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A Poet and Bin-Laden

A Poet and Bin-Laden - Paperback

by Hamid Ismailov
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A Poet and Bin-Laden

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Availability:In StockContributor:Hamid Ismailov, Andrew Bromfield (Translator)Publish date:8/31/2012Pages:298
Language:EnglishPublisher:Glagoslav Publications B.V.ISBN-13:9781909156333ISBN-10:1909156337UPC:9781909156333Book Category:FictionBook Subcategory:Historical, Religious, War & MilitarySize:9.00 x 6.00 x 0.67 inchesWeight:0.8818Product ID:SC6A0DCG3H
A Poet and Bin-Laden is a novel set in Central Asia at the turn of the twenty-first century against a swirling backdrop of Islamic fundamentalism in the Ferghana Valley and beyond.
The story begins on the eve of 9/11, with the narrator's haunting description of the airplane attack on the Twin Towers as seen on TV while he is on holiday in Central Asia. Subsequent chapters shift backward and forward in time, but two main themes emerge: the rise of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan under the charismatic but reclusive leadership of Tahir Yuldash and Juma Namangani; and the main character, poet Belgi's movement from the outer edge of the circle, from the mountains of Osh, into the inner sanctum of al-Qaeda, and ultimately to a meeting with Sheikh bin Laden himself.
His journey begins with a search for a Sufi spiritual master and ends in guerrilla warfare, and it is this tension between a transcendental and a violent response to oppression, between the book and the bomb, that gives the novel its specific poignancy. Along the way, Ismailov provides wonderfully vivid accounts of historical events (as witnessed by Belgi) such as the siege of Kunduz, the breakout from Shebergan prison - a kind of Afghan Guantanamo - and the insurgency in the Ferghana Valley.


Language:EnglishPublisher:Glagoslav Publications B.V.ISBN-13:9781909156333ISBN-10:1909156337UPC:9781909156333Book Category:FictionBook Subcategory:Historical, Religious, War & MilitarySize:9.00 x 6.00 x 0.67 inchesWeight:0.8818Product ID:SC6A0DCG3H
Ismailov, Hamid: - Hamid Ismailov (born 1954), an Uzbek journalist and writer, was forced to flee Uzbekistan for the United Kingdom in 1992, where he took a job with the BBC World Service.Although his works are banned in Uzbekistan, he has published dozens of books in Uzbek, Russian, French, German, Turkish and other languages. These include books of poetry (Sad ('Garden'), 1987; Pustynya ('Desert'), 1988), of visual poetry (Post Faustum, 1990; Kniga Otsutstvi, 1992, novels (Sobranie Utonchyonnyh, 1988; Le Vagabond Flamboyant, 1993; Hay-ibn-Yakzan, 2001; Hostage to Celestial Turks, 2003; Doroga k smerti bol'she chem smert' ('The Road To Death Is Bigger Than Death'), 2005), and many others.He has translated Russian and Western classics into Uzbek, and Uzbek and Persian classics into Russian and other Western languages.Written before he left Uzbekistan, Ismailov's novel The Railway was the first to be translated into English. Published in 2006, it was translated by Robert Chandler, following a Russian edition which had been published in Moscow in 1997. His triptych of novels comprising Mbobo, Googling For Soul and Two Lost To Life have also been translated into English with the help of an Arts Council grant.Ismailov has been a Writer in Residence for the BBC World Service since April 2010.
Publisher: Glagoslav Publications B.V.

Edition

2nd Edition

Contributor(s)

Hamid Ismailov, Andrew Bromfield (Translator)

Author

Hamid Ismailov

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