Praise for Amin Maalouf and Origins
"This memoir illuminates the way we make narrative out of pieces of
fact and rumor and also serves as a revealing glimpse into the
complexities of a part of the world to which nationhood came late
and where borders remain unusually porous and slippery . . . A
journey well worth taking, an elegant meditation on mortality and
our relationship to the past."--"The Washington Post" "In this
riveting and intriguing memoir, he describes himself and his family
as a rather nomadic clan, without deep emotional ties to place or
religious affiliation...The result is an excellent family saga that
also works as a mystery and even as a discourse on the political
culture of Lebanon. Maalouf is a gifted writer; he has a knack for
maintaining dramatic tension as he reveals his efforts to uncover
his family's secrets, layer by layer, as his search extends over
three continents. This is an intensely personal and compelling
story."--Jay Freeman," Booklist
""Maalouf's narrative gains in emotional immediacy from its lack of
the polished presentation often found in memoirs...His kins'
reactions to tragedies and triumphs both personal and universal add
to the book's vibrant texture and tone. A shimmering portrait of a
clan molded by history and personal whim."--"Kirkus Reviews
""What do you get when one of the Arab world's greatest writers, a
Prix-Goncourt-winning historical novelist, decides to write a
memoir? A marvel. Amin Maalouf has given us the engrossing story of
his grandfather, a prescient, remarkable man, as well as the story
of his time and place--how the Middle East was formed, politically,
geographically, historically, and not least, psychologically.An
extraordinary achievement." --Rabih Alameddine, author of "The
Hakawati""Maalouf's novels re-create the thrill of childhood
reading, that primitive mixture of learning about something unknown
or unimagined . . ." --Claire Messud, ""The Guardian"""One of the
best European writers to have emerged in the last decade."
--"Kirkus Reviews""Maalouf skillfully weaves the threads of
contemporary history into his fictional narratives . . . In each of
his books, he takes a historical figure about whom few facts are
known, puts him in the context of this time and place and adds a
myriad of invented but historically plausible details. The finished
portraits have the intricate richness of oriental tapestries."
--""International Herald Tribune"""What is common to Maalouf's
wide-ranging works--six of his novels have been translated into
English--is his apparent belief that through examining and
understanding a particular historical period we can gain a better
understanding of our present time. Indeed, if you want to
understand what's going on in the world at this moment, you could
certainly do worse than to read Maalouf on the past." --Ian Sansom,
"The Guardian"
Praise for Amin Maalouf "What do you get when one of the Arab
world's greatest writers, a Prix-Goncourt-winning historical
novelist, decides to write a memoir? A marvel. Amin Maalouf has
given us the engrossing story of his grandfather, a prescient,
remarkable man, as well as the story of his time and place--how the
Middle East was formed, politically, geographically, historically,
and not least, psychologically. An extraordinary achievement."
--Rabih Alameddine, author of "The Hakawati""Maalouf's novels
re-create the thrill of childhood reading, that primitive mixture
of learning about something unknown or unimagined . . ." --Claire
Messud, ""The Guardian"""One of the best European writers to have
emerged in the last decade." --"Kirkus Reviews""Maalouf skillfully
weaves the threads of contemporary history into his fictional
narratives . . . In each of his books, he takes a historical figure
about whom few facts are known, puts him in the context of this
time and place and adds a myriad of invented but historically
plausible details. The finished portraits have the intricate
richness of oriental tapestries." --""International Herald
Tribune"""What is common to Maalouf's wide-ranging works--six of
his novels have been translated into English--is his apparent
belief that through examining and understanding a particular
historical period we can gain a better understanding of our present
time. Indeed, if you want to understand what's going on in the
world at this moment, you could certainly do worse than to read
Maalouf on the past." --Ian Sansom, "The Guardian"
"Maalouf's novels re-create the thrill of childhood reading, that
primitive mixture of learning about something unknown or
unimagined." --Claire Messud, "The Guardian" Praise for Amin
Maalouf "What do you get when one of the Arab world's greatest
writers, a Prix-Goncourt-winning historical novelist, decides to
write a memoir? A marvel. Amin Maalouf has given us the engrossing
story of his grandfather, a prescient, remarkable man, as well as
the story of his time and place--how the Middle East was formed,
politically, geographically, historically, and not least,
psychologically. An extraordinary achievement." --Rabih Alameddine,
author of "The Hakawati""Maalouf's novels re-create the thrill of
childhood reading, that primitive mixture of learning about
something unknown or unimagined . . ." --Claire Messud, ""The
Guardian"""One of the best European writers to have emerged in the
last decade." --"Kirkus Reviews""Maalouf skillfully weaves the
threads of contemporary history into his fictional narratives . . .
In each of his books, he takes a historical figure about whom few
facts are known, puts him in the context of this time and place and
adds a myriad of invented but historically plausible details. The
finished portraits have the intricate richness of oriental
tapestries." --""International Herald Tribune"""What is common to
Maalouf's wide-ranging works--six of his novels have been
translated into English--is his apparent belief that through
examining and understanding a particular historical period we can
gain a better understanding of our present time. Indeed, if you
want to understand what's going on in the world at this moment, you
could certainly do worse than to readMaalouf on the past." --Ian
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