Kurban Said (1905–1942)
Autore di Alì e Nina
Sull'Autore
Kurban Said was the pseudonym of Lev Nussimbaum, who grew up in Baku and died in Italy in 1942. (Bowker Author Biography) The life of Kurban Said is shrouded in mystery--a story as exotic and elusive as his writings. Lev Naussimbaum (alias Essad Bey alias Kurban Said) was, it is believed, born in mostra altro Baku in 1905, the son of a German governess and a Jewish businessman. He died in Positano, Italy, in 1942. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra meno
Opere di Kurban Said
Lenin 3 copie
L' armata bianca 2 copie
Oro liquido 1 copia
Nicolás II, vida y tragedia 1 copia
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Nome canonico
- Said, Kurban
- Nome legale
- Noussimbaum, Leo
- Altri nomi
- Nussinbaum, Lev
Bey, Essad
Said, Kurban - Data di nascita
- 1905-10-20
- Data di morte
- 1942-08-27
- Luogo di sepoltura
- Positano, Italië
- Sesso
- male
- Nazionalità
- Rusland
- Nazione (per mappa)
- Azerbeidjan
- Luogo di nascita
- Bakoe, Azerbeidjan
Kiev, Russian Empire - Luogo di morte
- Positano, Italië
- Luogo di residenza
- Bakoe, Azerbeidjan
Berlijn, Duitsland
Positano, Italië
Wenen, Oostenrijk - Istruzione
- University of Berlin
- Attività lavorative
- writer
journalist - Breve biografia
- Kurban Said is a pseudonym for Essad Bey, which is a pseudonym for Lev Nussimbaum. Nussimbaum was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1905 (or in Kiev, Ukraine), in a rich Jewish family. As the Soviets conquered Azerbaijan, Nussimbaum fled to Berlin, Germany, where he converted to Islam. As Essad Bey, he was a striking and eccentric figure in Berlins high society. He was the author of semi-scientific orientalistic books, as well as adventurous novels about himself, set in Middle Eastern settings. Apart from the pseudonym Essad Bey, he used the name Kurban Said.
Nussimbaum died in 1942.
The Orientalist by Tom Reiss is a biography of Nussimbaum, and explains his choices of other names.
Utenti
Recensioni
Could not finish it, so many horribly sexist passages.
I know it was written in a different time and period but it hurts my soul to read of women being described as « the woman is just the acre, on which the man sows. Must the field love the farmer? » to which the main character is « touched by his answer. It proved again that he was honest and wise », and there are countless more references, such as women being rightful preys to men, and the main character saying unpleasant misogynistic things about his supposed love interest etc
On top of that, the main male character is boring, pedantic, really feels important, and generally is quite unlikeable.
The writing style is odd, it rambles a lot, sometimes I wondered if I had actually accidentally read the same sentence three times? But definitely hadn’t. It jumps a lot from topic to topic and can be quite confusing, especially in dialogues.
I’m so disappointed because this the first book I have chosen not to finish, I am usually very patient with books because I know a bad start can end up turning into a pleasant surprise, but not this time. I’m also disappointed because I was very very eager to read and learn more about the region in which it is set, the Caucasus, I will have to keep looking.… (altro)
I know it was written in a different time and period but it hurts my soul to read of women being described as « the woman is just the acre, on which the man sows. Must the field love the farmer? » to which the main character is « touched by his answer. It proved again that he was honest and wise », and there are countless more references, such as women being rightful preys to men, and the main character saying unpleasant misogynistic things about his supposed love interest etc
On top of that, the main male character is boring, pedantic, really feels important, and generally is quite unlikeable.
The writing style is odd, it rambles a lot, sometimes I wondered if I had actually accidentally read the same sentence three times? But definitely hadn’t. It jumps a lot from topic to topic and can be quite confusing, especially in dialogues.
I’m so disappointed because this the first book I have chosen not to finish, I am usually very patient with books because I know a bad start can end up turning into a pleasant surprise, but not this time. I’m also disappointed because I was very very eager to read and learn more about the region in which it is set, the Caucasus, I will have to keep looking.… (altro)
Excerpt:
I just finished reading Ali and Nino by "Kurban Said." The book is momentously good, and is one of the few times I have read a "novel.' The book itself purports to be a novel about a doomed love affair between Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Muslim and Nino Kipiani, a Christian. On the surface, without creating a spoiler, they fall in love as students, they marry, and he is killed in battle. The deeper story is about the implosion of Baku, Azerbaijan's unique fusion of East and West. The excerpt above, from the book, summarizes the conflicting nature of the Oriental world and Europe.
My path to reading this novel is almost as complex. A friend turned me on to reading The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life. This book culminated an investigation by , its author, as to the roots of Ali and Nino. Mr. Reiss concluded that the author was Lev Nussenbaum, a Jewish author from Baku. Mr. Nussenbaum was apparently quite a prolific author, under the name of Essad Bey,including Blood and Oil in the Orient: My childhood in Baku and my hair-raising escape through the Caucasus and Stalin: The Career Of A Fanatic by Essad Bey a/k/a Lev Nussenbaum, I consider Ali and Nino to be a novelistic rendition of much of the material in Blood and Oil in the Orient.The destruction of Azerbaijan was an example of the destruction of the antebellum, i.e. pre-1914 world by World War I. While the Czar, Kaiser Wilhelm and the Hapsburgs were not wonderful, what followed was far, far worse. I'll leave that story to Stalin: The Career Of A Fanatic.
This novel is intense enough.… (altro)
Originally Posted by Kurban Said in Ali and Nino - excerpt
"Dadiani looked at me thoughtfully: You have the soul of a desert man,' he said. 'Maybe that is the one real division between men: wood men and desert men. The Orient's dry intoxication comes from the desert, where hot wind and hot sand make men drunk, where the world is simple and without problems. The woods are full of questions. Only the desertdoes not ask, does not give, and does not promise anything. But the fire of the soul comes from the wood. The desert man-I can see him--has but one face, and knows but one truth,and that truth fulfills him. The woodman has many faces. The fanatic comes from the desert, the creator from the woods. Maybe that is the main difference between East and West.
'That is why we Armenians and Georgians love the wood' Melik Nachararyan interrupted, a fat man from one of the noblest Armenian families. He had protruding eyes, bushy eyebrows, and was inclined to philosophy and drinking. We got on well together. He drank to me and cried: 'Ali Khan! Eagles come from the mountains, tigers from the jungle. What comes from the desert? 'Lions and warriors,' I answered
I just finished reading Ali and Nino by "Kurban Said." The book is momentously good, and is one of the few times I have read a "novel.' The book itself purports to be a novel about a doomed love affair between Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Muslim and Nino Kipiani, a Christian. On the surface, without creating a spoiler, they fall in love as students, they marry, and he is killed in battle. The deeper story is about the implosion of Baku, Azerbaijan's unique fusion of East and West. The excerpt above, from the book, summarizes the conflicting nature of the Oriental world and Europe.
My path to reading this novel is almost as complex. A friend turned me on to reading The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life. This book culminated an investigation by , its author, as to the roots of Ali and Nino. Mr. Reiss concluded that the author was Lev Nussenbaum, a Jewish author from Baku. Mr. Nussenbaum was apparently quite a prolific author, under the name of Essad Bey,including Blood and Oil in the Orient: My childhood in Baku and my hair-raising escape through the Caucasus and Stalin: The Career Of A Fanatic by Essad Bey a/k/a Lev Nussenbaum, I consider Ali and Nino to be a novelistic rendition of much of the material in Blood and Oil in the Orient.The destruction of Azerbaijan was an example of the destruction of the antebellum, i.e. pre-1914 world by World War I. While the Czar, Kaiser Wilhelm and the Hapsburgs were not wonderful, what followed was far, far worse. I'll leave that story to Stalin: The Career Of A Fanatic.
This novel is intense enough.… (altro)
This book, Blood and Oil in the Orient, was beyond fantastic.
A few words of explanation or necessary about the author. The given name of the author is Mohammed Essad Bey. As disclosed and discovered by research of Thomas Reiss, detailed in a book called The Orientalist, a Jewish writer by the name of Lev Nussenbaum wrote under pen names Mohammed Essad Bey and Kurbain Said. Lev Nussenbaum was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. He and his father were forced to flee twice from Baku, the second time permanently. The book is largely the story of his pre-flight childhood in Baku, and the two flights. The sub text is the destruction and carnage caused by Joseph Stalin‘s Bolsheviks in that region.Separately, he wrote Stalin-the Making of a Fanatic. I have read that book and highly recommend that as well.
In the area in which he was doing his writing, from the late 1920s to the time of his death in 1941 or 1942, being a Jewish writer in places such as Azerbaijan, Turkey, Germany and Italy was not a good idea. Though the book is autobiographical in nature, it was necessary for him to fictionalize or distort his early history for that reason.
Parts of the book read like a triple version of National Geographic magazine. Other parts or a hair-raising adventure tale of flights through dangerous regions such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, and modern-day Iran.
The book has numerous humorous and amusing turns. Thomas Reiss has written a very useful afterword to the book. For someone who wants to read unconventional material, about little known subjects, from a fresh point of view, I highly recommend this book.… (altro)
A few words of explanation or necessary about the author. The given name of the author is Mohammed Essad Bey. As disclosed and discovered by research of Thomas Reiss, detailed in a book called The Orientalist, a Jewish writer by the name of Lev Nussenbaum wrote under pen names Mohammed Essad Bey and Kurbain Said. Lev Nussenbaum was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. He and his father were forced to flee twice from Baku, the second time permanently. The book is largely the story of his pre-flight childhood in Baku, and the two flights. The sub text is the destruction and carnage caused by Joseph Stalin‘s Bolsheviks in that region.Separately, he wrote Stalin-the Making of a Fanatic. I have read that book and highly recommend that as well.
In the area in which he was doing his writing, from the late 1920s to the time of his death in 1941 or 1942, being a Jewish writer in places such as Azerbaijan, Turkey, Germany and Italy was not a good idea. Though the book is autobiographical in nature, it was necessary for him to fictionalize or distort his early history for that reason.
Parts of the book read like a triple version of National Geographic magazine. Other parts or a hair-raising adventure tale of flights through dangerous regions such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, and modern-day Iran.
The book has numerous humorous and amusing turns. Thomas Reiss has written a very useful afterword to the book. For someone who wants to read unconventional material, about little known subjects, from a fresh point of view, I highly recommend this book.… (altro)
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Statistiche
- Opere
- 20
- Utenti
- 1,176
- Popolarità
- #21,865
- Voto
- 3.8
- Recensioni
- 53
- ISBN
- 94
- Lingue
- 18
- Preferito da
- 1
Set between 1914 and 1920 in Baku (Azerbaijan), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Tehran, this is an historical fiction and romance. Written by the mysterious Kurban Said in 1937, initially thought to be an Austrian Duchess but later thought to be the Jewish writer Lev Nussimbaum who converted to Islam and wrote under the pseudonyms Essad Bey and Kurban Said or alternatively Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli, an Azerbaijani statesman and writer who died in the Gulags under Soviet Russia accused of producing “counter-revolutionary” works. It was first translated into English in 1970. This book chronicles the turbulent love story between Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Shi’ite Muslim of Iranian descent, and the beautiful Nino Kipiani, a Georgian Christian.
The book teases out the vast differences between the two, the cultural divide between East and West and the religious divide between their faiths. This was a fascinating read, giving an insight into the country of Azerbaijan, straddling Asia and Europe, and bordered by Russia, Iran, Turkey and Armenia. Some of the attitudes and actions towards women are hard to read, particularly those coming from Ali’s family. Ali is given the advice, “A man must marry, preferably the woman he likes. She need not like him in return. A wise man does not court a woman. The woman is just the acre, on which the man sows. Must the field love the farmer? Enough that the farmer loves the field. Marry, but never forget: the woman is just an acre.’ ‘So you believe that a woman has neither soul nor intelligence?’ He looked at me pityingly: ‘How can you ask, Ali Khan? Of course she hasn’t. Why should a woman have either? It is enough for her to be chaste and have many children.”
He himself seems less wedded to the idea of inferiority, and the feisty Nino challenges his views and traditions, however there is still the subconscious bias towards the wife as property that comes through. She says of her time in the harem in Persia, “You like it here, but I am dishonoured every day.” “What do you mean, dishonoured?” “Everybody treats me like a very expensive and fragile thing. I don’t know how expensive I am, but I am neither fragile nor a thing.” I felt the writer has a somewhat ironic and satirical tone at times, and certainly highlights the plight of women. This book was well worth reading for those interested in other places, eras and cultures. 4.5 stars.… (altro)