A Sultan in Palermo by Tariq Ali
The year is 1153. The Normans are ruling Siqqiliya, but Arab culture and language dominate the island and the court. Sultan Rujari surrounds himself with Muslim intellectuals, several concubines, and an administration presided over by gifted eunuchs. This fourth novel in Tariq Ali's "Islam Quintet" is set in medieval Palermo, a Muslim city.
A richly woven tapestry that merits comparison with Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy* Kirkus Reviews *
A twelfth-century geographer al-Idrisi had been told by his father of the twelve calligraphers
who transcribed Arabic translations of al-Homa's poetry, working under conditions of such
secrecy that if they were even to reveal the nature of their work, 'the executioner's scimitar,
in a lightning flash, would detach head from body'. But one of the calligraphers, undaunted,
copied out parts of both al-Homa's poems and sent them to his family in Damascus, along
with the information that the complete manuscripts were in secret compartments in the
library of Palermo. Generations later, al-Idrisi finds himself in the library at Palermo and,
of course, discovers the secret compartment. .Whether the subject is heretical poetry, the
disunity of the Arabs or the threat that laughter poses to those in power, these digressions
only add to the richness of the novel's texture. A marvellously paced and boisterously told
novel of intrigue, love, insurrection and manipulation. * Guardian *
A twelfth-century geographer al-Idrisi had been told by his father of the twelve calligraphers
who transcribed Arabic translations of al-Homa's poetry, working under conditions of such
secrecy that if they were even to reveal the nature of their work, 'the executioner's scimitar,
in a lightning flash, would detach head from body'. But one of the calligraphers, undaunted,
copied out parts of both al-Homa's poems and sent them to his family in Damascus, along
with the information that the complete manuscripts were in secret compartments in the
library of Palermo. Generations later, al-Idrisi finds himself in the library at Palermo and,
of course, discovers the secret compartment. .Whether the subject is heretical poetry, the
disunity of the Arabs or the threat that laughter poses to those in power, these digressions
only add to the richness of the novel's texture. A marvellously paced and boisterously told
novel of intrigue, love, insurrection and manipulation. * Guardian *
TARIQ ALI is a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than a dozen books on world history and politics--including Pirates of the Caribbean, Bush in Babylon, The Clash of Fundamentalisms and The Obama Syndrome--as well as five novels in his Islam Quintet series and scripts for the stage and screen. He is an editor of the New Left Review and lives in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781781689301 |
| ISBN 10 | 178168930X |
| Title | A Sultan in Palermo |
| Author | Tariq Ali |
| Series | The Islam Quintet |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Verso Books |
| Year published | 2015-07-07 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |