Alibaba and Nino

Author: [German] Kurban Said
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-01
Features: Translated into 28 languages worldwide, the Chinese edition debuts! A mysterious Jewish author who converted to Islam, a love story set against the backdrop of civil conflict and religious differences, a must-read for comparative literature courses in Western universities. A "Romeo and Juliet" by the shores of the Caspian Sea, a "Doctor Zhivago" beneath the Caucasus Mountains. This is a captivating novel that tells a story with exotic charm, filled with sudden shifts of passion, poetry, humor, and tragedy, yet it also feels grand and magnificent like an epic. The story unfolds in the tumultuous years following the end of World War I and the Russian October Revolution of 1917, set in Azerbaijan and Georgia (where Georgians call themselves Kartveli) in the Caucasus region, as well as in Persia (later renamed Iran after 1935). Ali Khan Shirvanshir is a Shia Muslim teenager from an aristocratic family. He falls in love with Nino Gipiani, a stunningly beautiful Georgian noblewoman, a Christian who adheres to the Georgian Orthodox faith, educated and culturally nurtured in Europe, with European ways of thinking and emotional inclinations. To be together, this young couple overcomes blood feuds and public disapproval, walking through the bustling and chaotic streets of Baku due to oil extraction, crossing vast and picturesque deserts, staying in remote mountain villages, and then arriving at the luxurious mansion of Ali Khan’s uncle in Tehran, the capital of neighboring Persia. Finally, the lovers are drawn back to Baku. However, war and patriotism influence their future. Ali Khan must make a decision: whether to remain loyal to his Asian ancestors and homeland or to disregard everything for his deep love for Nino.