The Stone Woman is the third novel of Tariq Ali’s “Islam Quartet.” Like its predecessors—Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree and The Book of Saladin—its power lies both in the story-telling and the challenge it poses to stereotyped images of life under Islam.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
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.
The Ottoman Empire, known as the "sick man of Europe" in the 19th century, continues its slow, steady decline in the summer of 1899 as elderly Iskander Pasha (a descendant of a sultan's favorite courtier) and his well-born family gather at their seaside palace outside Istanbul. Ali, a well-known leftist activist in Britain, explores the complexities of the Ottoman mentality in his fifth outing, a colorful, sensual drama of families, sexual intrigue and rebellion. As the novel begins, Iskander suffers a stroke and loses his power of speech. Various members of the family tell their stories, interwoven with chapters transcribing confessions made to the "stone woman," a rock formation on the estate. Iskander has four children: Salman, the eldest son; Halil, a general in the army; Nilofer, the daughter whose dramatic life is most fully explored; and her married stepsister, Zeynep. Memed, Iskander's elder brother, and his lover, the Baron, also join the family. The plot coheres neatly as the stories interconnect: Nilofer married a Greek schoolteacher for whom her love cooled, leaving her miserable; when her husband is murdered, a victim of anti-Greek violence, she pursues a love affair with a barber's son. Salman is also unhappily married, to a woman in Egypt who turns against him with an almost psychopathic violence. Halil conspires with other generals in the army to overthrow the Ottoman government. The Baron, a trained Hegelian scholar, holds forth, pedantically, on the roots of Ottoman decay. Ali's epic combines the luxuriant pacing of the old-fashioned novel of ideas with the 20th-century relish for sexual detail to conjure up an almost Chekhovian milieu.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Shipping:
US$ 3.00
Within U.S.A.
Seller: Better World Books: West, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # GRP95946167
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 11622256-6
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 12702192-6
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.22. Seller Inventory # G1859847641I3N00
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.22. Seller Inventory # G1859847641I4N10
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: zenosbooks, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
hardcover. Condition: Very Good in Dustjacket. 1st edition. Seller Inventory # z28138
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Books Unplugged, Amherst, NY, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Buy with confidence! Book is in good condition with minor wear to the pages, binding, and minor marks within 1.21. Seller Inventory # bk1859847641xvz189zvxgdd
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Chaparral Books, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Minor shelf wear to binding. Light wear & soiling on edges of text block. Text and images unmarked. Dj lightly worn around edges in a mylar cover. Seller Inventory # CHAPaliTSW
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Stock & Trade LLC, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: Like New. First Edition. A nice hardcover with a crisp dust jacket, a tight binding and an unmarked text. From a private smoke free collection. Shipping within 24 hours, tracking number and delivery Confirmation. Seller Inventory # DarbSC2C-712b
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Robinson Street Books, IOBA, Binghamton, NY, U.S.A.
Paperback. Condition: Used: Good. Prompt shipment, with tracking. we ship in CLEAN SECURE BOXES NEW BOXES Contemporary Fiction: GOOD PAPERBACK, MINOR NICKS AND CREASES, ADVANCED UNCORRECTED PROOF, OTHERWISE CLEAN PAGES, PROMPT SHIPPING WITH TRACKING. Seller Inventory # LOWER15KG032
Quantity: 1 available