The Last Armenian - Hardcover

Rolt Francis

 
9780241123447: The Last Armenian
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0241123445 ISBN 13: 9780241123447
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 1987

Synopsis

Rolt has a Conradian gift for using an exotic setting to dramatically isolate and shape his principal character's destiny. Chittagong, in Bangladesh, is a world of clamorous conflictsreligious, political, socialand bedrock poverty, awash in colorful sights, sounds, textures and ancient customs. Our viewpoint is that of a young Englishman, Charles, who has come to Chittagong to teach at the university. Succumbing to "the enveloping hallucination" of the gaudy spectacle of daily life in Chittagong, Charles also falls in love with a beautiful and headstrong native woman, Shiuli, who lives with her adopted father Jo, an engineer and the last Armenian residing in this ancient port city. The relationship between Shiuli and Charles undergoes a dramatic change when Jo dies in a mysterious car accident. Caught between fateful political forces, the lovers are drawn into the treacherous undertow of guerrilla war between the tribal people of Bangladesh and the Bengali army. Charles himself finds his loyalty to Shiuli severely tested by his instinct for self-preservation, his need to extricate himself from the vortex of violence. An adroitly executed first novel distinguished by a sympathetic familiarity with Bangladesh, this is a romance written with humane worldiness and craft and steeped in the insouciant corruption and intrigues of isolated Third World enclaves.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Rolt has a Conradian gift for using an exotic setting to dramatically isolate and shape his principal character's destiny. Chittagong, in Bangladesh, is a world of clamorous conflictsreligious, political, socialand bedrock poverty, awash in colorful sights, sounds, textures and ancient customs. Our viewpoint is that of a young Englishman, Charles, who has come to Chittagong to teach at the university. Succumbing to "the enveloping hallucination" of the gaudy spectacle of daily life in Chittagong, Charles also falls in love with a beautiful and headstrong native woman, Shiuli, who lives with her adopted father Jo, an engineer and the last Armenian residing in this ancient port city. The relationship between Shiuli and Charles undergoes a dramatic change when Jo dies in a mysterious car accident. Caught between fateful political forces, the lovers are drawn into the treacherous undertow of guerrilla war between the tribal people of Bangladesh and the Bengali army. Charles himself finds his loyalty to Shiuli severely tested by his instinct for self-preservation, his need to extricate himself from the vortex of violence. An adroitly executed first novel distinguished by a sympathetic familiarity with Bangladesh, this is a romance written with humane worldiness and craft and steeped in the insouciant corruption and intrigues of isolated Third World enclaves.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Hamish Hamilton
Publication date
1987
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0241123445
ISBN 13 
9780241123447
Binding
Hardcover
Edition number
1
Number of pages
1

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780312017835: The Last Armenian

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0312017839 ISBN 13:  9780312017835
Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1988
Hardcover