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Samak the Ayyar: A Tale of Ancient Persia
The adventures of Samak, a trickster-warrior hero of Persia’s thousand-year-old oral storytelling tradition, are beloved in Iran. Samak is an ayyar , a warrior who comes from the common people and embodies the ideals of loyalty, selflessness, and honor―a figure that recalls samurai, ronin, and knights yet is distinctive to Persian legend. His exploits―set against an epic background of palace intrigue, battlefield heroics, and star-crossed romance between a noble prince and princess―are as deeply rooted in Persian culture as are the stories of Robin Hood and King Arthur in the West. However, this majestic tale has remained little known outside Iran.
Translated from the original Persian by Freydoon Rassouli and adapted by Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner, this timeless masterwork can now be enjoyed by English-speaking readers. A thrilling and suspenseful saga, Samak the Ayyar also offers a vivid portrait of Persia a thousand years ago. Within an epic quest narrative teeming with action and supernatural forces, it sheds light on the lives of ordinary people and their social worlds. This is the first complete English-language version of a treasure of world culture. The translation is grounded in the twelfth-century Persian text while paying homage to the dynamic culture of storytelling from which it arose.
Translated from the original Persian by Freydoon Rassouli and adapted by Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner, this timeless masterwork can now be enjoyed by English-speaking readers. A thrilling and suspenseful saga, Samak the Ayyar also offers a vivid portrait of Persia a thousand years ago. Within an epic quest narrative teeming with action and supernatural forces, it sheds light on the lives of ordinary people and their social worlds. This is the first complete English-language version of a treasure of world culture. The translation is grounded in the twelfth-century Persian text while paying homage to the dynamic culture of storytelling from which it arose.
464 pages, Paperback
Published August 3, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 24, 2021
"Samak the Ayyar" isn't a page-turner, I'm afraid, but it does hold interest. The story is almost (if not over) 1000 years old, and it records a long tale of adventure that used to be transmitted orally - before it was recorded in writing and made into an illuminated manuscript.
In the modern world, it was published in Iran in the late 1960s, before going out of print. Now, the story is available in English for the first time.
The real-life people mentioned on the cover are artist Freydoon Rassouli, who provided the initial translation of the text; and Jordan Mechner, video game designer and screenwriter, who provided the editing. I was surprised to recognize both: I was introduced to Rassouli's art in the early 2000s by amateur artists who believed he was the bee's knees and wanted nothing more than to be him; and Jordan Mechner is the creator of the icon 1989 video game Prince of Persia.
I'm not entirely sure how much editing was done. Mechner mentioned some small changes made, some repetitions removed - but also a carefulness not to go down the slippery slope of changing too much.
But never mind the modern people behind the book, when the real question is: what's an ayyar?
An ayyar is a rogue of great skill - both a knight errant in search of adventure, ready to offer his services to those in need, and a stealthy, cunning master of disguise with a hundred tricks up his sleeve. And Samak is one of the best, both skill-wise, and personality-wise: a great friend to have, deeply honorable, always ready to help those in need.
The plot of the book would make a great video game. I'm not sure if that's why it appealed to Jordan Mechner, but I'm willing to bet that yes. It's action-packed... and, alas, repetitive. Characters are generally two-dimensional, and numerous enough that it's easy to lose track of them.
In short, a prince of Persia has a chance encounter with a beautiful woman in the desert, and he falls in love instantly. He finds out she's a princess from the kingdom of Chin, and she's guarded by her nurse, an evil witch who dooms all her suitors. Not dissuaded, the prince goes to Chin to win her hand and enlists the help of the local ayyars, especially the brilliant Samak.
While he manages to defeat the witch, he gets tangled up in the politics of Chin and Machin, as Chin's vizier plots to betray his own kingdom to the enemy to give the princess in marriage to his own... nephew? son? I'm sorry, I forget. And anyway, it's not that relevant long term.
This leads to a long war between Chin and Machin, and numerous adventures in which the princess, another princess, and various prisoners need to be rescued from the midst of enemy camps, from impenetrable fortresses, and from dungeons. And if nobody needs to be rescued, then someone boasts they can kidnap an important enemy and proceeds to do so.
There are armies in this book, but there are no descriptions of battles. Either hundreds or thousands of people are massacred in an ambush, or the armies face each other and a hero on one side rides out in front of the other soldiers and goads enemy heroes to fight him - then they proceed to duel, usually to the death, and in little detail (and what detail there is is usually repeated from battle to battle).
At one point, one can't help but wonder if the armies are there for purely decorative purposes, and if dungeons wouldn't be better served by revolving doors, as they would prevent the untimely deaths of numerous guards.
I'm sure that the repetition works better in oral retellings, as the storyteller can revert to stock situations and descriptions, and as the audience might differ. In writing, it gets tedious. The book spans four years, and I swear I could feel every one of them.
But there's a certain fascination here: Samak is charming, and the way he weaves in and out of enemy territory is varied enough. He makes friends (some quite conveniently, when he needs help), and tries to stop them from being reckless, then goes into danger after them and saves them. The overarching plot is somewhat random, but it holds up.
And the most charming bit was, I believe, when a princess I'd half-forgotten about reappeared in the plot by sending a scathing letter reproaching her side of the war for forgetting she existed, when she desperately needed rescuing from a side character who had likewise vanished long before - apparently, when kidnapping her. Ah, to be a fly on the wall when the original storyteller probably realized that he'd forgotten about her, and most of the audience had, too, but turned that into yet another way to further the plot. What a master of his craft.
Stylistically, this resembles a fairy tale, in that it's very simply told. Unfortunately, that gets a bit old after 400 pages - and, presumably, four times again that, as "Samak the Ayyar" is one of five volumes. The simplicity and the large amount of twists, turns and general action per chapter mean that this reads very much like a soap opera (as another reviewer also observed).
I think the story might stick with me for a while. It's definitely not one of my favorites, and I wouldn't rush to read the next volumes, but I would eventually be curious to know what happens next. It feels like the sort of story that could spring others in our age, capturing the imagination of those who would love to explore parts of it more deeply.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In the modern world, it was published in Iran in the late 1960s, before going out of print. Now, the story is available in English for the first time.
The real-life people mentioned on the cover are artist Freydoon Rassouli, who provided the initial translation of the text; and Jordan Mechner, video game designer and screenwriter, who provided the editing. I was surprised to recognize both: I was introduced to Rassouli's art in the early 2000s by amateur artists who believed he was the bee's knees and wanted nothing more than to be him; and Jordan Mechner is the creator of the icon 1989 video game Prince of Persia.
I'm not entirely sure how much editing was done. Mechner mentioned some small changes made, some repetitions removed - but also a carefulness not to go down the slippery slope of changing too much.
But never mind the modern people behind the book, when the real question is: what's an ayyar?
An ayyar is a rogue of great skill - both a knight errant in search of adventure, ready to offer his services to those in need, and a stealthy, cunning master of disguise with a hundred tricks up his sleeve. And Samak is one of the best, both skill-wise, and personality-wise: a great friend to have, deeply honorable, always ready to help those in need.
The plot of the book would make a great video game. I'm not sure if that's why it appealed to Jordan Mechner, but I'm willing to bet that yes. It's action-packed... and, alas, repetitive. Characters are generally two-dimensional, and numerous enough that it's easy to lose track of them.
In short, a prince of Persia has a chance encounter with a beautiful woman in the desert, and he falls in love instantly. He finds out she's a princess from the kingdom of Chin, and she's guarded by her nurse, an evil witch who dooms all her suitors. Not dissuaded, the prince goes to Chin to win her hand and enlists the help of the local ayyars, especially the brilliant Samak.
While he manages to defeat the witch, he gets tangled up in the politics of Chin and Machin, as Chin's vizier plots to betray his own kingdom to the enemy to give the princess in marriage to his own... nephew? son? I'm sorry, I forget. And anyway, it's not that relevant long term.
This leads to a long war between Chin and Machin, and numerous adventures in which the princess, another princess, and various prisoners need to be rescued from the midst of enemy camps, from impenetrable fortresses, and from dungeons. And if nobody needs to be rescued, then someone boasts they can kidnap an important enemy and proceeds to do so.
There are armies in this book, but there are no descriptions of battles. Either hundreds or thousands of people are massacred in an ambush, or the armies face each other and a hero on one side rides out in front of the other soldiers and goads enemy heroes to fight him - then they proceed to duel, usually to the death, and in little detail (and what detail there is is usually repeated from battle to battle).
At one point, one can't help but wonder if the armies are there for purely decorative purposes, and if dungeons wouldn't be better served by revolving doors, as they would prevent the untimely deaths of numerous guards.
I'm sure that the repetition works better in oral retellings, as the storyteller can revert to stock situations and descriptions, and as the audience might differ. In writing, it gets tedious. The book spans four years, and I swear I could feel every one of them.
But there's a certain fascination here: Samak is charming, and the way he weaves in and out of enemy territory is varied enough. He makes friends (some quite conveniently, when he needs help), and tries to stop them from being reckless, then goes into danger after them and saves them. The overarching plot is somewhat random, but it holds up.
And the most charming bit was, I believe, when a princess I'd half-forgotten about reappeared in the plot by sending a scathing letter reproaching her side of the war for forgetting she existed, when she desperately needed rescuing from a side character who had likewise vanished long before - apparently, when kidnapping her. Ah, to be a fly on the wall when the original storyteller probably realized that he'd forgotten about her, and most of the audience had, too, but turned that into yet another way to further the plot. What a master of his craft.
Stylistically, this resembles a fairy tale, in that it's very simply told. Unfortunately, that gets a bit old after 400 pages - and, presumably, four times again that, as "Samak the Ayyar" is one of five volumes. The simplicity and the large amount of twists, turns and general action per chapter mean that this reads very much like a soap opera (as another reviewer also observed).
I think the story might stick with me for a while. It's definitely not one of my favorites, and I wouldn't rush to read the next volumes, but I would eventually be curious to know what happens next. It feels like the sort of story that could spring others in our age, capturing the imagination of those who would love to explore parts of it more deeply.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 2, 2021
8/10 stars
Samak the Ayyar is a fascinating piece of Persian oral history. About a 1000 years old, at least, it was first transcribed in the 12th century. What we get from Columbia University Press is a slightly streamlined, modern translation (the authors of the translation - Freydoon Rassouli helped by Jordan Mechner - are careful not to call it a retelling, with good reasons) of the adventures of Persian... I wanted to write Robin Hood, but that would be unfair to ayyars: after all, they've been around for much, much longer, and if anything, it's Robin Hood who should be called ayyar. Ayyars are the followers of Islamic code of Javānmardi, which can be broadly translated to the Western concept of chivalry. They help the poor and needy, they bring justice to the rich and corrupt, and they form a brotherhood bound by friendship, loyalty and found family principles. Their adventures are set against the fabulous background of ancient Persia, filled with princes and princesses in the throes of their first love, evil viziers and witches and magnanimous if easily befuddled shahs, cross-dressing maidens and horrible eunuchs, magical zebras and impregnable fortresses... In short, everything you'd expect from the world that created One Thousand and One Nights.
Adventures of Samak center around the history of the prince Khorshid-Shah who falls in love with Mahpari, a princess of Chin. While they both love each other dearly, many evil characters - from a witch to an evil vizier to a spurned prince from another country to a rival ayyar loyal to an enemy ruler - conspire to keep them apart. Samak, keeping faith with his ayyar principles, devotes himself to helping the pair. Their star-crossed love story sees so many twists and betrayals and miraculous escapes that it would be pointless to detail them here; the scenario is eerily similar in every case, though it must be said that Samak's arsenal of tricks and skills, as well as his unusual luck and a gift for making friends in even the most unfriendly places, keep the story engaging.
It is a transcription of an orally transmitted story; hence, repetitions and certain general similarity of its various plots is unavoidable. I wonder if the presence of Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia game developer) has something to do with the fact that Samak the Ayyar resembles a video game scenario: after you defeat one villain, there's another waiting for you just around the corner. It's best ingested in small doses, I think: reading one adventure at a time transports one easily to the magic land of ancient Persia, Chin and Machin while keeping the interest fresh and the repetitions to minimum. What I miss the most, however, is illustrations. This book would've been so much richer if some of the ancient illustrations were included - or if Rassouli himself created a few new ones.
All in all, recommended.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks..
Samak the Ayyar is a fascinating piece of Persian oral history. About a 1000 years old, at least, it was first transcribed in the 12th century. What we get from Columbia University Press is a slightly streamlined, modern translation (the authors of the translation - Freydoon Rassouli helped by Jordan Mechner - are careful not to call it a retelling, with good reasons) of the adventures of Persian... I wanted to write Robin Hood, but that would be unfair to ayyars: after all, they've been around for much, much longer, and if anything, it's Robin Hood who should be called ayyar. Ayyars are the followers of Islamic code of Javānmardi, which can be broadly translated to the Western concept of chivalry. They help the poor and needy, they bring justice to the rich and corrupt, and they form a brotherhood bound by friendship, loyalty and found family principles. Their adventures are set against the fabulous background of ancient Persia, filled with princes and princesses in the throes of their first love, evil viziers and witches and magnanimous if easily befuddled shahs, cross-dressing maidens and horrible eunuchs, magical zebras and impregnable fortresses... In short, everything you'd expect from the world that created One Thousand and One Nights.
Adventures of Samak center around the history of the prince Khorshid-Shah who falls in love with Mahpari, a princess of Chin. While they both love each other dearly, many evil characters - from a witch to an evil vizier to a spurned prince from another country to a rival ayyar loyal to an enemy ruler - conspire to keep them apart. Samak, keeping faith with his ayyar principles, devotes himself to helping the pair. Their star-crossed love story sees so many twists and betrayals and miraculous escapes that it would be pointless to detail them here; the scenario is eerily similar in every case, though it must be said that Samak's arsenal of tricks and skills, as well as his unusual luck and a gift for making friends in even the most unfriendly places, keep the story engaging.
It is a transcription of an orally transmitted story; hence, repetitions and certain general similarity of its various plots is unavoidable. I wonder if the presence of Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia game developer) has something to do with the fact that Samak the Ayyar resembles a video game scenario: after you defeat one villain, there's another waiting for you just around the corner. It's best ingested in small doses, I think: reading one adventure at a time transports one easily to the magic land of ancient Persia, Chin and Machin while keeping the interest fresh and the repetitions to minimum. What I miss the most, however, is illustrations. This book would've been so much richer if some of the ancient illustrations were included - or if Rassouli himself created a few new ones.
All in all, recommended.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks..
March 14, 2021
This was... different.
A modern adaptation of a medieval Persian record of an epic oral tale, it follows the exploits of the title character, an ayyar - a kind of Persian ronin or ninja who also reminded me irresistibly of a D&D rogue (chaotic good alignment) or a swashbuckling hero of pulp fiction, not only in their ability to sneak into places and steal things but also because they are defenders of the common people, Robin Hood style, following a set of chivalric principles. There's a great deal of getting over walls by using a lasso, putting sleeping powder in people's wine, daring disguises, and sudden fights in dark places.
The context is that a prince of Persia (this was originally going to be a tie-in to a new version of the video game Prince of Persia) has set out to marry the princess of the land of Chin, and this, by a convoluted series of events which honestly I've already forgotten, leads to a war between Chin and the neighboring kingdom of Machin.
As originally oral stories tend to do, the narrative then falls into a pattern (with considerable variation of detail, to be fair) that goes something like this:
1. Someone gets captured or kidnapped.
2. Samak goes after them, and through a combination of cleverness and fortuitously meeting exactly the person he needs to help him, manages to retrieve them, often also capturing their captor and/or stealing some treasure in the process.
3. This often incurs some kind of obligation to the helper (it's a "Yes, but," in improv terms) which then becomes a plot thread leading on past the completion of the sequence.
4. The kings, whose armies are drawn up facing each other, hear about Samak's success, and one of them writes a letter to the other. The messenger is received, given food and drink and entertained with music and dancing girls, then the vizier reads the message aloud (apparently Persian or Persianesque kings didn't read their own mail in this period).
5. The king reacts to events by deciding that it is on.
6. Champions from the respective armies challenge each other to single combat, and one of them defeats multiple opponents, remaining triumphant at the end of the day.
The sequence then repeats. This is varied by ambushes in which parts of the army are wiped out while moving from place to place; the occasional actual battle of the opposing armies when the champion vs champion turns nasty; reinforcements coming up from one place or another; and a number of side plots, mostly involving Samak's quests to fulfil his obligations to the people who helped him. It isn't all just formulaic, but it's formulaic enough that I became weary of the formula by the end.
Because of all these threads, and the large number of characters - far too many of whom are introduced as deus ex machina when Samak suddenly needs a conveniently loyal ally who can help with exactly the problem he has - and because a central driving force of the plot is the various relationships within the royal families, it becomes a bit like a soap opera, only with more stabbing.
This is the first of several projected volumes, and it ends still with plenty of plot threads to resolve. Although I did enjoy it - especially initially, when the experience was fresh - between the constant convenient helpers, the repetitious formula, and the large cast of mostly one-note characters I don't feel especially tempted to read future volumes.
I realize that a medieval Persian story inevitably won't match up to modern narrative expectations, and it's not really fair to expect this to succeed in today's terms (though it could almost have been a pulp serial from the 1930s). As an adaptation of a medieval tale, as far as I could judge it's done well, and the copy editing is mostly very good (even in the pre-release version I got from Netgalley for review). I enjoyed it in a similar way to the way I enjoyed reading a version of the Chinese classic Monkey: A Journey to the West , and for similar trickster-hero-related reasons.
A modern adaptation of a medieval Persian record of an epic oral tale, it follows the exploits of the title character, an ayyar - a kind of Persian ronin or ninja who also reminded me irresistibly of a D&D rogue (chaotic good alignment) or a swashbuckling hero of pulp fiction, not only in their ability to sneak into places and steal things but also because they are defenders of the common people, Robin Hood style, following a set of chivalric principles. There's a great deal of getting over walls by using a lasso, putting sleeping powder in people's wine, daring disguises, and sudden fights in dark places.
The context is that a prince of Persia (this was originally going to be a tie-in to a new version of the video game Prince of Persia) has set out to marry the princess of the land of Chin, and this, by a convoluted series of events which honestly I've already forgotten, leads to a war between Chin and the neighboring kingdom of Machin.
As originally oral stories tend to do, the narrative then falls into a pattern (with considerable variation of detail, to be fair) that goes something like this:
1. Someone gets captured or kidnapped.
2. Samak goes after them, and through a combination of cleverness and fortuitously meeting exactly the person he needs to help him, manages to retrieve them, often also capturing their captor and/or stealing some treasure in the process.
3. This often incurs some kind of obligation to the helper (it's a "Yes, but," in improv terms) which then becomes a plot thread leading on past the completion of the sequence.
4. The kings, whose armies are drawn up facing each other, hear about Samak's success, and one of them writes a letter to the other. The messenger is received, given food and drink and entertained with music and dancing girls, then the vizier reads the message aloud (apparently Persian or Persianesque kings didn't read their own mail in this period).
5. The king reacts to events by deciding that it is on.
6. Champions from the respective armies challenge each other to single combat, and one of them defeats multiple opponents, remaining triumphant at the end of the day.
The sequence then repeats. This is varied by ambushes in which parts of the army are wiped out while moving from place to place; the occasional actual battle of the opposing armies when the champion vs champion turns nasty; reinforcements coming up from one place or another; and a number of side plots, mostly involving Samak's quests to fulfil his obligations to the people who helped him. It isn't all just formulaic, but it's formulaic enough that I became weary of the formula by the end.
Because of all these threads, and the large number of characters - far too many of whom are introduced as deus ex machina when Samak suddenly needs a conveniently loyal ally who can help with exactly the problem he has - and because a central driving force of the plot is the various relationships within the royal families, it becomes a bit like a soap opera, only with more stabbing.
This is the first of several projected volumes, and it ends still with plenty of plot threads to resolve. Although I did enjoy it - especially initially, when the experience was fresh - between the constant convenient helpers, the repetitious formula, and the large cast of mostly one-note characters I don't feel especially tempted to read future volumes.
I realize that a medieval Persian story inevitably won't match up to modern narrative expectations, and it's not really fair to expect this to succeed in today's terms (though it could almost have been a pulp serial from the 1930s). As an adaptation of a medieval tale, as far as I could judge it's done well, and the copy editing is mostly very good (even in the pre-release version I got from Netgalley for review). I enjoyed it in a similar way to the way I enjoyed reading a version of the Chinese classic Monkey: A Journey to the West , and for similar trickster-hero-related reasons.
September 13, 2021
I have been looking forward to reading this book since it was released earlier this year. I have studied mythology and the history of the near east for the past 10 years and it is always wonderful to discover something new that adds to the rich history of that region.
In this novel you will see the typical archetypes you do in Classical Greek or Roman mythos: heroes, villains, romance, betrayal, etc., but now its set in a mythical part of Persia. Rassouli and Mechner have done a spectacular job of taking this ancient tale and bringing it to life. The characters, the settings, the story - I was hooked and was always looking forward to see what clever plan Samak would execute next.
This book won’t be for everybody. There are repetitive moments and the reader could easily become lost between the minor characters and battles but I would encourage anybody and everybody to pick it up at least once. It is an easy and fun read! I can’t wait for the next installment.
Side note: I do hope that one day there will be an audiobook. The Middle Eastern world has always been built on oral traditions - poetry in particular - and I would love to listen to Samak’s story in the way it’s meant to be told.
In this novel you will see the typical archetypes you do in Classical Greek or Roman mythos: heroes, villains, romance, betrayal, etc., but now its set in a mythical part of Persia. Rassouli and Mechner have done a spectacular job of taking this ancient tale and bringing it to life. The characters, the settings, the story - I was hooked and was always looking forward to see what clever plan Samak would execute next.
This book won’t be for everybody. There are repetitive moments and the reader could easily become lost between the minor characters and battles but I would encourage anybody and everybody to pick it up at least once. It is an easy and fun read! I can’t wait for the next installment.
Side note: I do hope that one day there will be an audiobook. The Middle Eastern world has always been built on oral traditions - poetry in particular - and I would love to listen to Samak’s story in the way it’s meant to be told.
August 5, 2021
As a Persian, I found this adaptation carrying the soul of those wondrous tales of my childhood. The flow of the book is and straightforward and exciting, just like those authentic Persian tales. It makes you curious about the destiny of each character. Read this book and time travel to a wondrous place.
March 23, 2021
I would like to thank the Freydoon Rassouli, Jordon Mechner, and Columbia University Press for kindly providing a electronic advanced readers copy of this book.
"Samak the Ayyar" is a special book. It is a modern English translation and adaptation of a series of episodes told by an unknown genius Persian storyteller around a thousand years ago that was thought to be lost to the world until manuscripts were discovered in the past century. This book contains 55 episodes over seven sections and spans well over 400 pages. These stories were enjoyable to read, but perhaps would be more impressive if heard live from a talented storyteller. In fact, rather than "binge reading" them, as I did, I suspect they may be best savored one episode at a time. They center around the trickster/spy/warrior/thief/friend-to-those-in-need Samak the Ayyar. These impressive ancient thriller stories take us back a thousand years to a Persia comprised of kings, princes, princesses, viziers, generals, warriors, heroes, villains, spies, assassins, thieves, merchants, nobles, witches, giants, and commoners. Topics include fatal combat, court intrigue, diplomacy, magic, romance, treasure, treachery, honor, and more. Since this book is a translation/adaptation of the first five of seven volumes, I look forward to reading more adventures of Samak the Ayyar.
"Samak the Ayyar" is a special book. It is a modern English translation and adaptation of a series of episodes told by an unknown genius Persian storyteller around a thousand years ago that was thought to be lost to the world until manuscripts were discovered in the past century. This book contains 55 episodes over seven sections and spans well over 400 pages. These stories were enjoyable to read, but perhaps would be more impressive if heard live from a talented storyteller. In fact, rather than "binge reading" them, as I did, I suspect they may be best savored one episode at a time. They center around the trickster/spy/warrior/thief/friend-to-those-in-need Samak the Ayyar. These impressive ancient thriller stories take us back a thousand years to a Persia comprised of kings, princes, princesses, viziers, generals, warriors, heroes, villains, spies, assassins, thieves, merchants, nobles, witches, giants, and commoners. Topics include fatal combat, court intrigue, diplomacy, magic, romance, treasure, treachery, honor, and more. Since this book is a translation/adaptation of the first five of seven volumes, I look forward to reading more adventures of Samak the Ayyar.
December 31, 2023
I wonder if a second volume will ever come out or if I'll have to learn Persian to stop hanging from this cliff.
This is a medieval epic cycle. It's not a novel. That's important to understand as you go into reading it. It might feel like a novel at times, but it's also fairly repetitive (for instance, the princess is tied up just about every time she makes an appearance, and Samak is always going to have a trick up his sleeve) and predictable, being instead a series of stories built up over centuries of oral telling.
This book is truly a wonderful read, despite certain things a modern reader might perceive as weaknesses. It's a fairly simple story of love, war, and chivalry, with some brief supernatural incursions (the witch and the giant), in which the honorable ayyar Samak aids the righteous prince Khorshid Shah in recovering the beautiful Princess Mahpari. Of course, as soon as she's rescued, somebody else manages to take her away from the prince, and eventually war breaks out because of it.
Just at the turning point of the war, when a great hero known as the Demon Slayer arrives, and the secret of the giant and the iron door in the mountain seems like it could be revealed, the book ends! Please don't make me have to learn Persian to get to finish the story.
This is a medieval epic cycle. It's not a novel. That's important to understand as you go into reading it. It might feel like a novel at times, but it's also fairly repetitive (for instance, the princess is tied up just about every time she makes an appearance, and Samak is always going to have a trick up his sleeve) and predictable, being instead a series of stories built up over centuries of oral telling.
This book is truly a wonderful read, despite certain things a modern reader might perceive as weaknesses. It's a fairly simple story of love, war, and chivalry, with some brief supernatural incursions (the witch and the giant), in which the honorable ayyar Samak aids the righteous prince Khorshid Shah in recovering the beautiful Princess Mahpari. Of course, as soon as she's rescued, somebody else manages to take her away from the prince, and eventually war breaks out because of it.
Just at the turning point of the war, when a great hero known as the Demon Slayer arrives, and the secret of the giant and the iron door in the mountain seems like it could be revealed, the book ends! Please don't make me have to learn Persian to get to finish the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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July 18, 2024on one of the folios dating from the first half of the 15th century, the following sentence appears: “I have started this story [...] on Tuesday, 4th Jomādā al-awwal 585 Hejra,” [20 June 1189]. The language is characteristic of the classical Persian language before the 13th century. However there is some interpolations of poems from 13-14th centuries. And some turkish names.
“a slightly streamlined, modern translation (the authors of the translation - are careful not to call it a retelling, with good reasons)“
Mechner mentioned some small changes made, some repetitions removed but also a carefulness not to go down the slippery slope of changing too much.
The only extant manuscript is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (bound in 3 vols., Ouseley 379, 380, 381). And its illustrated
“a slightly streamlined, modern translation (the authors of the translation - are careful not to call it a retelling, with good reasons)“
Mechner mentioned some small changes made, some repetitions removed but also a carefulness not to go down the slippery slope of changing too much.
The only extant manuscript is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (bound in 3 vols., Ouseley 379, 380, 381). And its illustrated
November 1, 2021
There's always something kind of magical about reading a story from centuries ago and from another culture. Of course the narrative is somehow different of what we are used to, being an oral story in origin and all, but at least for me it didn't make it less enjoyable. Not at all. Actually in my case it added to the experience.
If I have to find a negative aspect, perhaps it would be that being one of five volumes, it lacks a bit of conclussion, but on the other hand it really left me wanting for more.
I want to thank Jordan Mechner and Columbia University Press for the copy of the book they sent me as a gift by giving this sincere review.
If I have to find a negative aspect, perhaps it would be that being one of five volumes, it lacks a bit of conclussion, but on the other hand it really left me wanting for more.
I want to thank Jordan Mechner and Columbia University Press for the copy of the book they sent me as a gift by giving this sincere review.
April 12, 2021
So I’ll be honest this book didn’t flow as well as I would have liked it too. I’m assuming it’s because it’s a translation and the integrity of the story was a priority to preserve.
That being said, I really enjoyed the story itself. I thought the content was fascinating and there was enough twists and turns to keep me interested. I found myself invested in some of the characters and continuing on because I really wanted to see what happened to them.
Thank you to NetGalley for granting my request for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
That being said, I really enjoyed the story itself. I thought the content was fascinating and there was enough twists and turns to keep me interested. I found myself invested in some of the characters and continuing on because I really wanted to see what happened to them.
Thank you to NetGalley for granting my request for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2023
Magic Arabian Tale
I read this book in one breath, couldn’t put it down. Incredible stories from the 9th century, kept by word of mouth storytellers at that time, preserved for today’s and tomorrow’s readers.
I hope the second part that continues stories and adventures of the Samak the Ayyar and Prince of Persia will come soon.
I read this book in one breath, couldn’t put it down. Incredible stories from the 9th century, kept by word of mouth storytellers at that time, preserved for today’s and tomorrow’s readers.
I hope the second part that continues stories and adventures of the Samak the Ayyar and Prince of Persia will come soon.
October 26, 2025
This book was found in the road and a bit wet... But it's an interesting story and while it took. Me a while to push though. I enjoyed it.
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