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Ardistan und Dschinnistan #1
Ardistan a Džinistan 1
Román se odehrává ve fiktivních orientálních zemích Sitaře, Ardistanu a Džinistanu, jejichž jména Karel May znal z vyprávění své babičky, jak o tom napsal ve své autobiografické knize Můj život a mé cíle (Ardistan je bažinatá nížina, země nízkých a egoistických forem bytí, zatímco Džinistan je země slunečných hor, humanity a lásky k bližnímu) a bezprostředně dějově navazuje na autorův román V Říši stříbrného lva. V Sitaře vládne tajemná kurdská princezna a přítelkyně Kara ben Nemsího Marah Durimeh. Ta Karu ben Nemsího požádá, aby se svým přítelem Hadží Halefem Omarem vykonal v oblasti Ardistanu a Džinistánu jisté diplomatické poslání, které pomůže ukončit počínající válečný konflikt. Román se pak stává podobenstvím cesty od nízkého smyslového člověka k člověku ušlechtilému. Touto cestou projde v knize vládce Ardistanu, krutý tyran, který se postupně pod vlivem Kara ben Nemsího a dalších podivuhodných událostí (např. džemma mrtvých) stane vlídným vládcem. Zvítězí nad krutými vzbouřenci v bitvě na Alláhově hoře, uzavře mír s vládcem Džinistánu a je mu odhaleno tajemství pro Ardistan životodárného vodního zdroje, který je opět uveden v činnost.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1909
About the author
Karl May
1,635 books458 followersKarl Friedrich May (also Karol May) was one of the best selling German writers of all time, noted mainly for books set in the American Old West, (best known for the characters of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand) and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East. In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America.
May also wrote poetry and several plays, as well as composing music; he was proficient with several musical instruments. May's musical version of "Ave Maria" became very well known.
May also wrote poetry and several plays, as well as composing music; he was proficient with several musical instruments. May's musical version of "Ave Maria" became very well known.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 19, 2017
So this is an interesting one. Basically its a pulp adventure story, complete with betrayals, wars, rebellions, secret tunnels, death traps, princess-like-figures etc. but crossed with a political and religious allegory.
Pulp adventure fiction and religious allegory are not two things one tends to see a lot in the same place :) .
Style-wise it feels about half-way between H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Also a lot of the story involves trying to convert a ruler to being nice, and so it starts to feel a bit like 'A Christmas Carol' in places.
The basic plot is that the country of Ardistan is about to wage war on Djinnistan and the Galadriel-esque ruler of a neighbouring country wants to stop the war. So she sends two agents to infiltrate Ardistan and find a means of doing so.
All sorts of religions are represented in the book and it mostly seems like its tolerating all of them but the author can't help letting his christian leanings get the best of him at times.
Also the way the plot progresses you start to see that our heroes are only a small part of what seems like almost a CIA plot to deal with Ardistan. I think modern readers might well question some of this interference in a foreign country however well intentioned.
Its an odd duck of a novel, at its heart its still a decent bit of adventure fiction but the religious preaching and pulpy adventure don't always sit well together.
Also due to the religious nature of the work there is a certain amount of predestination and Deux Ex-Machina's about. However there almost always is with these kinds of adventure stories and i've seen many, Many worse uses of such elements in other pulp adventures :) .
Pulp adventure fiction and religious allegory are not two things one tends to see a lot in the same place :) .
Style-wise it feels about half-way between H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Also a lot of the story involves trying to convert a ruler to being nice, and so it starts to feel a bit like 'A Christmas Carol' in places.
The basic plot is that the country of Ardistan is about to wage war on Djinnistan and the Galadriel-esque ruler of a neighbouring country wants to stop the war. So she sends two agents to infiltrate Ardistan and find a means of doing so.
All sorts of religions are represented in the book and it mostly seems like its tolerating all of them but the author can't help letting his christian leanings get the best of him at times.
Also the way the plot progresses you start to see that our heroes are only a small part of what seems like almost a CIA plot to deal with Ardistan. I think modern readers might well question some of this interference in a foreign country however well intentioned.
Its an odd duck of a novel, at its heart its still a decent bit of adventure fiction but the religious preaching and pulpy adventure don't always sit well together.
Also due to the religious nature of the work there is a certain amount of predestination and Deux Ex-Machina's about. However there almost always is with these kinds of adventure stories and i've seen many, Many worse uses of such elements in other pulp adventures :) .
May 19, 2023
Gehört in der KMV-Lesung von Jean-Marc Birkholz, der es perfekt macht. Ich bin echt überrascht, lange hatte ich Respekt vor dem Alterswerk, dass es dann son spannend, interessant oder weniger spirituell ist, habe ich nicht erwartet. Es beginnt fast etwas wie die beliebten Fantasyserien von Tolkien oder Avatar von Cameron. Dank Birkholz wird es auch bei größeren Textflächen nie langweilig. Freue mich auf die Lesung des zweiten Bandes.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews