Classic in Translation. This novel was first published in 1937 in German by the Austrian publisher E.P. Tal. Since then, the novel has been published in more than 30 languages. There is controversy as to who really wrote it.
Ali & Nino – Kurban Said
Author Said sets this Romeo and Juliet story in Baku, Azerbaijan just before and just after the Russian Revolution, about 1914 to 1920. Like many other spots in that region of the world, locals and foreigners alike consider Baku, an oil city on the Caspian Sea, as a bridge between modern Europe (e.g. Georgia) and traditional Asia (e.g. Persia and Turkey). Author Said causes character Professor Senin to urge his students: “Some scholars look on the area south of the Caucasian mountains as belonging to Asia, while others, in view of Transcaucasia's cultural evolution, believe that this country should be considered part of Europe. It can therefore be said, my children, that it is partly your responsibility as to whether our town should belong to progressive Europe or reactionary Asia.”
The Romeo character is Ali Khan Shirvanshir, son of an affluent Shiite Muslim family. Though his heart is full of traditional martial, folk and religious traditions, his head has been educated in a Russian boys college and has thus acquired ideas about modernity. The Juliet is Nino, a Georgian and therefore an Orthodox Christian. They've known each other since childhood and have loved each other a long time despite cultural differences and parental dithering about permitting their marriage.
Said wonderfully evokes not only Baku but also Dagestan, Karabakh, Georgia and Iran. In fact, the book can be seen as a travel narrative and ethnography of the Caucasus region reminding readers of John LeCarre’s portrayal of the Ingush in Our Game.
I can't recommend this wonderful novel highly
enough for its examination of modernization, identity and ethnic and religious
conflicts. Reading it will be time well spent. Keep the Kleenex handy too.
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