمات على

قطعتنى تلك الكلمة اربا من شخص خيالى نطقها فى رواية تدور احداثها بعد انتهاء الحرب العالمية الاولى ! .. ذكرتنى بثلاثية غرناطة حيث كان ينتظر الموريسكيون المسلمين يقدمون لنجدتهم ..

على ونينو .. كنت اتوقع ان تكون رواية رومانسية من الدرجة الاولى الا انها اعمق من هذا .. اعمق كثيرا كثيرا

لطالما تساءلت كيف نشأت القوميات ؟ ... وكيف انتقلنا من الانتماء العقدى الى الانتماء القومى
كيف نشأت الخلافات ؟؟ ... ومتى اصبح المسلمون فى الاماكن البعيدة لا يخصوننا لانهم ليسوا من اوطاننا ...

كيف تغيرت مصطلحاتنا الاجتماعية ... طريقة لبسنا واكلنا وشربنا .. وكيف كنا نعيش قبل ان ننتهج مظاهر الحياة الاوروبية

تأتى تلك الرواية لتجيب عن كل تلك الاسئلة ... يبدو انه ف بدايات القرن العشرين لم يغرب العالم بشكل كلى ولكن كان فى طريقه نحو التغريب

الرواية هى تأريخ اجتماعى لمرحلة التغريب القصرية حينا والتى بمزاجنا حينا
وكم كان المؤلف عبقرى عندما قال على لسان والد على : باكو لم تعد تنتمى لآسيا .. انت نفسك غاضبا لانك تنزلق الى الحياة الاوروبية فقد تعلمت فى مدارس روسية وتحدث اللاتينية وتزوجت اجنبية مسيحية ... ولو لم تتم محو الهوية قصرا كنت انت من ستسعى الى التغريب

مؤلف مغمور لم يعرف عنه سوى انه كان يهوديا واسلم .. اسم مستعار لصاحب الرواية .. وكأن الرواية تأتى من العدم الينا مباشرة ... وكم سأدعو للمؤلف فى صلاتى ان يرحمه الله لانه ارانى ما كنت اتوق لرؤيته ..

[محمد · Rating 4 out of 5]

أعتقد أن الرواية مثالية لصاحب مزاج غريب مثلي و لكل من يبحث عن نكهة شرقية و أخرى غربية في رواية واحدة.إنها رواية الأذربيجاني قربان سعيد أو أسعد بيه و هو الاسم الذي اعتنقه المؤلف بعد تحوله من اليهودية إلى الإسلام ، عاش الرجل حياة حافلة بحثا عن الحرية و كتب أكثر من كتاب أغلبها سير ذاتية و لم يكتب سوى روايتين هما علي و نينو وفتاة من القرن الذهبي.
الصدفة وحدها هي التي كشفت تلك الرواية المجهولة و انتشلتها من النسيان إذ عثرت عليها جنيا جرامان بين كتب مستعملة في أحد أكشاك بيع الكتب في برلين.
تحكي الرواية عن باكو عاصمة أذربيجان تلك الأرض البكر التي لوثتها منصات البترول ، تحكي عن قصة حب جمعت بين علي المسلم الشيعي و نينو المسيحية الأرثوذكسية الجورجية ، البطل يتصرف كأوروبي في كثيرمن الأحيان لكن من داخله هو آسيوي صرف ، يعقد دوما المقارنات بين الشرق و الغرب فالمرأة الشرقية قد لا يرى وجهها لكنه يعرف روحها و عاداتها و تقاليدها ، بينما المرأة الغربية قد يرى منها الكثير و هي تسير في الشارع لكنه لا يستطيع أن يعرف عن روحها شيئا.تدور بنا أحداث الرواية فترة الحرب العالمية الأولى بين أذربيجان و داغستان و فارس ، بطلها علي خان شرفانشير سليل عائلة المحاربين الذين ماتوا فداء لما يعتقدون دفاعا عن بلدهم و نينو التي تحب علي و لكنها لها تطلعات أوروبية جامحة و سيد علي مصطفى الملا الشيعي المتعصب الذي يراه علي خان الحافظ الوحيد لإيمانهم الصافي نتنقل بين مشهد الأوبرا الغربية و المواكب الجنائزية ليوم عاشوراء ، بين الحياة في جبال داغستان حين يطارد علي بتهمة القتل و بين الحياة الرغيدة في فارس و الاحتفالات الأرستقراطية التي تنشد فيها الرباعيات و أبيات حافظ انتهاء بحفلات الدبلوماسيين في بيت علي خان في مناخ أوروبي بحت بعد استقلال أذربيجان تحت حماية الانجليز ، ثم الانسحاب الانجليزي و الاجتياح الروسي ليموت علي خان خلف بندقيته الآلية ميتة يراها حتمية لسليل عائلة شارفانشير.
الحقيقة أن جو هذه الرواية يناسبني أكثر من تلك الروايات الواقعية السحرية التي تنهب الصفحات نهبا لتظفر بهذه الجملة أو تلك ، رواية علي و نينو رواية بسيطة دون افتعال أو محاولة للتظاهر بالعمق.
أنصح بها و ربما ابدأ البحث عن رواية فتاة من القرن الذهبي
تحياتي

[Wesal · Rating 4 out of 5]

رواية شائكة تحمل الكثير من التساؤلات و الغموض بدايةً بمؤلفها الذي كتبها تحت اسم مستعار أصل يهودي وهو اسم مستعار لليهودي الأصل ليف نسيمبوم و الذي يقال بأنه اعتنق الاسلام وولد لأسرة ثرية في باكو تشتغل في صناعة النفط

نشرت الرواية أول مرة عام 1937 ثم نُسيت إلى أن وجدتها الألمانية جنيا جرمان في كشك للكتب المستعملة و أعادت نشرها فعادت بصخب كبير وانتشار واسع خاصة بعد أن تم تحويلها لفيلم سينمائي على يد المخرج البريطاني الهندي آسف كاباديا

كما أنه تم تصميم تمثال متحرك في باتومي في جورجيا يجسد قصة الحب الشهيرة بين المسلم الشيعي علي خان شيرفانشير سليل ملوك فارس والأميرة المسيحية الأرذوثكسية الجورجية نينو كيبياني



عودة للرواية التي تحكي تاريخ أذربيجان في حوالي مائة عام مغلفة ذلك التاريخ المؤلم بقصة حب مليئة بالتناقضات ..هي ليست قصة الحب الأزلية بين الشاب و الشابة، هي قصة الحرب والسلام، قصة المرأة والرجل ، الشرق و الغرب، آسيا و أوربا..قصة الطوائف و الأديان

قرأت الرواية خلال رحلتي لأذربيجان ومن خلالها فهمت المعاناة التي عاناها ذلك الشعب بكونه ولد على أرض تملك كنوز من النفط جعلها محط أنظار كل القوى العظمى تتجاذبها وتتقاذفها فيما بينها

يكفي أن تعرفون بأن هتلر كان أحد المهووسين بالاستيلاء على باكو حيث قال: "سنخسر الحرب إن لم نحصل على نفط باكو"

من خلال الرواية ومن خلال قبور الشهداء المنتشرة في أذربيجان يتعرف المرء على كميات الدماء التي روت تلك الأرض حتى وصلت أخيراً لمرحلة السلام بإعلانها جمهورية أذربيجان

ساحة شهداء التي تحتضن ضحايا مجزرة خوجالي في عالم 1992 لتختم بذلك سلسلة المجازر التي عانى منها الشعب الأذري

ليست هذه الساحة فقط التي تحتضن الشهداء..ففي كل مقابر أذربيجان وخارج باكو تجدون مقابر لشهداء مُيَزت قبورهم بالورود وبوجوههم المحفورة على شواهدها أو غُطيت بالأوشحة الخضراء المذهبة إن كانوا من نسل الرسول (ص)



لمن لا يحب التاريخ وكتب التاريخ مثلي، ولمن ينوي زيارة أذربيجان ..الرواية لطيفة جداً وتعطي القارئ لمحة مختصرة جداً عن تاريخ باكو وآلامها وأصول شعبها



يعيبها فقط الترجمة التي فاضت بالأخطاء اللغوية و الإملائية المزعجة والقليل من التناقضات البسيطة

[Turkan Kasamanli]

Я человек старый, - начал он, - и все, что я здесь вижу и слышу, глубоко печалит меня. Русские хотят уничтожить турков, турки - армян, армяне - нас, а мы - русских. Не знаю, хорошо это или плохо. Мы выслушали Зейнал ага, Мирзу, Али, Фатали хана, Я разделяю их тревоги о школах, родном языке, больницах и свободе. Все это очень хорошо. Но кому нужны школы, если в них будут учить всякой ерунде? Кому нужны больницы, где будут лечить тело, забывая о душе? Наши души рвутся к Аллаху. Конечно, каждый народ думает, что у него свой Бог. Но я думаю, что Аллах, говорящий устами всех пророков, - един. Оттого я верую в Иисуса, Моисея, Конфуция, Будду, Магомета. Все мы - творения Аллаха и, пройдя сквозь Бабa, вновь вернемся к нему. Об этом мы должны сказать народу. Надо объяснить, что нет ни белого, ни черного, потому что в черном таится белое, а в белом заключено черное. Я думаю, надо делать так, чтоб никому не был причинен вред, потому что мы представляем собой частицу людей и частица нас заключена в каждом человеке.

[Katia N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ali and Nino would be a quite convential written love story apart from a few facts. Firstly, the book is set in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, oil-reach trans-Caucasian country which many people would not be able place on the map. The time frame is the turbulent beginning of the last century, the first oil boom, the Russian revolution, the Young Turks and the fall of Osman empire are just a few cataclysms affecting the region. Secondly, the author of the book is unknown. The book is written from the perspective of Ali, the young and rich Muslim Prince. But the most likely author is a Jewish exile in Europe Lev Nisselbaum who has converted into Islam during his time in Germany and was known there as Essad-Bey. And lastly, the book was first published in 1937 in Germany - very unusual place and time for such a novel.

I would recommend to read this book if you are interested in the atmosphere and the history of the place. The book is brilliant in describing the Caucasian region at the beginning of the last century. I could not stop but feeling that the destiny of Caucasus falling under the Soviet rule was not inevitable at all. Instead it was the one of the cruel cards served to the region in geopolitical games between the big powers. Obviously a bit idealised, but Baku is described as a cosmopolitan vibrant rich city where Muslims, Christians and foreigners live together in a relative piece. It was the fringe of the Russian Empire before the revolution. However, strong case for the independence of the region really existed when the Empire has started to crumble. Apart from Azerbaijan the main characters take us to Iran, Georgia and Dagestan. The sense of place is always vivid: Georgian hospitality, Persian sleepiness at the time, the simple life with the elements in a mountain village in Dagestan. One can learn a lot of history in this slim novel. There is also a powerful insight into a Muslim’s male mind. The main character is in love with the Georgian girl who is obviously Christian, cosmopolitan and does not want to compromise her identity beyond a certain measure. She, for example refuses, to cover her face. He, on the other hand, is trying to understand better where are the limits of his faith.

This is very ancient enigmatic region. Armenia and Georgia existed well before any concept of Europe. There predated the Byzantine Empire as well and were the ones of the first places in the world adopting Christianity. Azerbaijan was the part of Persia, I believe. That is why they are Shiite Muslims. The book and the stories within it have resonated with me on personal level. It reminded me the well forgotten trip of my youth. The one of my first ever trips in fact. When I was 16, the group from my school, has travelled on the train from Kiev to Baku. The train journey took 70 hours one way. When we arrived in Baku I felt that the ground literally moved under my feet for a day after that train’s vibration. But before we arrived, we experienced a lot of cultural shocks. The group contained around 6 girls. On the last day of our journey, two things happened. First, we have seen the desert and proper caravan of camels travelling behind the windows of the train. I had an impression the caravan was going quicker than we. Secondly, our group leader, the young man of around 25 was approached by the group of Azerbaijani looking men with the business offer to sell us (6 girls) for a good price. Fortunately, we did not know what the men were talking about. But they look very amiable and smiling. Again, fortunately for us, our group leader has rejected their proposition saying he needs us for other things. The simple word of our leader seemed to be more powerful than the legal aspect of the suggested proceedings. So we were left alone, at least for a time being. The city, when we arrived seemed empty, the powerful winds were blown alone the streets. So when Baku was mentioned as a city of winds in the novel, it brought back a vivid memory. We’ve seen the Maiden tower - beautiful medieval construction which is as well mentioned in the book. We did not venture far enough without our sympathetic young local guide. But he took us into very weird places like an illegal leather shop. It was the time when the shelves of the proper shops were totally empty anywhere in the disintegrating Soviet Union. So he probably wanted to please us. But we did not have money anyway. We’ve also visited a Chikhana - the place where men only were having tea from very small cups while biting sugar stones. What was also striking how friendly the people were towards each other. One might stop a trolleybus anywhere by just raising a hand. It was the end pf 1989 I believe. We left and in a few months Baku has become a centre of the bloody events Baku's pogrom . I could not believe the news. The last time something similar took place was the time of Ali and Nino.

Ok, back to the book. The life story of its alleged writer, Lev Nisselbaum was so dramatic that it was become the subject of the book itself The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life. The american journalist Tom Reiss has followed the traces of Lev from Baku to Berlin and later to Italy were Lev died prematurely in 1942. Someone called "Ali and Nino” Azerbaijan’s “Doctor Zhivago”. There are certainly a lot of similarities. However, the Pasternak’s book is much stronger work of literature. “Ali and Nino” is a profound document to the time and place, very moving, but the storytelling is relatively straightforward and a bit of overdramatising sometimes. However, it contains a lot of interesting details about the cataclysms in the region and a moving love story. I personally was also grateful for the opportunity of re-living some moments of my 16-year old self which the book has dogged out from my memory.

[Inder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this in one day, on a plane flight back from Maui.
This is a book about a certain place and moment in time, but the love story is timeless. The story is set in the Caucacus, on the Caspian Sea in what is now Azerbaijan, on the eve of World War I. Ali Khan, a muslim boy, loves Nino, a Georgian Christian girl. Somehow, their love survives their cultural differences, family hostilities, blood feuds, and never-ending war. By the end of the book, I knew more than I ever imagined about the early 20th century history of the Caucasus and Persia. But it's the love story that kept me turning the pages. A beautiful little book, I highly recommend it.

[Merfrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alí y Nino son una pareja de chiquillos que se crían en Azerbaijan, país donde mayormente se procesa el islám pero conviven otras religiones en armonía, de hecho Alí es árabe y Nino católica.

Mediante la evolución y el crecimiento tanto físico como personal de los dos protagonistas nos encuadran el país, pues es un sitio estratégico, pues colinda con Irán, Rusia, Georgia y Armenia.

Alí centra más la historia pues tiene que lidiar con sus creencias, su familia y lo que siente por Nino.

El principio de la historia y la presentación de los personajes me gustó mucho, luego durante el desarrollo decayó bastante a mi modo de ver y acaba sobre 1930, creo que hubiese sido más interesante tiempo después pues acaba en el punto álgido de agitación política. Me hubiese gustado conocer más desde el punto de vista político sobre el que es considerado el país musulmán más abierto del mundo.

🌶🌶🌶

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

#ReadAroundTheWorld. #Azerbaijan

Set between 1914 and 1920 in Baku (Azerbaijan), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Tehran, this is an historical fiction and romance. Written by the mysterious Kurban Said in 1937, initially thought to be an Austrian Duchess but later thought to be the Jewish writer Lev Nussimbaum who converted to Islam and wrote under the pseudonyms Essad Bey and Kurban Said or alternatively Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli, an Azerbaijani statesman and writer who died in the Gulags under Soviet Russia accused of producing “counter-revolutionary” works. It was first translated into English in 1970. This book chronicles the turbulent love story between Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Shi’ite Muslim of Iranian descent, and the beautiful Nino Kipiani, a Georgian Christian.

The book teases out the vast differences between the two, the cultural divide between East and West and the religious divide between their faiths. This was a fascinating read, giving an insight into the country of Azerbaijan, straddling Asia and Europe, and bordered by Russia, Iran, Turkey and Armenia. Some of the attitudes and actions towards women are hard to read, particularly those coming from Ali’s family. Ali is given the advice, “A man must marry, preferably the woman he likes. She need not like him in return. A wise man does not court a woman. The woman is just the acre, on which the man sows. Must the field love the farmer? Enough that the farmer loves the field. Marry, but never forget: the woman is just an acre.’ ‘So you believe that a woman has neither soul nor intelligence?’ He looked at me pityingly: ‘How can you ask, Ali Khan? Of course she hasn’t. Why should a woman have either? It is enough for her to be chaste and have many children.”

He himself seems less wedded to the idea of inferiority, and the feisty Nino challenges his views and traditions, however there is still the subconscious bias towards the wife as property that comes through. She says of her time in the harem in Persia, “You like it here, but I am dishonoured every day.” “What do you mean, dishonoured?” “Everybody treats me like a very expensive and fragile thing. I don’t know how expensive I am, but I am neither fragile nor a thing.” I felt the writer has a somewhat ironic and satirical tone at times, and certainly highlights the plight of women. This book was well worth reading for those interested in other places, eras and cultures. 4.5 stars.

[Əsli Musayeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uzun müddətdir ki, türkcə və xarici ədəbiyyat oxuyandan sonra öz dilində, öz ədəbiyyatında öz tarixindən, öz mədəniyyətindən bəhs edən əsər oxumağın verdiyi həzz

[Missy J · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Dadash Beg has stabbed Achung Sade to death last week, because Achung Sade came back to town although he knew the danger, having kidnapped Dadash Beg's wife eight years ago. He was stabbed on the day he came. Now the police are looking for Dadash Beg. But they won't find him, although everybody knows that he is in the village of Mardakjany. Wise men say Dadash Beg has done well.'

I have never heard of this book before and didn't know that they turned it into a movie two years ago. My book club is reading this while we are "visiting" Azerbaijan. I have just read Vasily Grossman's An Armenian Sketchbook and last year Leila Aboulela's The Kindness of Enemies, which is set for the most part in the Caucasus region. Thanks to these books, I had some basic knowledge about the diversity of the region and a tiny little bit of historical background. If I hadn't, I would have been lost!

As mentioned in the title, Ali and Nino is a love story. Ali is a Shiite Muslim Azerbaijani, who loves the desert and the sand. Nino is from an aristocratic Greek Orthodox family from Georgia. They live in Baku, which is today known as Azerbaijan's capital city. The city is also inhabited by Christian Armenians, Persians, Turks, Indians, Russians and whatnot. The story is set around the 1st World War and the state of the nation isn't exactly determined yet. On the one hand, there's the perpetual threat of the big neighbor, Russia. On the other hand, there's Turkey, who are Sunni Muslim (not exactly the same with Shia Islam, which is mainly found in Iran) and killing Armenians. How can Ali and Nino's inter-religious relationship survive in such a chaotic political climate, in the midst of Europe's and Asia's boundary?

First of all, I was very surprised to find how light and funny the tone of the narration was. Sometimes it felt like a contemporary novel and not something that was published in 1937 by a mysterious writer, whose identity is still in dispute. There are really a lot of parts, where I laughed and thought that the humor was very original and heart-warming. I learned a lot more about the Caucasus region, the oil that has already been extracted in Baku region around the time of the setting of the novel, the different people inhabiting the area and how they got along. I was also quite shocked how open Ali and Nino's love relationship was, which wasn't really barred by social conventions and beliefs. They are constantly torn between Europe and Asia, between Islam and Christianity, between the outside world and Baku.

If a reader is interested in learning more about this region, I recommend this book, because it's readable and informative with an interesting plot.

How marvelous, that we're in Asia, in wild, reactionary Asia! We have no smooth roads for Western cars here, just rough paths for Karabagh horses. how quickly can a car go on these roads, and how swiftly races a horse from Karabagh? The melons on the roadside look at me as if they had faces. 'Very bad road,' the melons are saying, 'not for English cars. Only for riders on Karabagh horses.'

[Jignasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked Ali and Nino for my Books-of-Asia read from Azerbaijan, I was skeptical, owing to the fact that this is a love story, and I generally run away from romances. By the time I finished however, I was captivated. Ali and Nino is more than a love story. It is passion, religion, war, history, culture, honor, beliefs, friendship, and so much more.

Set in a small town in Baku, Azerbaijan at the onset of the First World War, it is a narrative through the eyes of Ali Khan Shirvanshir, growing up as a Mohammedan in a country home to various ethnicities, lying at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Nino Kipiani is a Georgian Christian who goes to the girls’ school in the same town, and they like each other. Their families and friends know it and accept it, despite the differences in culture and sensibilities.

In their quest to be together, they overcome a kidnap, a blood feud and a scandal, fleeing from Baku, through beautiful desert roads and remote villages in the mountains, to the neighboring Persia. Nino hates it there, as she is forced to abide by Persian customs she despises.
Eventually, the lovers (now married) move back to their homeland, but are forced to flee again when war comes to Baku. Ali now has to choose between his loyalties to his Asian family’s upbringing and his unwavering love and devotion to Nino.

By the time this novel finishes, you experience a time in history so fascinating, you can’t help feel sad it’s over. You know about harems, Muslim households, local beliefs, norms, wedding rituals, the place of women, Greek customs, camels and horses, deserts and trees, towns and bazaars; and it weaves a tapestry so rich in your mind, you wish you were exported to that era, even for a day.

Ali’s refusal to treat Nino as “an acre on which the man sows”, loving her just for who she is; Nino’s acceptance of Ali even when their customs are as different as chalk and cheese, and their ever-evolving relationship as they try to balance Eastern and Western beliefs in a marriage, are what makes these characters so endearing. I wasn’t aware how much I was rooting for them until the tragic, but powerful ending.

Ali and Nino is a beautiful, beautiful lesson in history, culture, love and war. A book the world deserves to know better.

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two years ago I was going to buy The Orientalist for my friend Tim, the owner of the now defunct Booklore said, oh, we also have a copy of Ali andNino in presently. i looked at him rather blankly. He then elaborated on the significance of such corresponding with the book I presently held, ready to purchase.
I see.
This occurred rather slowly, mind you. I bought such and read it that weekend. Oh, I didn't give the biography to Tim either.

[PRoMete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Təəssüf olsun ki, biz bir millət olaraq koruq. Düzgün üsul idarə lazımdır.

[Quo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This romantic novel is set in Azerbaijan during the ebbing period of imperialism's "Great Game" & along the fault-lines of history, involving a Georgian Christian girl, Nino Kipiani & a charming Moslem boy from Baku, Ali Khan Shirvanshir & their steadfast bond harkens back to "Romeo & Juliet" and other cross-cultural stories.



But more than just that, the book represents a literary excavation, a rediscovered work, long out of print, portraying a time & place on the verge of great upheaval, about to be redefined by world events forced upon it, just before WWI & then the incorporation of Azerbaijan into the Soviet sphere.

Added to the complexity of the story is the novel's authorship, listing Kurban Said, a pen name for Lev Nussimbaum, who also used the name Essad Bey, a somewhat shadowy author who was born a Jew in Kiev in pre-Soviet Ukraine but who converted to Islam & was aided on the road to publication by Baroness Elfriede Ehrenfels. Or, perhaps it was actually written by someone named Yusif Vazir Chamanzamlini.

Somehow, the mysterious authorship seems to make the novel even more interesting, as having been published in Vienna just prior to the "Anschluss" or annexation of Austria & the outbreak of WWII, it has only fairly recently been translated from German into more than a score of other languages.



Ali Shirvanshir is gifted at languages & accents and becomes quickly entranced by Nino Kipiani, a playful, proud Georgian Christian, though Ali is unable to "fathom Nino's soul." Here is just one memorable comment from Nino:

Maybe I will marry you Ali but quite apart from woods (the west) & deserts (the east), my mother & father will die of sorrow if I marry a Mohammedan, while the Czar will send us to Siberia & we will sit in the middle of the Arctic Sea on an iceberg & big white bears will eat us.

But soon, the loving couple is off to Tbilisi, Georgia & Nino's turf, where Ali feels "like being held between 2 claws of a hot pair of tongs." Meanwhile, Nino declares that she loves Ali but is unable to comprehend his world.



There are scenes that seem almost reminiscent of Scheherazade, including a wise man & devout Moslem, Seyd Mustafa, who against his better judgment marries Ali & Nino & gives them needed counsel. Seemingly alone in a sea of contrary forces & impending war, Nino declares that she can deal with anything, "except mice, crocodiles, exams & eunuchs." The pair faces a life in exile, including time at a small village in Dagestan in the Caucasus.

Indeed, Ali & Nino is a novel I first learned of when reading a book by Paul Theroux, who later wrote a preface for a reissue of the book. It is rich in memorable characters and interesting backdrops, has a bit of everything, including many examples of opposing images, among them minarets rising into the sky & almost seeming to joust with nearby oil derricks in Baku.



There is also evidence of the old Zoroastrian culture and even a lone Baha'i, all attempting to sort through the forces of change that envelop them. "Ali & Nino" is a remarkable tale, one I enjoyed on many levels!

Among the images within my review are: the most likely author, Lev Nussimbaum/Kurban Said; Baroness Elfriede Ehrenfels; the sculpted images of Ali & Nino in Batumi, Georgia & what I take to be the author & his companion in pre-WWII Vienna.

[Ebtihal Salman · Rating 5 out of 5]

ظاهريا، تبدو هذه قصة حب بسيطة بين فتى وفتاة. لكن مع التقدم في القراءة تكتشف كم التعقيد الذي تطويه بين جنباتها. فالاختلاف بينهما كامن في جذورهما، ديانتيهما، الانتماء العرقي. في البداية بدا أنهما يعيشان في المدينة الحلم، باكو التي تضم تحت جناحيها الطوائف والأعراق المختلفة. لكن التاريخ والمستقبل الماثل على وشك الحرب يخبرنا أن هذه المدينة كانت وبقيت مدينة نزاع يتناهبها الشرق والغرب، من حكم الشاه الفارسي إلى حكم القيصر الروسي، متذبذبة بين آسيا وأوروبا، وكذلك تتجاذب قلوب أهلها بين انتمائين. ان بطلا قصة الحب هذه مختلفان اختلاف اسيا و اوروبا. اختلاف الصحراء والغابة. لقد تساءلت إن كان الحب يستطيع الحب جعلهما يقبلان هذا الاختلاف؟ الى متى؟ وأيهما سيستسلم أولا؟

أن القصة تأخذنا ببطء في البداية لتقدم لنا هذا الواقع التاريخي والاجتماعي والسياسي لباكو وبطلي القصة، لكنها تتسارع مع اندلاع حروب نهاية حقبة وبداية أخرى، في مرحلة نهاية الحرب العالمية الأولى، وانهيار حكم القيصر والعثمانيين لنرى أبطال القصة يتمزقون تحت وطأة حب الآخر، والوطن، حين يكون ما يعنيه الوطن مختلفا لكل منهم.

ترينا الرواية كيف أن الانتماء إلى ثقافة بعينها يجعل الانتقال إلى سواها ألما قاتلا للشغف بالحياة. و نرى من خلال نينو الأوروبية المتعلمة والمتحضرة، آلام الوقوع تحت وطأة حكم شرقي متدني النظرة لدور المرأة في الحياة.

تحفل الرواية التي تروى بصوت علي بنفس ساخر يجعل قراءتها متعة.