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A simple explanation about some Amin Maalouf books.
Amin Maalouf is a Lebanese writer and journalist, born in Beirut.
He was born on February 25, 1949
He took a career in journalism after graduating, so he worked in the economic supplement for the Beirut newspaper, An-Nahar.
In 1976, he moved to France, where he worked for the Economist magazine
He continued his journalistic work as managing editor of the magazine “Africa Girl” or “Jane Africa”
Amin also continued to work with the Lebanese newspaper, Al-Nahar, and with her stepdaughter, Al-Nahar Al-Arabi and Al-Dawli.
He published his first work, The Crusades As Seen by the Arabs, in 1983, for the publishing house Latisse.
It is the publishing house that has become specialized in its work
He won the Juncourt Prize, the major French literary prize, in 1993
Taken from his novel Tanios Rock.
Dr. Afif from Damascus, by translating most of his works into Arabic, which is published by Dar Al-Farabi in Beirut.
Amin Maalouf’s creative project was distinguished by its depth in history
That was through its touch with the most important cultural transformations that painted the image of the West and the East in its current form.
Amin Maalouf books:
1- Best one of Amin Maalouf books ( The Crusades as seen by the Arabs ):
It is a book written by Amin Maalouf that narrates the events of the Crusades
As it appeared in the authors of the old Arab news.
The book was published in French in 1983 and has been translated into Arabic.
The book is as its name suggests
It is a narrative novel drawn from Arab historical sources
It seeks to present the Crusades from an Arab perspective
Especially with regard to the Crusaders – the Franks, as the Arabs call them –
Those who were considered cruel, savages, and ignorant backward.
From the first invasion in the eleventh century until the fall of the Crusaders in the thirteenth century
The author builds his narrative plot
Describing facts about the aggressive attacks
Contradicting a wonderful historical period in which Christians were seen as “barbarians”, ignorant of the simplest rules of honor, dignity and social morals.
This book starts with a simple idea:
Narrate the story of the Crusades as he viewed and lived them, and their details were narrated in “The Other Camp”
That is, on the Arab side.
Its base is almost only on the testimonies of Arab historians and newsmen of that era.
They do not talk about crusades, but rather Frankish wars or invasions.
The form which is still used today in the popular spelling was chosen to choose “the Westerners” and more specifically “the French” “Franj”.
The author’s goal behind this book is not to present a historical book
Rather, presenting a book illustrating a view that has been neglected until now
A “true novel” about the Crusades and about these two turbulent centuries that made the West and the Arab world
And they still define their relationship today.
2- Lion African:
It was published in 1986 by Editions Jean-Claude Lattès.
The novel is a fictional biography
With a structure that imitates travel literature
Spoken by its hero, Al-Hassan Al-Wazzan, also known as the African Lyon.
The events take place between the years 1488 and 1527.
The novel crosses the stages of the life of Leon the African, from his childhood, coinciding with the last years of the Arab and Islamic presence in Andalusia
Then he emigrated to Morocco
Then his later travels, motivated by trade
Or for an embassy job
Or because of exile or kidnapping.
The events of the novel take place in the spaces of Andalusia, Morocco, Mali, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Italy.
Its events reflect critical historical circumstances and stages, such as the fall of Andalusia, the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and the dawn of the European Renaissance.
Novel structure:
The novel contains four parts
Labeled as juvenile spatial space
Which:
- Book of Granada
- The Book of Fez
- Book of Cairo
- The Book of Rome.
Each book talk about a specific time period and is divided into chapters
Each of them is related to a specific year and is entitled to the year and its salient feature:
- General falls
- A year of departure
- Year of the Great Turkish Sultan
- General King of France, … etc.
3- Gardens of Light:
A novel published in 1991 by the French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf.
It focuses on the religious thinker Mani, the founder of the Manichaean religion.
David Gaye of The New York Times wrote:
“Gardens of Light” give you a feel of the Hollywood sagas of the 1950s
Where the daring men whose words deserve to be immediately carved into the rock.
Malouf’s epic style and fatigued characters.
We follow the events of Mane
But we yearn for an imaginary journey into his inner life
We yearn for some insights into how his liberal convictions were formed.
At that time when religious beliefs were considered a form of extremism and rigidity.
Mane is that man’s doctor, painter, messenger.
Which is set in the third century of our history, a new vision of the world.
He used to say:
“I came from Babylon to make a noise all over the year.”
This book is dedicated to Mane.
And he sought to return to his life.
Or what can still be guessed from them after so many ages?
4- First Century after Beatrice:
4- First Century after Beatrice:It is a novel by the French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf
Written in 1992.
Amin Maalouf always writes about humanity
This novel is not about the past, but about the past, present and future,
The novel takes place in the near future
A pharmaceutical company is working to market a drug that enables parents to choose only to have children.
This is under the cover of traditional folk medicine.
The story is told from the point of view of an entomologist.
Whereas, the dire consequences of controlling the proportions of female and male births are a kind of drug effect
Therefore, this scientist thinks about moving and documenting the event to organize a group of scholars who calculate the disaster.
John Tug of The Independent wrote:
“Although Maalouf’s portrait of the future is not happy
Otherwise, it will not be a harbinger.
But reading was fun.
This is a reason for optimism in itself.
If someone wants to tell a story about the end of the world
Some relief can be derived from the fact that the qasha is narrated with a clear and pleasant voice, as Amin Maalouf.
5- Rock of Tanios:
It is a novel by the Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf.
He wrote it in French and then it was translated into Arabic.
Published in 1993.
He won the Goncourt award
It is one of the major French literary prizes in the same year.
It is a literary marvel
It’s a wonderful narration
It’s a good treatment for a historical idea
Whether this idea is real or imaginary.
The novel “The Rock of Tanios” tells the story of Tanius, the Christian boy, son of Lamia, a very beautiful woman.
Rumors swirl about his real father’s identity.
The events of the novel take place in the village of Kfar Kana
(The original name of “Ain al-Qabu,” is the village of Amin Maalouf, from the villages of Upper Matn in Lebanon).
The novel also depicts the struggle of the major powers in the mid-nineteenth century to gain control of the Lebanese mountain.
The author says, “This novel is acted upon by a true story
The assassination of the Maronite Patriarch in the 19th century by a person known as Abu Kishk Maalouf
The killer had taken refuge in Cyprus
He was returned to the country with a ploy by one of the prince’s agents and then executed.
6. Mashreq Ports:
It is a novel published in 1991 by the French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf.
Ports of the Levant is the name given to this group of commercial cities.
European travelers were crossing it to the east.
These cities were a melting pot of languages, leaders, and beliefs.
There are fragile worlds that history built slowly before overthrowing them and destroying the lives of many.
“Disobey” is the hero of this novel.
He is one of those people who were blown by the winds of fate.
His life was nothing more than a straw in the wind.
Amidst the death of the Ottoman Sultanate, the two world wars, and the tragedies that still plague the Near East today
The novel tells the story of a married Muslim man and a Jewish woman.
They are the disobedience and Clara “who split after World War II.
The novel focuses on the human side of a tale of disobedience.
He tries to escape from his father’s control and joins the free French resistance
Then he adores past affiliations
Except that his life falters.
The novel avoids presenting any political or intellectual positions or discourses centered on the human being, his love, his sadness, his pain, and his joy.
Emphasizing that despite the despair and the obstacles that sometimes stand in our way
However, hope remains to surpass all of that and continue life.
7. Baldassar trip
It is a novel by the creative writer of Lebanese origin, Amin Maalouf, originally written in French, and published in Arabic by Dar Al-Farabi in 2001 AD.
Baldassar is an antique dealer, antique books, and manuscripts.
From the ancient Genoese family of Ambriacchi who settled in the Byblos region in Lebanon from the days of the Crusades in the East
And in the novel, Baldassar gets the book “The Hundred Names”
In addition to the ninety-nine names
The author is Mazandarani
He got it from an old man who soon died
Without Baldassar being able to pay for the book
Then the French court delegate, Marmontel, buys it
And he takes him with it on a cruise to Constantinople.
Baldassar discovers the importance of the book everyone is looking for
In some states of the Ottoman Empire, you cannot talk about it or keep a copy of it.
And the book predicts the year of the end of the world.
It is the year 1666 AD, Its name is the Year of the Beast.
Who will survive this end?
Only he who reads the book and thus knows the 100th name of God
As the author of the book assumes, and from here this book and its content gained all this importance
Among the adherents of the three monotheistic religions, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism,
Many people believed in the history of the end of the world.
8.Killer identities:
A book written by the Lebanese writer and novelist Amin Maalouf.
The book was first published in French in 1998 and was translated into Arabic in 1999.
Several Arabic editions appeared.
Translated into English in 2003, Spanish in 2005, and Turkish in 2000.
The book is 229 pages long
It contains multiple articles on the issue of individual and group identity, and complex identities.
9.One of Amin Maalouf books which speak about civilization (Sinking Civilizations):
It explains to us why all areas of culture are in danger of sinking.
For more than half a century, the author has been contemplating and touring the world.
He was in Saigon when the Vietnam War ended
And in Tehran when the Islamic revolution broke out.
And in this insightful and extensive study,
He is both the spectator and the thinker alike
Mixes storytelling and presentation of propositions
He sometimes narrates notable events, of which he was one of the few eyewitnesses
Then he rises to the ranks of a historian, beyond his personal experience
To explain to us the causes of the successive deviations that humankind witnessed until it reached the brink of this collapse.
Here. we reach the end of our article about Amin Maalouf books.
