13th Warrior: The Manuscript of Iban Fadlan, Relating His Experiences with

by Michael Crichton

13th Warrior: The Manuscr...

by
Michael Crichton

published

1988 (first published 1976) by Tandem Library

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binding

School & Library Binding

isbn

1417618620 (isbn13: 9781417618620)

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Michael Crichton takes the listener on a one-thousand-year-old journey in his adventure novel Eaters Of The Dead. This remarkable true story or...more

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Hasanuddin rated it:

(review of isbn 0060891564)

07/07/08

bookshelves: film, history, islam

Read in July, 2008

Dapet pinjeman temen (sebenarnya ngrampok sih.... Peace...). Setelah melewati beberapa bab, baru sadar kalau novel ini pernah difilmkan. Hanya ceritanya setelah difilmkan jadi melenceng jauh.

Wajah Islam dalam novel Michael Chricton ini, Eaters of the Dead, cukup simpatik. Novel ini juga dibuat film berjudul The 13 th Warriors. Antonio Banderas memerankan seorang Muslim bernama Ahmad ibnu Fadlan Ibnu al-Abbas Ibnu Rashid Ibnu Hamad.

Novel Chricton itu juga sesungguhnya disadur dari literat...more Dapet pinjeman temen (sebenarnya ngrampok sih.... Peace...). Setelah melewati beberapa bab, baru sadar kalau novel ini pernah difilmkan. Hanya ceritanya setelah difilmkan jadi melenceng jauh.

Wajah Islam dalam novel Michael Chricton ini, Eaters of the Dead, cukup simpatik. Novel ini juga dibuat film berjudul The 13 th Warriors. Antonio Banderas memerankan seorang Muslim bernama Ahmad ibnu Fadlan Ibnu al-Abbas Ibnu Rashid Ibnu Hamad.

Novel Chricton itu juga sesungguhnya disadur dari literatur klasik Arab "Rihlah Ibn Fadhlan ila Biladit Turk war Ruus wash Shaqalibah, yang ditulis sendiri oleh Ahmad ibn Fadhlan, seorang duta Kekhalifahan Islam Abbasiyah pada masa Khalifah Al-Muqtadir Billah (295 H) untuk memenuhi permintaan penguasa wilayah Slavic (Shaqalibah) yang bernama Al-Musy ibn Bulthuwar (versi Arab) yang ingin mengerti lebih jauh tentang agama Islam dan syariatnya, sekaligus memohon Khalifah Abbasiyah untuk membangunkan benteng maupun masjid di wilayahnya. Kisah ini, kalau tidak salah pernah dimuat di harian Republika.

Namun dalam perkembangannya, novel ini mengalami pergeseran cerita, sama halnya dengan versi filmnya. Yah... seperti layaknya orang bertutur kepada orang lain dan disambungkan keorang lain, pasti ada perubahan penceritaan.

Novel ini berlatar cerita di Sungai Volga pada sekitar abad ke 10. Dan penceritaannya, mirip-mirip Beowulf. Dengan elemen kesatria versus mahkluk aneh.

Sebagai pembanding dalam buku aslinya yang ditulis Ibn Fadhlan, rombongan perwakilan terdiri dari Ahmad ibn Fadhlan bersama beberapa ahli fiqh, ahli perjalanan dan rombongan pengawalnya, yang bertolak dari Baghdad pada bulan Shafar 309 H. Dan perjalanan ditempuh selama kurang lebih 3 tahun.

Yang menarik dari perjalanannya, penulis mampu melukiskan deskripsi perjalanannya secara hidup. Seperti gambaran geografi wilayah yang dilewati, kondisi sosial masyarakat, agama dan kepercayaannya, sampai bentuk badan maupun wajah bangsa yang dijumpai (antropologi), dan sebagainya. Tidak terlalu mengherankan jika sosok Ahmad ibn Fadhlan mampu mendeskripsikannya secara apik, mengingat betapa telah majunya peradaban ilmu pengetahuan yang ada di Baghdad pada saat itu.

Perjalanannya tidak lepas dari kejutan bagi Ibn Fadhlan sendiri. Pertama, ia sebagai seorang muslim yang meyakini ketauhidan akan menemui aliran keperayaan bangsa lain yang penuh mitos. Kedua, ia sebagai bagian dari masyarakat yang berada dalam puncak peradabannya di Baghdad, akan menjumpai bangsa-bangsa yang masih terbelakang sebagaimana yang ada di kawasan Eropa Timur. Bahkan mereka tidak mengenal kebersihan seperti tidak mengenal mandi, istinja, dan malah mereka punya tradisi mandi dengan air yang dicampur ludah dan kotoran-kotoran lainnya secara bergantian.

Orang-orang Eropa Timur ini juga tidak mengenal sopan-santun dan etiket. Mereka tidak malu bercumbu dengan pasangannya di depan umum. Suatu ketika, saat bertamu di sebuah rumah, tuan rumah tanpa malu bercumbu dengan pasangannya. Ia mengucap istighfar sambil menundukkan pandangan. Melihat itu tuan rumah bercanda kepadanya, "Kalian orang Arab, seperti perawan-perawan kampungan yang malu melihat pemandangan seperti ini…"

Hanya saja, di dalam novel Michael Crhircton dan film mengalami pergeseran cerita. Paling parah pada versi filmnya karena pada akhirnya kebutuhan primer barat dalam menampilkan eksotika wanita yang tidak lain percumbuan dengan Antonio Banderas turut ditampilkan. Suatu anomali dengan kisah yang ditulis oleh Ibn Fadhlan. Maklum... kebutuhan Hollywood.

Dalam film ini, Ibn Fadhlan menjadi Ksatria ke-13 yang bahu-membahu berjuang menghadapi penguasa lalim. Dan menurut versi Michael dan film, diceritakan sangat berbeda jauh. Bukan penguasa lalim, namun suku atau bangsa aneh yang memiliki sifat kanibal. Entah kenapa adaptasinya bisa berubah? Apakah ini juga kebutuhan Hollywood? Ah... lagi-lagi kebutuhan pasar (mungkin).

Makanya tak heran versi film mendapat rating yang mengecewakan dalam meraup laba di seluruh dunia. The 13th Warriors "hanya" mendapat keuntungan sekitar US$61.000.000 di seluruh dunia. Jauh dari film "biasa" yang mampu meraih angka diatas US$80.000.000....less

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Jake rated it:

(review of isbn 0060891564)

07/09/08

bookshelves: alternate-history, beowulf, favorite-titles, fiction

My father mentioned this book to me once, years ago. I think I may have even started it, but somehow, I just didn’t get hooked in. Which seems strange, but I think I may have just gotten impatient with the opening of the story and given up. Years later, this book would be made into one of my favorite movies of all time, the 13th Warrior. Despite that, it has taken me several more years to finally get around to reading this. But I’m glad I did.

For those who have seen the 13th Warrior, the p...more My father mentioned this book to me once, years ago. I think I may have even started it, but somehow, I just didn’t get hooked in. Which seems strange, but I think I may have just gotten impatient with the opening of the story and given up. Years later, this book would be made into one of my favorite movies of all time, the 13th Warrior. Despite that, it has taken me several more years to finally get around to reading this. But I’m glad I did.

For those who have seen the 13th Warrior, the premise is more or less the same; an Arab courtier, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, is sent on a diplomatic mission away from the Caliphate and into barbarian lands. He ends up in a Viking hall, where he is press-ganged into a Viking war party lead by a warrior named Buliwyf. Buliwyf, Ibn Fadlan, and the rest of their war band, travel back to the Vikings homeland to fight an invasion by the “monsters from the mists,” aka the Wendol, a primitive people that have been attacking the hall of one king Rothgar. Buliwyf and his men, along with Ibn Fadlan, get caught up in the war between Rothgar and the mist monsters, eventually resolving it when Buliwyf leads a daring raid into their caves, where he slays the “mother” of the Wendol, and helps fend of their final attack before dying of poison. Basically, it’s a pseudo-historical retelling of Beowulf, with a tribe of Neanderthals substituting for Grendel and his mother.

The book does have some basis in fact; the first few chapters are more or less a translation of an actual manuscript, written by the historic Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, who really did get exiled from Baghdad and go meet some barbarian peoples. Crichton simply continues the narrative with his own ideas, and does a credible job of maintaining a tone that is consistent with that of the initial writings. He even includes some faux footnotes and other little tidbits, to further help confuse the issue about what is fact and what is fiction. Crichton does say in his afterward, however, that the entire thing should be taken as fiction, thereby preventing anyone from having a Da Vinci Code sort of confusion.

Like many of Crichton’s stories, this one is engaging, interesting, and moves fairly quickly. While the first half of the book is mostly an almost anthropological look at Viking culture, once the Wendol attacks begin in earnest, events happen very quickly.

Ibn Fadlan is an interesting narrator; his own voice comes through very clearly, as does the voice of Herger, his primary guide and companion. Buliwyf comes through fairly well also, though some of the other characters are less well-defined. The only other member of the war band who I can clearly remember is Ecgtheow, but the rest are mostly just vague shapes that flit in and out. Still, the characters that do receive attention are well-fleshed out enough to remain engaging throughout the novel.

I have no idea how historically feasible this story is, but the truth is, I don’t care. It’s a neat concept, and well executed. Definitely worth reading....less

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