I kept struggling few days to be able to write a review about this disturbing and enjoyable novel , it was my first read for Llosa and it will not be I kept struggling few days to be able to write a review about this disturbing and enjoyable novel , it was my first read for Llosa and it will not be the last :) the novel is haunting /page turner whether you agree with its thoughts or not. Some critics linked this novel strongly to Llosa’s obsession with Madame Bovary as we briefly discussed starting from post 61 , but this is not what I am going to discuss in here ; There are other several items to talk about reviewing this novel :
*For the main story “ Ricardo and the bad girl “ journey …
Is this a love story? … May be I felt it that way at some points ...there is passion and sexual obsession but it is not a romantic novel any way .
The protagonist (the good boy / Ricardo) doesn’t have a significant personality; yet the reader can never got bored by his single voice narration nor loose empathy with him . The heroin (the bad girl with like thousand names) was a cruel selfish even psycho figure ; she is as described ” can't be admired and can't, except in Ricardo's desperate parody of an old movie to be the heroine of a grand fatal romance.” - yet I couldn’t completly hate her and I even pitied her at certain moments!
Starting with their adolescence we accompanied these two in a forty years journey, they meet and separate ... maintain an unusual relationship ; most of the time she is “the sadist” and he is “the masochist” ; they are friends ... they fight and clash ; they have their Reconciliation and peace ; as a whole they have their poignant times and warm times . all the time they can both see each other very clearly. They are both dreamers, Ricardo in an incurable romantic way, and she is self destructive ... chasing a fantastical world where she can gather all kind of pleasures in her possession.
The journey in each stop keep us anticipating ; and it sails in time and place amazingly , we discover with them places and history of the second half of the twentieth century, from Peru to Paris to London to Tokyo to Madrid and even Egypt’s Alexandria , each time we move to a new city we wear Llosa ‘s eyes to observe and discover the social and cultural mainstream of the day ; that lead to a comment I read/liked some where about the bad girl : ” she begins to look like an emblem of the later part of the 20th century, as seen from the point of view of a bewildered Peruvian“ !
* politics: As I read that Llosa is a writer whose deeply political work vividly examines the perils of power and corruption in Latin America. can this be sensed from one novel ? Yes ; there was so much politics in this one, Peru was always there, at the beginning and end as place to host the story, and as news and comments/ analysis all along the novel. It was not only Peru; we passed by Vietnam war and Africa ; there was bitterness all along .
* Charming side characters : The novel takes place in seven chapters, each serves change in place and time line and in the same time bring us a new main / side character that would steal the light from the protagonists for a while ...from the revolutionist Peruvian , to the Hebei one , to the Interpreter Salomon “the dragoman”, the mute vitamin child , to the beautiful Marcella …Weaving the main story with these surrounders gave subtle progress to the novel .I loved the meditations specially about identity and belonging that Floated softly through the journey .
This is my second novel about Iran , the first was (Samarkand) , both are historical , but while (Samarkand ) took political & ideological path , thisThis is my second novel about Iran , the first was (Samarkand) , both are historical , but while (Samarkand ) took political & ideological path , this one dealt with one of the Persian art formats and the cultural and social conditions that surrounded its uniqueness and perfection .and in the same time with a feminine feelings and sprit ..
In few words : (the blood of flowers) is the complicated and passionate journey of a fiery ... talented female carpet designer towards maturity and professionalism . When I talk about it ; I need three different axes :
- The rug craft : The details caught by artistic bright eyes; that became mine ! the verbal camera that caught nature beauty and urban distinguish , the concepts .. life's hardness transformations into touchable and live pieces of art , all of this were amazingly handled . true you will never look at a Persian carpet with the same eyes after reading this book !
- The heroine's life : it presented a full detailed of the social and cultural Iranian life in the seventieth century , specially some the Shia's traditions and ceremonies , focusing mainly on females' position . it was my first time to read in details about (Sigheh) or what we know in Arabic as (pleasure marriage and it is forbidden for sunni so I do not know much about, also I am not sure if all Shia approve it), this marriage is nothing but a sexual relationship, where a woman is a trapped in weird position among : wife ..mistress and prostitute ! trying to hold on to a man that she will never really possess and a dignity that she may never restore ! this part was portrayed in a very touching way , even the direct graphical sexual descriptions (which were more than what I expected) functioned with the nature of the heroine's miserable situation . and through this axis it is the author's target discussing feminism ..freedom and independency , the concept here was very strong presented and may be that what made the ending - somehow- left open.
- the folk or fairy tales : Each chapter ended with a one , trying to tie the characters' lives & destines to heritage and Persian historical magical context , some were regionally rooted like (Haroot and Maroot) , some historically like (Laila's mad) , and some legendry , they fit in some parts and did not in others , but in general it was a clever enhancing method for the environment the author tried to materialize ..
A final quote that presented the title (by the heroine) :
(I thought about all the labor and suffering that were hidden beneath a carpet , starting with the materials . vast fields of flowers had to be murdered for their dye , innocent worms boiled alive for their silk - and what about the knitters ? must we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of rugs ?)
This novel is from the kind that I could not put down until finishing it ... ...more
سمرقند هي لوحة تاريخية زاهية الالوان ، وجبة دسمة من الاحداث و الشخصيات و الرسائل المكنية ! خلال ألف عام ، نتوقف عند عمر اArabic/English (Samarkand)
سمرقند هي لوحة تاريخية زاهية الالوان ، وجبة دسمة من الاحداث و الشخصيات و الرسائل المكنية ! خلال ألف عام ، نتوقف عند عمر الخيام و جمال الدين الافغاني ، حيث نرحل الى آسيا الوسطى ، و نرصد صورتين تفصيليتين لايران ، في البداية يسحر القارئ بالإطار التاريخي المذهب ، و المنمنات التفصيلية و الزخارف الغنية لروح هاتين الحقبتين ، فيندفع القارئ نهماً نحو المزيد ، و بالغوص التدريجي ، تتكشف حقيقة الكلمات و التوريات ، فهاهو عرض الحاضر خلف قناع الماضي : صراع السلطة ، و التلاعب باسم الدين ، ها هي الدسائس و النواقص ، المصالح و الهيمنة الاستعمارية ، لكأننا بكشف جراح التاريخ ، نجد أن نزف اليوم مازال يتدفق منها بصورة أو بأخرى .
أبهرني في بداية الرواية الثالوث الرمزي مابين عمر الخيام ، حسن الصباح و نظام الملك ،كما استوقفتني بالرواية صورة المرأة الشرقية التي ظن البعض عبثاً أنها مختبأة بين الحريم ، فكانت الشاعرة و الملكة التي بيدها اسقاط مملكة او اقامتها ، و كانت الاميرة الثائرة المفعمة بالحياة .
أرفع للكاتب القبعة لإدراجه التفاصيل و استحضار روح الشرق بعاداته و تقاليده و ألغازه ، تصديه لمعضلة علاقة الشرق بالغرب بتعقيداتها..تناقضاتها ما بين صدام الكيانات و مصالحها من جهة ، و تفاعل الثقافات على مستوى الافراد ، هنا تفرض نقطة رئيسية نفسها على تناولي للرواية ،و هي مخطوط سمرقند الذي ظل يربط الرواية من أولها الى آخرها ، ليكون رمزاً مبهما ً و رسالة تبعث على التفكر ، هذا المخطوط الذي سمي( زهيرة الشرق) خالباً لب الشرق و الغرب معاً ، جامعاً اياهما في احترام و تقديس عجيب!نجده يفقد في رحلة وصفها الكاتب بأن للبسطاء من القضبين الى العالم الجديد ..عالم الحرية ، لتعود الفرقة ! أهو اقرار بألا تلاقي ؟ لست أدري أقف كذلك أمام عنوان الرواية (سمرقند) ، لم ألتق بها في الرواية الا مرتين ، شامخة رغم أمراضها في البداية لينبت منها مخطوط الخيام ، ثم أطلالاً بعد ألف عام تسكنها الاشباح و أساطير الماضي ، تساءلت ...ما الرسالة ؟
هو كتاب يستحق أن يقرأ أكثر من مرة ، قرأته باللغة العربية ، و كانت الترجمة غنية لدرجة تشكك القارئ بأنها كتبت بالفرنسية !
Samarkand is a colorful historical painting , so rich events ..characters & metaphors , so take care it is a heavy meal !
You will travel through 1000 years , stopping at the beginning with Omar Khayyám & at the end withJamal-al-Din Afghani, so we travel to middle Asia , taking detailed two shots of Iran , suddenly you will feel trapped in the enchanting historical atmosphere, pushed to look for more , slowly you find out the truth , wonder what do the metaphors mean ? you will see the present wearing the mask of the past ! …Powers struggle , manipulation of religion, Colonial domains , it is just like by exploring the history wounds , you will discover that they are still bleeding until today , some way or anther !
I was dazzled by the Triad : Khayyám , Hassan-i Sabbah & Nizam al-Mulk ! , I was impressed by the oriental woman presention , she was not locked in the harem , no she was ambitious.. .a poet ..a queen can build or smash a kingdom ,and a revolutionary .. zealous princess :)
I raise the hat for the author ,for handling the rich details , evoking the east sprit through traditions , ceremonies & mysteries , he tried to face the complicated debate (east relation to west) , and the contradiction that appears when you conceder associations' interests -from a side- and simply the individuals’ cultural interactions from anther side , and this particularly what leads me to (Samarkand Manuscript) , it was the novel’s link all the way , it is an important symbol ... sending a metaphoric message , it is the east’s flower which captured both hearts of east & west , it brought them together in amazing respect & Sanctification , it was distended to be lost in the disastrous journey of the dreaming commonalty people from both sides towards the new world (this how the author described it) !what was the point ..there will no intersection ! I do not know ..
Anther issue , the novel’s title ..(Samarkand) , it was only mentioned twice , once at the beginning : prospering - in spite of his illness - that was when the manuscript was born , and again after one thousand years , as dusty ruins inhabited by ghosts & the past legends , I wonder ..what was the message ? .. sure it is a book deserves to be read more than once .
********* edit 07/11/2010 summary & review - yet I don't agree with the comparison with medieval Salman Rushdie
I was uncomfortable with obscene parts of the book , but I admit I liked the way this book dealt with such instincts of human nature (which are more lI was uncomfortable with obscene parts of the book , but I admit I liked the way this book dealt with such instincts of human nature (which are more like Taboos) , specially in its darkest format – ( prostitution)-..It was always a wonder for me how can a woman accept transforming herself into a commodity ..just a sexual tool ! and worse get used to it & be Insensitive ! , and why some ask to buy sex by money ? or from anther side buy company - or someone to listen to - by money ? , why such business - which is old as history - keep going on ?! why some find fun or satisfaction in Sadism ?! , the book made me shocked..frozen!! but opened a wide area for me to think & search , I think Coelho did a good job in that . I was not very much convinced with the ending as a fairy tale .. (happily ever after) , but as romantic as I am , I let it pass !...more
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