(Book) Shadows of the Pomegranate tree written by Tariq Ali

The reading of this book completes my list of the Islamic Quintet (four of have been written so far). This is the first of the series and I read it last due to its unavailability. I needed to get it from Kolkata to read it. Gautham, I would always owe the reading of this book to you!!!

The book is excellent and carries on with the tradition of the other books in the series. The structure and the theme of the book is the same as the others. Islamic glory is in the past and the characters in the book face and existential crisis in the new environment, their enemy – an intolerant and barbaric Christianity that is intent on committing genocide in name of religion.

This book deals with the fall of one the greatest Islamic empires – in Spain (or Al-Andalus as it was called then) when it was conquered by the Reconquista by the Christians. This fall is shown through the eyes of the members of the ruling family in the village of Banu Hudayl, a family whose members are as varied as they have been in the other novels of the series – an indication of the incredible diversity in the Islamic world.

The book starts with the scene of a book burning in Granada by the  newly conquering Christians (led by the bishop Ximenes de Cisneros) and sets a tone for the entire story – where Muslims who had practiced an inclusive rule where all religions were allowed to live in peace suddenly finds itself confronted with a highly intolerant Christianity that would know no peace until it wipes off Muslim population in Spain. Historically this new Spain gave birth to the conquistadors who enslaved the indigenous population in South America and who wiped off thriving Indian cultures there (including Incan and the Mayan civilization). The germ for that barbarity is sown in the events taking place in the book. The epilogue in the book is appropriately pointing towards this…that was a very apt ending, I felt.

It showed that events that took place nearly 600 years ago still make their impact felt today. Evo Morales is a prime example of the struggle that the indigenous population had to endure to get back some of the dignity lost to the Spanish all those years ago…

This book serves as a timely historical corrective in terms of the perception that people have of the Islamic world. Tariq Ali through these novels has been able to make the characters populating those times as relevant as people today. These books also serve as a history lesson that is not told so easily by the dominant world media pandering as they are to a uni-dimensional world view.

As with the other books of the series, the book can also be read as a gripping story with many-dimensional people trying to find their destiny. It is set in a world that might seem fantastic and magical today – a reminder of what we have lost.

One of the most satisfying series that I have read…cant wait for the last book…

Labels: Books, historical, islamic quintet, Tariq Ali

posted by Protik Basu @ 3:53 PM 0 Comments

(Book) Pirates of the Caribbean – Axis of Hope by Tariq Ali

As is clear from the title, Tariq Ali positions this book in defiance of the term ‘Axis of evil’ given by Bush Jr. And its a defiant book to the last page. And its a book that is both a manifesto of hope and a reminder of events which the mainstream media wants us to forget or worse, remain ignorant of.

The book is mainly about a new way of life that is being developed in Venezuela and Bolivia which takes Cuba’s legacy as its inspiration. The book traces the history of the region and talks about the various ups and downs that have taken place in the region’s (Latin America) struggle for self determination. He also makes a report card of how the progress has been.

What makes this book delightful, when the subject matter is such that it could have easily become a boring tome of facts and sloganeering, is the way in which Tariq Ali approaches the subject. In his inimitable style he takes on a host of varied subjects and ties it up together in one theme.

He starts off with a scathing attack on the turncoat socialists who abandoned their beliefs when the ‘end of history’ happened after collapse of Soviet Union. After this, he positions this book as an account of those who resisted and have been able to give us a different way of looking at social, economic and political problems of our time.

Tariq Ali dons the role of a pirate and revels in it. He discusses politics of the region and the fallouts especially Venezuala and its most famous leader till date – Hugo Chavez. The book discusses his rise and his consolidation and his socio-economic policies and why what he is doing is a lesson to everyone. Ali discusses Cuba and Bolivia as well, Cuba as the inspiration for Chavez and Bolivia and Morales as the inheritor of Chavez of both. He also discusses the history of the region with a whole chapter on Simon Bolivar, the inspiration for whole generations of Latin American revolutionaries. Its not only a discussion of events but is an analysis of whys and hows and which way in the future. Its the latter part that makes it so important.

The book never lets up and is a refreshing call to arms for people who are aware of the developments and a starting point for those unaware.

These discussions attain an important significance today with the collapse of neo-liberal policies, policies which were considered infallible till a few months ago and which have been proved to be hollow and worse, highly dangerous. This book, then, is a book of hope and of rebellion against ‘conventional wisdom’.

Labels: Books, non-fiction, Political, Tariq Ali

posted by Protik Basu @ 6:38 PM 0 Comments

Stone woman by Tariq Ali

This is the third book of the Islamic Quintet, the series which I am thoroughly enjoying right now and this book carries on the tradition.

This time, the novel is based in Ottoman Turkey at the end of the last century, a period in which the empire would be called the ‘The Sick Man of Europe’ and for good reason, as the novel brings out…

One difference of this book from the others that I have read from the Quintet (‘Book of Saladin’ and ‘A Sultan in Palermo’) is that unlike these two, the events in this book does not take place from inside the royal perimeters. The king and the bureaucracy are mentioned only in the third person and the only real contact we have of the empire’s centre is when there is talk of insurrection at the end of the book…another difference is that it does not cover any specific historical event. The decay of the empire serves as a background only

The book is based on an Ottoman family which is high on social status mainly because of wealth and influence. The family once had extensive contact with the King but till one of the ancestors fell out favour and was driven into exile.

The story takes place extensively in the family house on the outskirts of Istanbul. There are two narrators in the story – one of the daughter of the family who had rebelled in order to get married to a Greek teacher. The second one are the confessions made to the ‘Stone Woman’ – a worn down statue in the garden of the house which was already there when the house was built. It is said to be that of a pagan goddess. The identity, however, is not important as this statue becomes the hearer of confessions from all the members of the family.

The crisis in the empire and its reasons and its consequences are brought out in a series of discussions that take place in the drawing room of the family. This takes place over several chapters. Meanwhile, the story brings out the various crisis's  of the family itself – both from the past and the present – lost love to evaporated love to new found loves, ancient murders, betrayals and insurrections against the king. At times the crisis within the family and the crisis in the empire coincides – in a murder and in a rebellion.

But the beauty of the book is in the way that all the characters are fleshed out by various narrative means by weaving in the past and the present and bringing in the identity crisis of the empire itself in the lives of the characters. One can actually sense the dark clouds gathering on their lives. Even though the society of the Ottomans have vanished and would seem exotic to us today, the gift of Tariq Ali make them almost next door neighbours. We see the characters in the book as creatures of their circumstances and time, as we all are…

As usual, the book is peopled by characters whose characteristics would stay with you long after you have closed the book. It takes a genius to give such diverse attributes to people in a book that is barely 200 odd pages long and what makes it even better is that all of the characters (except for a couple of exceptions) contribute to the main plot in the story.

As in the other books, this too should be read not only for its historical treatment given to periods which have precious few mainstream books (but which are nevertheless important for our understanding of the world we live in) but also for being a damn good story…

Labels: Books, islamic quintet, Tariq Ali

posted by Protik Basu @ 12:18 AM 0 Comments

A Sultan in Palermo by Tariq Ali

This book is Part IV of the Islamic Quintet by Tariq Ali and continues with the series’ promise of bringing forth a rich tapestry of the Islamic world as it existed at its height of power and when it is about to fall from the dizzying heights that it attained in its first century of conquest.

This book is about Sicily (known as Siquilliya) during the time of the celebrated cartologist Muhammed al-Idrisi. Palermo is one of the most cultured city in the world vying with Baghdad and Cairo. The island is ruled by a Norman ruler, King Roger (though he is more popularly known as Sultan Rujari in the island and among his subjects) who has adopted the Arab culture and in whose kingdom Muslims, Christians and Jews have co-existed though the orthodox Christians are understandably unhappy about the influence that the Muslim culture has over King Rujari.

The book is set at a time when the tension in the island becomes high as the King becomes slowly incapable of asserting his authority due to old age and due to lack of a proper succession alternative, the Christian monks and Bishops (who have been shown as rapacious and small minded – a characterisation of which there is a dearth of in western literature) begin to grab power with the ultimate aim of converting Sicily into a ‘pure’ Christian country.

Al-Idrisi is drawn into this maelstrom of secret plots and counter-plots quite against his will. But every man is a product of their times and his life is shaped by the events around him.

We are also shown his family life, complete with scheming daughters, grandchildren who he begins to mentor, son-in-laws plotting to rise up in rebellion against the Christians. Central to the story also is Idrisi’s love for Mayaa with whom he had the affair of his life at an young age and who had been taken by the Sultan as concubine, who comes back into his life along with a daughter that has been fathered by Idrisi’s.

The pages are filled with fascinating characters including ‘The Trusted One’ – a wandering ascetic formenting rebellion, Philip-al-Mahdi, the wisest court advisor, who is sacrificed by the King to preserve his throne, the Emir of Syracuse and so on…

Most importantly, it gives the view of the world from the ‘other’ side,a side which is often callously disregarded in a media that mainly draws its inspiration from the western viewpoint.

As with his other novels in the Quintet, this novel gives us an endearing glimpse into the lives and customs of the people who lived nearly a thousand years back with whom we seem to relate as if we met them on a street.

And it is a fascinating journey right down to the fall.

Its a history lesson which doubles up as a damn good story.

Labels: Books, islamic quintet, Sicily, Tariq Ali

posted by Protik Basu @ 9:16 PM 0 Comments

“The Book of Saladin” by Tariq Ali

This was a book that I have been wanting to read for atleast four years!!! This and the whole Islamic Quintet…and it has been unbelievably tough to get hold of it…

But this quest ended with the finding of the treasure a few months back!!! and what a treasure it is…

It needed the calibre and passion of someone like Tariq Ali to meld together history and fiction in such a beautiful mixture. The story not only holds itself faithful to the historical facts but also weaves fiction in ways that it does not affect the narrative, only enhancing it.

The story revolves around Salah-ul-din, more popularly known as Saladin (in occidental literature that is), the liberator of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was sacked and brutally occupied by the First Crusade in 1099, with all its muslim and jewish occupants killed in the most barbaric manner imaginable. Islam, then at the height of its civilization, was shocked at the acts of the barbarian hordes from Europe. It gave them a body blow from which they took almost a century to recover.

It needed Saladin to unite the warring factions in the Arab world and present a united Islamic army to the crusaders. Jerusalem was liberated by Saladin’s army in 1189, for which he till today remains a role model in the Arab world with various leaders wanted to co-opt him, Saddam Hussain being one of them (in fact the eagle on the flags of Egypt, Yemen and Iraq was the flag standard of Saladin).

The book is not only about this historical event and all the incidents leading upto it but is equally about the person that Saladin was. Written by a fictional biographer Ibn Yakub employed by Saladin at the start of a book to record his life, the past and as it happens, we are treated to a feast of diverse characters – from the fiercely independent Sultana Jamila, the concubine Hamila and their complicated relationship, Shahdi, the irreverant old soldier whose loyalty is only to Saladin, Nur-al-din, the sultan who most inspires Saladin, Ibn Maymun (historical Maimonides), Guy Lusignan, Balian of Ibelin, Reynald of Chatillion to lots of minor characters that enrich the story over the 200 odd pages.

Most of all, its about Saladin – his passion for driving out the Franj (the all encompassing name given to the crusaders – derived from Franks) from the holy lands, his innate sense of justice which seems remarkably liberal even by standards of our century, his intellectual rigour, his tolerance for diversity, his humour. Its also about his  weaknesses and about the doubts about his actions and his increasing loneliness as he begins to be treated as a demi-god after the liberation of Jerusalem – all of which makes him very much a human which makes the reader almost reach out to him and sympathize. The portrait is of a man far ahead of his time who over the centuries will be commoditised to suit the different ruler’s different interests

What we have is a story of heroism, of human frailty, of a enlightened civilization trying to gather itself and find old glory, of events that have gone down in history, set in a period whose echoes affects our conscience even today, even though we might not be aware of it. For example, the Arab hatred of the western ‘barbarism’ and of the word ‘Crusader’ can be gleaned from here as can be the seed of the decline of Islam - the religion and the civilization that played the most role in European Renaissance.

What we also have is a very human story – of love, of betrayals – both personal and political, disillusionments, glorification and vilification of liberators, also of hope and redemption, all of which make it a story that does not seem at all distant.

In fact, the aware reader will find all the aspects of the modern world reflected in the lives if the characters and the world they inhabited and the reader will realize that we do not live lives too different from them. Change the names and dates and the event will mirror events in our lifetimes. History does repeat itself – again and again.

It does not need a historically aware person to read and enjoy the book and that is its beauty. In fact this book is a must read for everyone not only for its gripping story or for its glimpse into a lost world but also for its relevance for us today.

Saladin is one of the people in history whom I truly admire and it truly has been a feast reading this book. Tariq Ali, it seems cannot disappoint.

Labels: Book of saladin, Books, Crusades, islamic quintet, Middle East, Saladin, Tariq Ali

posted by Protik Basu @ 1:17 AM 0 Comments