ALI AND NINO

by Kurban Said ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 30, 1971

This delicate intercultural love story was written pseudonymously by a Tartar who fled first the Bolesheviks and then the Germans only to die among the Italian fascists. Nothing more is known of him, and on the evidence of this novel the loss is regrettable. The scene is Baku in the Transcau-casus, a town where orientals and occidentals live compatibly, largely indifferent to their nominal Russian governors. Ali is a proud Mohammedan whose very civilized eastern upbringing and western education give him a breadth to equal his deep desert-warrior impulses; Nino, the Georgian Christian girl he has loved from childhood, is compassionate and giving but in full spirited possession of the soul which Ali's traditions (though not Ali) would deny her. Their love easily outweighs their difficulties so long as they stay in Baku; but when World War I erupts and they retreat to Persia it becomes apparent (and is later corroborated) that there is no other home for them. Nino could not survive the seclusion of an eastern wife; and when Baku wins a fleeting independence and Ali becomes a diplomat he is miserable trying to keep up the impassive urbanity of a western husband. He did not go to fight for the czar or with the czar's Turkish enemy -- neither victory would have affected the town's development -- but he does rally against the Bolsheviks, not on ideological grounds but because they threaten the delicate and irreplaceable setting for his happiness. The presentation of cultures and motives is extremely subtle and comprehending but this is no mere thesis novel. One wants these strong and gracious characters to prevail and wishes their author might have.

Pub Date: March 30, 1971

ISBN: 0385720408

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1971

Categories: FICTION