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Η σιωπή του Μωάμεθ
Ο Μωάμεθ υπήρξε άνθρωπος γεμάτος πάθος, προτού γίνει ο προφήτης του ισλάμ. Τώρα, γίνεται και πρόσωπο μυθιστορήματος. Ενός μυθιστορήματος που εκτυλίσσεται γύρω στα 600 μ.Χ., μεταξύ Μέκκας και Μεδίνας, από τις άμμους της αραβικής ερήμου μέχρι τα περίχωρα της Ιερουσαλήμ. Βλέπουμε τον Μωάμεθ να γεννιέται, να ζει και να πεθαίνει, μέσα από τις εξομολογήσεις της πρώτης του γυναίκας, της Χαντίτζα, του καλύτερου φίλου του, του χαλίφη Αμπού Μπακρ, του παρορμητικού Χαλίντ, του στρατηγού που κατέκτησε το Ιράκ μετά από επικές μάχες, και τέλος της νεαρής Αϊσά, που έγινε σύζυγός του σε ηλικία εννέα ετών. Άνθρωπος ιδιαίτερος, που αμφισβητήθηκε από τους δικούς του στην αρχή της διδασκαλίας του, ο Μωάμεθ είναι ένας ορφανός που απέκτησε περιουσία χάρη στο γάμο του με την πολύ μεγαλύτερή του Χαντίτζα.
- GenresFiction
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 13, 2017
I won't even shelf this in my "Algerian-Litterature shelf. It doesn't deserve to be with such masterpieces like Boualem Sansal, Yasmina Khadra or Mouloud Mammeri's books.
I've never hated a book as much as I hated this one. I've never been so glad to actually drop it. I was so curious to read a book talking about our beloved Prophet (pbuh) from his close entourage's point of view. Khadidja, his first wife, Abu Bakr, his best friend and first Kalif in Islam, Khalid Ibn al Walid, and finally our mother Aicha - may Allah be pleased with them all. Didn't you notice some wrongs in just that sentence?
Why Khalid Ibn Al-Walid out of his closest compagnons? And where is the Chronology?
It wasn't attractive. It was absolutely not. First of all, this kind of "books" CAN'T be a work of fiction. You can't get in the skin of any of the prophet's (pbuh) environment. As a person, you can't know what the others' perspectives on any subject truly are, let alone on Mohammed (pbuh). I thought it'd be based on the Sira, which it should, but it was a true work of fiction and you'd know right away that none of the characters would say some things that were mentioned - if what I'm saying makes any sense at all.
There was no date. It gave some wrong informations - the writer made a hint that the Prophet (pbuh) was NOT an illiterate which is totally wrong. I didn't feel like Bachi made enough researches to give himself the approval to write a NOVEL about Mohammed. Yes. Mohammed (pbuh) and not Mahomet, like he kept writing it in the French version. The book is weak, and the writing awful. The shift between POV was kind of annoying because it felt like it was the same person talking all along, I didn't feel any 'change'. Or at least in the few pages I read.
I can cite other things but I will summarize them in one sentence and let anyone who read my review guess what to wait from it; Salim Bachi became an atheist a few years ago, before writing this ""book"".
PS: I'm not saying that only Muslims should write about our Prophet (pbuh), but for someone who claims to know him well enough to write a novel about him, I think you should at least BELIEVE in his prophecy.
I've never hated a book as much as I hated this one. I've never been so glad to actually drop it. I was so curious to read a book talking about our beloved Prophet (pbuh) from his close entourage's point of view. Khadidja, his first wife, Abu Bakr, his best friend and first Kalif in Islam, Khalid Ibn al Walid, and finally our mother Aicha - may Allah be pleased with them all. Didn't you notice some wrongs in just that sentence?
Why Khalid Ibn Al-Walid out of his closest compagnons? And where is the Chronology?
It wasn't attractive. It was absolutely not. First of all, this kind of "books" CAN'T be a work of fiction. You can't get in the skin of any of the prophet's (pbuh) environment. As a person, you can't know what the others' perspectives on any subject truly are, let alone on Mohammed (pbuh). I thought it'd be based on the Sira, which it should, but it was a true work of fiction and you'd know right away that none of the characters would say some things that were mentioned - if what I'm saying makes any sense at all.
There was no date. It gave some wrong informations - the writer made a hint that the Prophet (pbuh) was NOT an illiterate which is totally wrong. I didn't feel like Bachi made enough researches to give himself the approval to write a NOVEL about Mohammed. Yes. Mohammed (pbuh) and not Mahomet, like he kept writing it in the French version. The book is weak, and the writing awful. The shift between POV was kind of annoying because it felt like it was the same person talking all along, I didn't feel any 'change'. Or at least in the few pages I read.
I can cite other things but I will summarize them in one sentence and let anyone who read my review guess what to wait from it; Salim Bachi became an atheist a few years ago, before writing this ""book"".
PS: I'm not saying that only Muslims should write about our Prophet (pbuh), but for someone who claims to know him well enough to write a novel about him, I think you should at least BELIEVE in his prophecy.
September 14, 2010
I am really disappointed! the subject, the life of Mahomet told in a novel, by people who were close to him: great, isn't it? history as I like it... but actually most of it was boring, and above all full of linguistic and typographical errors, which is suprising from a great editing company such as Gallimard.
July 26, 2016
If there is a star lower than one star (for I HATE THIS BOOK), I will give it to this book. How could you write about Prophet Muhammad s.a.w like that? Without using eligible sources but your imagination to spice up your story.
I could not even bring myself to finish this book.
I could not even bring myself to finish this book.
November 25, 2012
Okay, let's be honest: if this was a book about one of the many Prophets of monotheism who didn't get anyone to follow him, it would never have been written, let alone published, let alone read. But the subject is interesting, and you'll learn some things about Mohammed's life if you do read it.
As a work of literature, though, it's a bit meh. Bachi uses four narrators: Mohammed's first wife, Khadija; the first Caliph, Abu Bakr; the general Kalid ibn al-Walid; and Mohammed's 'controversial' (controversial only if you believe that everyone throughout history should abide by the moral norms of late twentieth century East coast America) young wife, Aisha. Okay, fine--I'm no expert, but I suspect that adopting a third person narrative voice, or a narrative from the Prophet's perspective, might look a lot like idolatry, so this approach makes sense. But since their voices are all identical, the effect of choosing real people as narrators is lost. And since Aisha, in particular, seems to have nothing to say other than 'I'm so much prettier than the other wives', it's hard to see what that third narrative is even doing in the book. The first three are interesting, if a bit clunky. 'Aisha', whom I assume is in heaven somewhere, is probably pissed that Bachi makes her sound like an unbearable little tish.
So, this is exactly what it looks like: a novel that's intended to teach its readers facts about history, rather than one that's intended to interest you with its art. Caveat Lector.
As a work of literature, though, it's a bit meh. Bachi uses four narrators: Mohammed's first wife, Khadija; the first Caliph, Abu Bakr; the general Kalid ibn al-Walid; and Mohammed's 'controversial' (controversial only if you believe that everyone throughout history should abide by the moral norms of late twentieth century East coast America) young wife, Aisha. Okay, fine--I'm no expert, but I suspect that adopting a third person narrative voice, or a narrative from the Prophet's perspective, might look a lot like idolatry, so this approach makes sense. But since their voices are all identical, the effect of choosing real people as narrators is lost. And since Aisha, in particular, seems to have nothing to say other than 'I'm so much prettier than the other wives', it's hard to see what that third narrative is even doing in the book. The first three are interesting, if a bit clunky. 'Aisha', whom I assume is in heaven somewhere, is probably pissed that Bachi makes her sound like an unbearable little tish.
So, this is exactly what it looks like: a novel that's intended to teach its readers facts about history, rather than one that's intended to interest you with its art. Caveat Lector.
August 29, 2018
For me it was more of a piece of history than a novel, but I did enjoy the read for the most part.
September 17, 2020
Another angle to look at and to argue for today's extremists.
August 15, 2019
DNF at around 150 pages.
This is a difficult call for me. Someone’s review said if this weren’t a ‘retelling’ of Mohammed’s story, it wouldn’t have gotten published. I think that’s a pretty good summary of this.
My conclusion is that Bachi wanted to toe the line between a retelling, somewhat of an educative fiction novel, and the somewhat whimsical, ancient storytelling feeling that religious/folk stories can conjure. He achieved the latter - I definitely wanted to keep reading simply for the feeling of being engulfed by an old story, but that was it. I got nothing, nada, zilch from the story. It was not discernible. There were too many characters, none of them introduced with clarity or tact.
I so badly wanted to like this, but I found my eyes glazing over, and realising I couldn’t tell you a single Damon thing that happened in the 150 pages I read. (I vote to take the advice of other people’s reviews and check out other Arabic writers’ novels).
This is a difficult call for me. Someone’s review said if this weren’t a ‘retelling’ of Mohammed’s story, it wouldn’t have gotten published. I think that’s a pretty good summary of this.
My conclusion is that Bachi wanted to toe the line between a retelling, somewhat of an educative fiction novel, and the somewhat whimsical, ancient storytelling feeling that religious/folk stories can conjure. He achieved the latter - I definitely wanted to keep reading simply for the feeling of being engulfed by an old story, but that was it. I got nothing, nada, zilch from the story. It was not discernible. There were too many characters, none of them introduced with clarity or tact.
I so badly wanted to like this, but I found my eyes glazing over, and realising I couldn’t tell you a single Damon thing that happened in the 150 pages I read. (I vote to take the advice of other people’s reviews and check out other Arabic writers’ novels).
January 31, 2015
Pour un public croyant ou non, ce livre se laisse lire de différentes manières, et en premier comme un roman ... Chacun y verra ce qu'il voudra voir, de ces personnages historiques trop vite mis au dessus des autres alors qu'ils ne sont après tout, que des hommes. L'auteur redonne une dimension humaine à cette biographie prophétique (vue par différents acteurs proche de Muhammad) trop vite sacralisée. C'est pour moi d'une certaine façon un travail salutaire pour une religion qui précisément refuse de sacraliser qui que ce soit et quoi que ce soit autre que Dieu ... Et c'est de toutes façons très bien écrit.
January 20, 2015
Tried to make my way through it, the first part was excellent but it slogged so badly. For a much better read, read Kamran Pasha or Lezley Hamilton, both of who managed to have a nuanced view of the story.
And seriously, Aisha was a sharp tongued, witty, modern woman. Why did they make her so petty and whiny? WHY?
And seriously, Aisha was a sharp tongued, witty, modern woman. Why did they make her so petty and whiny? WHY?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews