Azam Ali's Endless Reverie
924592
Azam's voice is so mystical and haunting in this!
3995884
I loved watching this film.  It's great to see Ali as I remember him.  Nice guy, much tougher than he looked, a very determined person.
342505
It's an unvarnished look at a legend and his supreme rival.  Both Ali and Frazier are cast in a different light.  The carnage left behind for both men is astounding.  We hail the trilogy in sporting terms, but should be mindful of the horror it wrought in human terms.  Kram's analysis is insightful and encompassing.
3436605
In a time when so many Americans are attempting to understand Islamic cultures and recent history of this part of the world, Buchan offers a personal, dreamlike interpretation. The book is difficult to read at times unless one remembers that it is a deeply introspective dream- indeed a nightmare!- without the lucidity of a step by step chronology. The personal trials of one young American who is enchanted by this culture has a rhythm that is similar to the sound of the flute against the heavy drum beat of history in the background.
The book is sprinkled throughout with lines of poetry from former centuries that is still vital, living and reverberating in the thought processes of the people. There was a sense of poetry used like hip-hop verses are now-to express a deep poignancy of culture and belief system unlike any that most Westerners understand.
I also had a sense of the writing being like a Persian minature, a central "picture" with myriad details drawing the reader into and out of the scene.
For me, this category of literature is extremely exciting. As we are exposed to more and more books written about or by authors outside Western culture, our opinions on what is happening in the political world can only become more humanitarian, more understanding and, hopefully, decisions will be made more intelligently.
Compare the Iranian general with the character in "House of Sand and Fog" the relationship in "Nino and Ali" and the characters in "Flesh, Blood and Bone", the interaction of cultures in "Balzac and the little Chinese seanstress", the class system in "A Fine Balance", "Caucasia" multiracial interactions in the US, "Yo!", "Anil's Ghost", etc..
Wow, what exciting times for literature!
1949968
Muhammed Assad was a gifted journalist. This gift makes the reading of his Near East adventures a highly entertaining experience. The son of wealthy Jewish parents, he came to Palestine in the early 1920's, became an Anti-Zionist and fell in love with the Arab world. He returned to Europe after many adventurous journeys, married a woman 14 years older then he was, became a Muslim, and went back East. The story is told through the memories entertained during a camel ride to Mecca in the early 1930's (although written about 20 years later).
Asad was a fearless man (he once walked from Haifa to Damscus without a passport, and later dodged bullets while trying to advise the Sanusi rebels in Libya against fascist Italy). He had an enormous talent for languages - he could speak fluent Arabic and Persian, in addition to the European languages and Hebrew.
He was immediately attracted to Islam. Even before becoming a Muslim he had nothing but praise for it. According to him, Islam is completely class -less, accommodating spiritual and physical needs perfectly.
Asad's criticism of the Western value system seems relevant today at least as it was then. We might not share his conclusion and choose Islam, but we cant deny that there is something wrong in the Western way of life.
The book DOES NOT include Asad's Indian and Pakistanian years. I do not know what book this information is from, and I would really want to get it, as I heard Asad WAS one of the people behind the estblishment of Pakistan.
I recommand this truly extraordinary and enlightening book to everyone interested in what is really going on in the world.
1749991
This is truly one of the greatest writings of our time. This book is a combination of both thrilling accounts of the authors journeys into forbidden lands and eye opening truths about Islam,its history, foundational teachings from its founder Mohamed and its agenda in the world today. This is a must read, the most captivating book I have ever read.
846428
I've long enjoyed and admired the works of Salman Rushdie, but with reservations. The greatest frustration is his fondness for the flashback, which he uses and abuses in each and every book. At least half of his works (ie. Midnight's Children, Satanic Verses, Ground Beneath Her Feet) have the same structure: Start with dramatic event/situation, usually cataclysmic, spend first 2/3 of book in flashback to events leading up to said event, and last third detailing aftermath and resolution of the event.
Another problem, pointed out by the person who recommended Fury to me, is the preponderance of humor inside to India and Pakistani politics and the South Asian diaspora.
Fury is a brilliant example of Rushdie's powerful, elegant, and forthright writing without being mired in the flashback ping-pong, the insider baseball, and the over-the-top surrealism and allegory of his earlier work. It showcases his growing into a more mature, universal writer. He's purged the, well, furies of his AngloIndian past that haunt his earlier works and moved on to something more universal.
Fury paints a poigent portrait of many things. It captures the mad, brash bustle of New York City at its grandest, its most omnipotent and incontrovertible in the heady days before the little pop and big bang of the dot-com bust and 9/11. It also skewers, masticates, digests and defecates America in its turn of the millenium Golden Age of plenty, revealing how the end of that era, such a seeming surprise, had its warnings in how we responded to our spiraling greatness with increasing pettiness.
In its depiction of the era just past, in America as represented by NYC, as seen the foreign eyes, Fury is great to read accompanied by U2's "All that you can't leave behind" on the stereo.
The book also portrays the human soul, its illogical longings and the frustrations that build up under the surface into a boiling, raging Fury far greater for their original source. In a culture fonder of wallowing in its problems than dealing with them, Fury is a timely call to arms...and to honesty.
662230
Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky. He passed away last year after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. His funeral was well attended by diplomats, celebrities, activists and others to remember the legend. Ali was more than just an Olympic champion and boxing champion, he was an icon for civil rights as well.

Ali became a devoted follower of Islam. This book covers the pivotal years from 1966 to 1971 where he fought the draft to serve in the Vietnam War. This book covers the time period in detail sometimes too much.

For Ali fans, they will definitely want to read this book about his life. Unfortunately, the book rattles on a bit too much for me. Ali wasn't just a boxer but a legend. This book also covers when Ali tried to act on Broadway in New York City and the show bombed. Ali was a man of many dimensions and talents.
2080900
Easy to read and fascinating account of the love and inspiration between Rumi and Shams of Tabriz interspersed with a modern love story between Ella (married with teenagers) and an author (always available by email).  The stories, filled with Sufi mysticism and the chaos of controversial love, are bittersweet.
3433238
This re-release of 'Oriental Dreams' (Playasound, 1991) is fabulous in the true sense: it's redolent of fables. Imagine yourself reclining on a luxurious, hand-woven Persian rug at the fringe of a jasmine-scented oasis, sipping sweet mint tea while absent-mindedly peeling a pomegranate. The star-encrusted bowl of night seems close enough to touch, yet encompasses infinity. Palm fronds clatter and the desert sands hiss hypnotically to the zephyr's gentle caress. An almond-eyed, honey-tongued oriental beauty beguiles and enchants you with her ancient travellers' tales of sultans, fishermen, pearls and genies. All the while, you are serenaded by Kudsi Erguner's ney, Mahmoud Tebrizizadeh's santur and kemenche, and Bruno Caillat's zarb and tabla. It's pure Middle Eastern magic.
4822923
This subliminal book by Charles Freedom Long tells a sad tale of a child who is brought up to receive a good education, a western-style living, all for a devious purpose to lead a life of a lie and deception. Fahd-al-Sharfa is a jihadist trained for a mission impossible otherwise. He is brilliant in what he does but his life is a one way journey to hell - suicide bomber trained to bomb satan's followers. The drama unfolds with many layers of complexity such as his philosophy of truth, beauty, love, an array of human emotions that come to play to distract him from his task. The journey ends in life for the character only to take him off course into a spiritual realm of heavenly music where another dance begins with more stability into peace.

The exotic setting of blowing up a lunar station, strange language, making-love to aliens add up to a typical overall sci-fi genre. However, where it departs is in the portrayal of a topical issue blended with deep spiritualism and philosophy.
3651183
Add Mark Kram to a list that includes George Plimpton, Norman Mailer and Nick Tosches of authors that attempt to take the most barbaric of sports and rise it to a higher poetic level with their prose. And also add Kram to a growing list of sports and non-sports writers who take what should easily be able to mold a great book out of a page turning, thrill a minute topic only to get their fighters lost in a swamp of alliteration and a metaphoric morass.
"Ghosts" recounts perhaps the greatest rivalry in sports history, the blood feud between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. It was a rivalry that was haunted with heavy racial overtones, Ali cast as the hero of the black man, Frazier as the sellout to the white establishment. In the end, it left Ali a punch drunk simpleton (and not just a victim of Parkinson's as Kram correctly points out) and Joe Frazier a man consumed by bitterness.
Not that "Ghosts of Manila" is easy to put down- in reality Kram builds to the climax, the apocalyptic brutal fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in the Philippines. So much so you are willing to read many sentences twice, and kick yourself for not paying more attention in College Lit. It's like suffering through a good undercard, but one you cannot appreciate because of the anticipation of waiting for the Main Event.
Kram does a terrific job breaking down both men's psyche and backgrounds, mapping the path in the 60s for the horrific collision course between the two great athletes in the 1970s. But just like many heavyweight title fights, you walk away from the main event with that sinking feeling the promoter just took you for a sucker.
To his credit, Kram shatters the Ali myth. It's not a pretty picture. The Greatest is reduced from the civil rights icon he has been portayed by the media as, to a semi-moronic easily lead tool of the American Islam movement, and even a con man. Ali as egotistical womanizer. Before someone mistake the author as some contrarian looking to make a quick buck by writing a controversial book, credibility abound: Mark Kram tips his hat to Ali as a fighter, and he should know, seeing he wrote numerous articles on him in Sports Illustrated.
But the most venom is reserved for Howard Cosell. Cosell liked to portray himself as Ali's partner in his crusade against the Man. Kram does not buy it- his Cosell is a cocktail swilling, ambulance chasing egomaniac and frontrunner.
Why do sportswriters feel the overwhelming need to impress the reader with their writing skills? Perhaps frustration from seeing their journalistic pedigree being dismissed because they are sports writers. But then why can I read Phil Berger's books without my head spinning?
"Ghosts of Manila" is a must read for boxing fans and those interested in learning more about Muhammad Ali, and for that reason, it is reccomendable. For casual readers, I recommend looking up his 1970s Playboy interview and drawing your own conclusions.
4221696
Azadeh is an amazing writer! I felt as though I was part of each memory she was sharing. The minute I started reading the first chapter, I couldn't stop. Her portrayal of her childhood memories made me laugh, cry and feel inspired. I could relate to her story on so many levels. Even though I am also Persian, I feel as though anyone could feel inspired from her memoir. Her path to America is not only inspiring, but it also shows her courage. I really hope she will continue writing because her book was honestly one of a kind.
917791
True to its title, this is a no holds barred personal masterpiece. Perhaps, this is the book that one should read before any of his other works because you can see so much of his fiction coming from his personal life.

As a long time fan of Amos Oz, I was not prepared for this extremely personal non linier biography of his early life. While jumping from his granparents to his parents history to the present time, he manages to weave a lucid memory of his childhood, the relationship of his parents, grandparents, and the amount of secrecy that many of us, contemporaries of his, though not Israelis were raised to not question.

Mr. Oz, on the other hand has discarded the family covertness of that time. Learning so much about his life, I will have to become a re-reader of some of his novels and will look at the ones I have not read with new enlightenment.
3857571
The sheer wisdom and knowledge contained in this volume is both humbling and awe inspiring. As a collection of Imam Ali's speeches, sayings, writings, and letters, it provides a gateway into the mind of perhaps the wisest and most learned man ever to walk the earth, after the Holy Prophet himself.

After reading this volume, it becomes apparent why Imam Ali's "Peak of Eloquence" is hailed above the words of man, and second only to the revealed words of God Almighty, which are manifested in the Holy Qur'an.

Every time I open this book, my thirst for knowledge is quenched, and my longing for wisdom is settled. It is not only an overwhelming treasure to own and comprehend, but it is thought provoking as well as motivational. It will inspire the person to deeply ponder over the greatest and most profound truths of our existence, within the realm of human comprehension.

The Christian Author and Researcher, George Jordaq in his tribute to Imam Ali (AS), says: "The Imam's sermons are full of wise thoughts. O' world, what would have happen if you mobilized your forces to produce in every era a man as great as Imam Ali (AS) in terms of wisdom, moral, expression, eloquence, valour, simplicity, generosity, patience, piety, and magnitude, for the human societies?"

It is a tremendous source of knowledge, and the feeling one gets when one closes this volume is simply amazing, and yet, it is written in a manner such that any reader of any level can benefit from it, from the most educated scholar to the beginning academic.

It would be truly a waste to pass up an opportunity to buy this book. The treasures contained within are boundless. There is nothing like it.
443476
For a casual boxing fan who's too young to remember Ali, this book might be a little obscure.  But for boxing fans of my generation, who grew up on Ali, your boxing library won't be complete without it.  Each of the 15 opponents featured here has an interesting story to tell, and the book provides a ton of material for serious boxing historians.
What is particularly interesting is how most of these men's lives were profoundly affected by their encounter(s) with Ali.  Henry Cooper, for instance, a national hero in the U.K., will still always be best known for a single punch he threw in a fight he lost: the left hook that knocked Cassius Clay (as he then was) on his butt.  A few of them regard Ali with love or reverence, a few with indifference, and one, in particular, with undying resentment.  Overall, one gets a remarkable education on the human condition by comparing the stories of these 15 very different men.  Highly recommended.
4536261
The poets from Karabagh*

Legend has it that the poets from Karabagh live in an around Shusha** They compose poems throughout the winter and in spring they come out into the world to recite their songs. These poets refuse to imprison their words in dead letters, they just recite them.

In the holy month of Ramadan there is a mysterious night, the night called Kadir*** During this night all nature sleeps for an hour and nymphs arise from the rivers. On this night the poet must call the prophet Elias****, who then blesses the poet and allows him to see everything in the world through his eyes. From then on the power of the prophet will be in the poet words. Alas, nobody knows which night is the Night of Kadir, nor which hour of that night is the hour of Sleep.

Nobody? Well it looks like Kurban Said gained the blessing of the prophet and luckily for us not only recited his words but also wrote them down into death letters providing us with a vivid and unique story of enduring love and colliding cultures.

Ali and Nino is a love story set in Russian-ruled Caucasia and Persia at the time of World War I and the Russian revolution. The young protagonists reflect the tension of East and West in times of joy and despair, showing that love can rise above ideology and centuries old hatred.
The story opens in Baku, a town transformed by the discovery of oil. Ali resents the governing Russians and the influx of Western culture. Ali, a faithful Muslim, falls in love with the beautiful Nino, a royal Georgian Christian. Alis freedom is removed when Nino is kidnapped. Ali pursues and murders the culprit, which forces him to flee to the wilds of Daghastan. There Ali and Nino get married and life happily until word comes that Baku is safe for them again.

That peace however is short-lived and Ali and Nino go in exile again this time to Persia. Life in Teheran is familiar and pleasant for Ali, but a horrible never-ending trail for Nino. The times allow them to return to Baku once more and live a Western style of life. During a family holiday in Georgia they learn of a massive new Russian attack, intent on controlling the oil reserves. During the defend of his homeland Ali is killed, never to join Nino and their baby in Tiflis (Tbilisi) again.

By then, stretched out over more than two hundred pages we have read a beautiful love story. But there is more, much more. The novel teems with examples of the apotheosis of East meeting the apotheosis of West, from religion to food, from ideology to family values.
We see how the mysterious night called Kadir (when the rivers cease to flow) can occur in the same region as a performance of Gounods Faust or Tchaikovskys Eugene Onegin. We learn about Alis horror for trees, evoking the desert imagery of lions and warriors.

But the real shadow hanging over the region is that of the Great War and Revolution, both of European making. The far off rumble of guns becomes closer and closer, eventually killing, warrior and lover (or is it mad man) Ali.

Also see my column embracing the full moon
([...]...) just scroll down for the English text.

 *Karabagh (or Karabakh) is a geographic region in present-day eastern Armenia and southwestern Azerbaijan.
 Shusha** (or ua, or Shushi) is a city in the now disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus.
 Kadir*** the night called Kadir in many ways resembles the Laylat al-Qadr (also known as Shab-e-Qadr), variously rendered in English as the Night of Decree, Night of Power, Night of Value, Night of Destiny, or Night of Measures, in Islamic belief the night when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is one of the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan. Muslims believe that on this night the blessings and mercy of Allah are abundant.
 Elias**** (or Elijah, Eliyahu, Elye, Ilys or Ily) was a prophet and a wonder-worker who operated in the northern kingdom of Israel. References to Elijah appear in the New Testament, the Talmud, the Mishnah, and the Quran.