Table of Contents

Preface War, Literature and Youth On Literary Work The Long Road to the Self The Near and the Far New Thought and the Future After the August Coup

Promotional Information

Chingiz Aitmatov is best known for his novella "Jamila", on the publication of which he achieved great fame in the Soviet Union in 1958. This title offers tribute to the thought of a powerful writer and a fascinating individual and a reflection on such themes of the process of literary creation, spiritual growth and the essence of humanity.

About the Author

Chingiz Aitmatov (1928-2008) is widely viewed as the greatest literary figure of modern Kyrgyzstan. An author who wrote both in Russian and his native Kyrgyz, Aitmatov became best known for his novel Jamila (1958), though later novels such as The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years (1980) and The Scaffold (1988) also garnered wide acclaim. As well as being a significant writer in any language, Aitmatov enjoyed a political career as his country's ambassador to the European Union, NATO and UNESCO. Daisaku Ikeda (1928-) is President of Soka Gakkai International, a Buddhist organisation with more than twelve million adherents in over 192 countries and regions throughout the world. He is the author of over 80 books on Buddhist themes. Although he has described himself as being merely 'a traveller along the Silk Road of the spirit', his dialogues have nevertheless earned him over 240 academic awards from universities and institutes around the world, in addition to the United Nations Peace Award in 1983.