Rating: 
Summary: Magnificently crafted novel of Umar Khayyam's life & times.
Review: Umar Khayyam, or Omar Khayyam as he is better known in the West--primarily through the rather inaccurate but poetically brilliant "translation" of his Quatrains by Fitzgerald, was one of the best poets of Medieval Persia as well as being an outstanding mathematician and astronomer. This fictionalised account of his life is a masterful achievement by Maalouf. The central plot is simple but very absorbing and the description and depiction of the Islamic world in the time of its civilisational apex is marvellous. The sub-plots are also intriguing and a host of (mostly) historical personages provide excellent characters too from the great administrator, the Grand Vizir, Nizam ul Mulk of the Seljuk Sultanate, Hassan al Sabbah the twisted mastermind of the Ismaili Assassins, the intrepid American adventurer looking for the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat and, above all, the wonderful Umar Khayyam, all of which are beautifully developed to make a novel of rare achievement. A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificently crafted novel of Umar Khayyam's life & times.
Review: Umar Khayyam, or Omar Khayyam as he is better known in the West--primarily through the rather inaccurate but poetically brilliant "translation" of his Quatrains by Fitzgerald, was one of the best poets of Medieval Persia as well as being an outstanding mathematician and astronomer. This fictionalised account of his life is a masterful achievement by Maalouf. The central plot is simple but very absorbing and the description and depiction of the Islamic world in the time of its civilisational apex is marvellous. The sub-plots are also intriguing and a host of (mostly) historical personages provide excellent characters too from the great administrator, the Grand Vizir, Nizam ul Mulk of the Seljuk Sultanate, Hassan al Sabbah the twisted mastermind of the Ismaili Assassins, the intrepid American adventurer looking for the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat and, above all, the wonderful Umar Khayyam, all of which are beautifully developed to make a novel of rare achievement. A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Exhilarating!!
Review: Where is the manuscript of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyaat? A once empty book made out of the white mulberry branches' pulp according to an old Chinese recipe. A blank book that was given to Khayam by a "qadi" who recognized his genius as a poet.
"Whenever a verse takes shape in your mind, or is on the tip of your tongue, just hold it back. Write it down on these sheets." The Rubaiyaat were born in Samarkand in 1072 A.D. The manuscript is claimed to have vanished on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Maalouf spins fact and fiction and creates a fascinating tale of 11th-century Persia, with assassins and intrigues, and returns to it 900 years later through the eyes of an American searching for the manuscript. This has got to be one of the more engaging historical fiction books I have ever read. Maalouf did an excellent and very thorough research. The text flows very nicely and the language is exquisite. It is what I call a rich book... A tale of war, politics, friendship, and betrayal. A tale of poetry and philosophy and of course history. It was such a sumptuous read, I was devouring all the details about the places such as Samarkand, Isfahan, Tabriz and about the characters Khayyam of Nishapur, Nizam al Mulk, and Hassan Sabbah, the founder of the Order of the Assassins, among many others.
Two exotic tales of romance between Khayyam and Jahan; and centuries later
between Benjamin and his Persian Princess, Shireen. The suspenseful adventure tale of finding the manuscript is interwoven with a love story between Benjamin and Shireen and concludes with a final verse uttered. I think it best describes this book...
"You ask what is this life so frail, so vain
'Tis long to tell, yet will I make it plain
'Tis but a breath blown from the vastly deeps,
And then blown back to those same deeps again." Maalouf kept me intrigued and thirsty for more and more. I couldn't quench my thirst any better that when I read the final words " Today I wonder: Did she exist?" So poignant, so beautiful right up to the last page.
I highly recommend this book and.. to the readers who are thinking of reading it...Here's a taste..
"Travelers are too great a rush these days, in a rush to arrive - whatever it takes. But you do not arrive only at your destination. At every step of the journey you arrive somewhere and with every step you can discover a hidden facet of our planet. All you have to do is look, wish, believe and love."
So do begin this Journey.. a Journey to another world.. another space and time..
This is a book to indulge yourself into. Just go with the flow and you'll soon be absorbed by it's magical aura.
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