Maalouf''s descriptions of the courts, the bazaar, the lives of
mystics, kings and lovers are woven into an evocative and languid
prose...and extraordinary book INDEPENDENT An example of the best
type of historical fiction TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
內容簡介:
Accused of mocking the inviolate codes of Islam, the Persian
poet and sage Omar Khayyam fortuitously finds sympathy with the
very man who is to judge his alleged crimes. Recognising genuis,
the judge decides to spare him and gives him instead a small, blank
book, encouraging him to confine his thoughts to it alone. Thus
beginds the seamless blend of fact and fiction that is Samarkand.
Vividly re-creating the history of the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat
of Omar Khayyam, Amin Maalouf spans continents and centuries with
breathtaking vision: the dusky exoticism of 11th-century Persia,
with its poetesses and assassins; the same country''s struggles nine
hundred years later, seen through the eyes of an American academic
obsessed with finding the original manuscript ; and the fated
maiden voyage of the Titanic, whose tragedy led to the Rubaiyaat''s
final resting place - all are brought to life with keen assurance
by this gifted and award-winning writer.
關於作者:
Amin Maalouf is a Lebanese journalist and writer. He has
served as a director of the weekly international edition of the
leading Beirut dail an-Nahar, and editor in chief of Jeune Afrique.
He lives in Paris with his wife and three children.