People and Trees: A Trilogy

by Akram Aylisli, Katherine E. Young (translator)

Akram Aylisli’s People and Trees is the first major work in a long, illustrious literary career by the only contemporary writer from Azerbaijan to occupy a significant place on the world stage. Told in the voice of the young Muslim boy Sadykh, the three linked novellas and a related short story that make up People and Trees explore village life in the mountains of Azerbaijan before, during, and just after World War II. During this period, Soviet authority has been transforming traditional Azeri society, converting private land to communal agriculture and bulldozing mosques to build local “palaces of culture.” Aylisli’s young narrator fantasizes about striding into the bright socialist future he’s seen on the movie screen, hand-in-hand with a beautiful girl, as his ne’er-do-well uncle whines about the land his family worked for generations, expropriated now by the Soviet state to be part of the local collective farm.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

236 pages, Paperback

Published November 19, 2024

Reviews

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winner of the 2026 EBRD Literature Prize.
Three novellas and a short story that all tell the coming-of-age story of an Azeri boy growing up in a village in Azerbaijan in the middle of the twentieth century. Life is dominated by day-to-day village life, but the second world war interferes and then soviet rule dominates life.
Exquisitely and carefully written and excellently translated, this book is a keeper to come back to. It is one of only two books of Aylisli’s that have been translated into English.

[Olga Zilberbourg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The name of the Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli became familiar to English-speaking readers in 2018 with the publication of Katherine E. Young’s translation of his novella “Stone Dreams.” It appeared in the book Farewell, Aylis, on the wings of a political controversy connected to the earlier Russian-language publication. In fictional form, Aylisli broke with the political ideology and accepted dogma of his country by addressing the entrenched conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, humanizing characters on both sides of the border, and offending Azerbaijan’s political elite in the process. The writer was stripped of the honors he’d earned during his long and illustrious literary career, and his books were not only banned in Azerbaijan but also subjected to staged burnings.

Aylisli turned eighty that year (he’s now eighty-six), and his courageous novella marked a peak in a long career shaped by resistance to totalitarianism. Young’s most recent translation, of his breakout book, People and Trees, affirms his early talent for creating art aslant to ideology, and allows us to marvel at the lifetime achievements of this perspicacious and charismatic writer.

Read my full review here: https://wordswithoutborders.org/book-...

[Burgi Zenhaeusern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed reading these stories! They're set in a mountain village in Azerbaijan during and right after WWII. There is so much love for the place and its people with all their foibles combined with a great sense of humor in them. The stories were written under Soviet rule and show a masterful obliqueness, as if told with a hidden smile. The beautiful translation by Katherine E. Young brings out all of this as well as the text's lyricism. I'm very grateful to her work in introducing this great author to an anglophone audience.

[Giulia Ascoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written and translated poetical story set in a village in Azerbaijan, before during and after the second World War.
Written in the 1960s when Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union, the story follows the lives of mostly women through the eyes of a young boy. Rooted in nature and the passing of the seasons, Aylisli portrays the difficulties of daily life during the Soviet Union and the struggle to meet basic needs and human dignity.

[Nadia Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A coming-of-age tale of a boy growing up in a small Azerbaijani village, swallowed up by the Soviet machine. Through the eyes of an innocent boy, we see the unbelievable beauty of nature next to the hardships of WWII times in a rural Soviet environment, including famine, and the culturally accepted mistreatment of women. The author masterfully shows us the challenging life of a community through the boy's innate sense of right and wrong.

[Darya Shukurlu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bu əsər, mənim, haqqında ilk dəfə italyan professorumdan eşitdiyim Əkrəm Əylisli ilə ilk tanışlığım idi. Bilmirəm, yerli sayılırıq deyəmi belə hiss etdim, amma bu trilogiya mənə uşaqlıqda Kolanıda keçirdiyim yaş cəvizdən əllərimizin, yetişmiş tutdan isə ayaqqabılarımızın altının qaraldığı tətilləri elə canlı şəkildə xatırlatdı ki…
Tam Novruz ərəfəsində oxumaq isə ayrı zövq idi.
Əsərdə hər şey anası körpə ikən vəfat etmiş Sadığın gözündən təsvir olunur. Bütün kənd əhalisini, yaşadıqları sistemi və sosial problemləri 6-7 yaşlı bir uşağın yanaşması ilə oxumaq olduqca maraqlı və bir o qədər də düşündürücü idi. Yazarın elə sadə, təbii və təsirli qələmi var ki, əminəm ki, bu oxuduğum yeganə əsəri olmayacaq.
Məncə, yerli ədəbiyyatla tanışlıq üçün bu əsər ideal sayıla bilər. Bir də onu qeyd edim ki, oxuyarkən davamlı zehnimdə Mübariz Tağıyevin “Yada Sal Məni” mahnısı səslənirdi. Məncə, bu kitab bir mahnı olsa idi, bu olardı.

P.S.: Mən trilogiyanı öz dilimizdə, Çardaq nəşriyyatı tərəfindən hazırlanan nüsxəsini oxumuşdum. Bu əsər Çardaq nəşriyyatı ilə də ilk tanışlığım idi. Hal-hazırda yerli nəşriyyatlarda olan vəziyyəti nəzərə alsaq, kifayət qədər keyfiyyətli iş çıxardıqlarını düşünürəm.