Ali Khan is an Islamic boy from Azerbaijan with his ancestors' passion for the desert and warrior legends. His lover, Nino, a beautiful Christian g...
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Mar 08, 2010
Kelly
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There is a large genre of novels related to WWI that deal in the heartbreak of "the last summer" before the storm, the coming death of the old world and the founding of the new (Le Grand Meulnes, which is still the quintessential French coming of age novel, is one example). The histories on this theme are scarcely less legion.
This novel is both a part of that genre and so much more than that. It is told from the first person perspective of Ali Khan Shirvanshir, who has turn More...
This novel is both a part of that genre and so much more than that. It is told from the first person perspective of Ali Khan Shirvanshir, who has turn More...
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(10 people liked it)
Oct 09, 2011
Chrissie
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I hesitate to write any review b/c I feel I cannot do this book justice. I simply adored it. Probably the best book I will read this year!!! Of course it is a love story, but so much more too. It is a love story between a Georgian Christian girl and a Mulim boy from an historically famous family from Azebaijan. Their love explores how dramatically different cultures can be blended given the right circumstances - in this case true love. West meets East in this novel. You explore both ways of look
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Dec 30, 2007
Inder
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I devoured this in one day, on a plane flight back from Maui.
This is a book about a certain place and moment in time, but the love story is timeless. The story is set in the Caucacus, on the Caspian Sea in what is now Azerbaijan, on the eve of World War I. Ali Khan, a muslim boy, loves Nino, a Georgian Christian girl. Somehow, their love survives their cultural differences, family hostilities, blood feuds, and never-ending war. By the end of the book, I knew more than I ever imagined abou More...
This is a book about a certain place and moment in time, but the love story is timeless. The story is set in the Caucacus, on the Caspian Sea in what is now Azerbaijan, on the eve of World War I. Ali Khan, a muslim boy, loves Nino, a Georgian Christian girl. Somehow, their love survives their cultural differences, family hostilities, blood feuds, and never-ending war. By the end of the book, I knew more than I ever imagined abou More...
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Dec 11, 2010
James
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In pre-World War I Azerbaijan the cultural chasms are as deep as the oil wells that surround the city. Muslim Ali Khan, the scion of the wealthy and powerful Shirvanshir family, has fallen in love with Princess Nino Kipiani, the daughter of a rich Christian merchant family. Their courtship, opposed by family and friends, is disrupted by the outbreak of war. A time of great change is coming for Russia and for the Middle East, and the young lovers must decide whether they belong to Europe or Asia.
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Dec 12, 2011
Darrell
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This novel by Kurban Said is subtitled "A Love Story" and it has something of a cult following. It is a remarkable and unusual book. The love story of Ali Khan Shirvanshir and Nino Kipiani begins in their school days in Baku and survives ethnic animosity, kidnapping, exile and even revolution. This relatively short novel has all the epic sweep of a Doctor Zhivago, painting whole new worlds for the reader to explore.
Azerbaijan was the Saudi Arabia of the first half of the 20th More...
Azerbaijan was the Saudi Arabia of the first half of the 20th More...
Jul 07, 2011
Karen
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Sep 07, 2010
Mohamed
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Aug 04, 2010
Salma
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قصة حب جمعت بين علي المسلم الأذربيجاني و نينو المسيحية الجورجية في باكو عاصمة أذربيجان حيث الأعراق و الأثنيات و الصراعات و المطامع و الخلافات زمن الحرب العالمية الأولى و اكتشاف النفط و السلطان التركي و القيصر الروسي و شاه إيران و الثورة البلشفية... قصة جميلة و رقيقة و حزينة و مليئة بالتفاصيل عن عادات و حيوات تلك الشعوب... نشأت القصة في أحضان التشتت بين الشرق و الغرب... بين آسيا و أوروبا... بين الصحراء و الغابة... بين عادات الدماء و الثأر... بين الماضي و الحاضر... بين التقاليد و الحداثة... بين ال
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May 24, 2010
Ruth
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282 pages. Donated 2010 May.
As is true of all great literature, Kurban Said's Ali and Nino has timeless appeal. Set in the years surrounding the Russian Revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union, Said's tale of an Azerbaijani Muslim boy in love with a Georgian Christian girl is both tender and disturbingly prescient. The novel, first published in 1937, begins as Ali Khan Shirvanshir is finishing his last year of high school:
We were a very mixed lot, we forty schoolboys who w More...
As is true of all great literature, Kurban Said's Ali and Nino has timeless appeal. Set in the years surrounding the Russian Revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union, Said's tale of an Azerbaijani Muslim boy in love with a Georgian Christian girl is both tender and disturbingly prescient. The novel, first published in 1937, begins as Ali Khan Shirvanshir is finishing his last year of high school:
We were a very mixed lot, we forty schoolboys who w More...
Aug 10, 2009
Ebostdorff
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Sep 04, 2011
Nezzo
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Не мога да не дам пълна оценка, книгата ме заплени. Накара кръвта ми да кипи от омраза, възхищение, удоволствие, вяра и любов. Точно както мохамеданите преживяват цялата история. Една история за грузинци, арменци, мохамедани, турци, руснаци, шиити, афганистанци, англичани и какви ли не опитали се да покорят и завземат земите на сегашен Азърбейджан.
Една невероятна история под покровителството на Пророка, и ако може да се каже, че до тук се стигна от моята привързаност към мюсюлманската рели More...
Една невероятна история под покровителството на Пророка, и ако може да се каже, че до тук се стигна от моята привързаност към мюсюлманската рели More...
Jan 03, 2010
Bob
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Dec 16, 2009
Graeme
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This book was recommended by a guy who writes from Central Asia for the Economist, and I was not disappointed. It's an action-packed love story about the permanent clash of cultures between Europe and Asia, written in simple and beautiful language. Soon I will move to Tblisi and meet the most beautiful women in the world.
Feb 26, 2009
Jeanette
rated it:
Three and one half stars
Ali Khan Shirvanshir tells the story of how he and Nino grew up together in Baku on the Caspian Sea. He's a Mohammedan, she's a Christian, but they only want each other. Ali Khan likes to portray himself as a fierce warrior ready for battle, but really he just wants to love Nino and make her happy.
As the events of the First World War and the Russian Revolution make Baku unsafe, they go to live in Persia (now Iran), with Ali Khan's uncle. But Nino cann More...
Ali Khan Shirvanshir tells the story of how he and Nino grew up together in Baku on the Caspian Sea. He's a Mohammedan, she's a Christian, but they only want each other. Ali Khan likes to portray himself as a fierce warrior ready for battle, but really he just wants to love Nino and make her happy.
As the events of the First World War and the Russian Revolution make Baku unsafe, they go to live in Persia (now Iran), with Ali Khan's uncle. But Nino cann More...
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Dec 16, 2009
Schaden
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I really liked this story with its solid historical background and with a story that the reader will be unable to put down. It is beautifully written and deals with fascinating characters from a world that few have written about, at least in the West.
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Aug 27, 2011
Ann
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I would characterize this book as Romeo and Juliet with an East/West culture clash rather than a familial clash. The setting, Baku, a crossroads between East and West is essential to the story.
Ali is a Muslim boy and Nino is a Christian, Georgian girl who happen to fall deeply in love.
While Ali's father agrees to the marriage, Nino's family at first refuses, until a supposed friend intervenes on Ali's behalf.
In the course of their courtship and marriage there More...
Ali is a Muslim boy and Nino is a Christian, Georgian girl who happen to fall deeply in love.
While Ali's father agrees to the marriage, Nino's family at first refuses, until a supposed friend intervenes on Ali's behalf.
In the course of their courtship and marriage there More...
Feb 22, 2012
Laura
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I'm a girl. I can be talked into buying shoes + makeup and reading romance novels. So for a grown up girl, this is a romance novel I don't have to be too embarrassed to be caught reading. Kurban Said is not the author's real name. The author was in fact a Jewish dude. Nonetheless, he does one of the most sensitive and tender accounts of a muslim approach to love. The socio-cultural impact of this is important. As posited by Fatima Mernissi's book "Beyond The Veil," Westerners habituall
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Dec 16, 2009
Mister
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An late 1800's/early 1900's version of Romeo & Juliet with witty dialogue between the characters and the author merges both East & West hope and sensibilities and debate that still exists to this day.
Mar 12, 2009
Cara
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I read this for a book group, and I went into the book not reading anything about it ahead of time. The book didn't grab me till the end, and honestly, I don't think I'd have finished it if it wasn't for a book group. After talking about it with others, though, I have a better appreciation for it. It is a window to history, allowing the reader to view a place and time they wouldn't have otherwise known. I would recommend this book to someone who likes history, especially WWI, to get an idea of w
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Aug 05, 2011
القصه بتمر باحداث كتير و بتنقلك نقلات ضخمه من جو لجو و من بلد لبلد تعيش فى اجوائها و تشم عبيرها بحرها و ببرودها ....اجمل ما فى الروايه انها رمزيه مشبعه بالاحداث فلا الاحداث واقعيه طاغيه بلا روح ولا الرمزيه مطلقه او مقحمه على الاجواء ولكن الحدث نفسه يقع فى موقع الرمز فتجد نفسك تلهث وراء الاحداث فى الصفحات و فى نفس الوقت متأملا للرمز و قوته....
التقييم : روايه جميله:) More...
التقييم : روايه جميله:) More...
Mar 10, 2009
Terry
rated it:
Kurban Said was a nice discovery. Very enjoyable read.
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Feb 28, 2011
Bowerbird
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A fascinating insight into what is now Azabaijan, a country rich in oil and therefore frequently under threat from other powers.
Basically a love story, Ali, a Moslem and Nino a Christian, can bridge that religious divide. But the difficult relationships between the surrounding countries and the start of WW1 cast a dark shadow over their future.
Azabaijan sits between Asia and Europe, and its citizens are divided as to which continent they occupy. The book also highlights some of the More...
Basically a love story, Ali, a Moslem and Nino a Christian, can bridge that religious divide. But the difficult relationships between the surrounding countries and the start of WW1 cast a dark shadow over their future.
Azabaijan sits between Asia and Europe, and its citizens are divided as to which continent they occupy. The book also highlights some of the More...
Jan 18, 2009
Joe
rated it:
one of the most poignant love stories I have read.
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Sep 16, 2009
Cathy
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"It is the eve of WWI in Baku, Azerbeidshan, a city poised precariously between east and west. Ali, a Muslim boy from a proud, aristocratic family, has fallen in love with the beautiful Nino, a Christian girl with distinctly European sensibilities."
Here are two young people living in the same city of Baku with such different cultural values, beliefs, and wealth. This story envelopes well the cultural aspects of each city these two encounter in their lives because of the w More...
Here are two young people living in the same city of Baku with such different cultural values, beliefs, and wealth. This story envelopes well the cultural aspects of each city these two encounter in their lives because of the w More...
Jan 03, 2012
Warnie B.
rated it:
This sucked me in right from the start, and I had a really hard time putting it down, despite the fact that it says, "a love story" on the cover. I'm just not generally a fan of love stories--so many of them seem so trite and unbelievable, and so I will admit that I put off reading this for a long time. Shame on me.
Anyway, what hooked me is that this really isn't just a love story between a man of Azerbaijan and a woman of Georgia, although yes, that's obviously a huge par More...
Anyway, what hooked me is that this really isn't just a love story between a man of Azerbaijan and a woman of Georgia, although yes, that's obviously a huge par More...
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Dec 21, 2011
"Ali et Nino" c'est le roman national accidentel de l'Azerbaïjan. Écrit possiblement par un Juif allemand converti par romantisme à l'Islam, peut-être par une comtesse Autrichienne du type Miss Havisham ou encore une Azérie jadis enfermée dans un Harem et qui s'amusait à inventer le monde extérieur dont on l'excluait, la nature même du texte est devenue un long débat qui intéresse toute le Caucase. Sa trame narrative entièrement construite au présent de l'indicatif, la simplicité de
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Jun 19, 2009
Jessica
rated it:
A nice love story that is fairly exotic for westerners, perhaps not so for Azerbaijani, Persians, Armenians, Russians, etc. This tale is written to polarize the character's relationships and draw attention to the religious differences of the time and region. With a healthy backdrop of politics and war extending from the territorial/ oil interests of Baku's European neighbors, the ending is a bitter reality. It is drizzled with cloying pools of honeyed description that hearken to Persian poetry,
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Jan 20, 2009
Dale
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Paul Theroux mentions this novel in his book Ghost Train to the Eastern Star as the great Azerbaijani novel. Written in 1937, it is set just before and during the first world war, when Azerbaijan was under the control of czarist Russia. The two protagonists are Ali Shirvanshir and Nino Kipriani, both from wealthy and powerful families living in Baku, an oil boom town on the shores of the Caspian sea. Ali is a Muslim with family connections in Persia; Nino is a Georgian Christian, whose extended
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Jan 04, 2012
jesse
rated it:
A Great, and I Think, Little Known Classic
I'd never even heard of this story, but my circles don't run that wide. I stumbled across it: a love story, extraordinare--a love story in more ways than one. Where Asia meets Russia meets Europe. An Islamic boy and a Georgian girl. A Russian revolution and a World War. All of this lovingly and elegantly captured in classic novel format by an unknown author with the ghost name, Kurban Said.
Just click on the edition here (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46284... More...
I'd never even heard of this story, but my circles don't run that wide. I stumbled across it: a love story, extraordinare--a love story in more ways than one. Where Asia meets Russia meets Europe. An Islamic boy and a Georgian girl. A Russian revolution and a World War. All of this lovingly and elegantly captured in classic novel format by an unknown author with the ghost name, Kurban Said.
Just click on the edition here (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46284... More...
Aug 26, 2010
Evelyn
rated it:
This book is a gem. I first read it 25 years ago, and have re-read it at least four times since. This is a wonderful love story set in Azerjaiban in the years leading up to the First World War. Ali (a Muslim) falls in love with Nino (a Christian), leading to conflict and tragedy. Woven into the story are glimpses of Azeri customs and beliefs, leaving the reader with the sense of having been there and actually knowing the people in the book. This is one I never wanted to end.
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