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Alamut, by Vladimir Bartol
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Alamut takes place in 11th Century Persia, in the fortress of Alamut, where self-proclaimed prophet Hasan ibn Sabbah is setting up his mad but brilliant plan to rule the region with a handful of elite fighters who are to become his "living daggers." By creating a virtual paradise at Alamut, filled with beautiful women, lush gardens, wine and hashish, Sabbah is able to convince his young fighters that they can reach paradise if they follow his commands. With parallels to Osama bin Laden, Alamut tells the story of how Sabbah was able to instill fear into the ruling class by creating a small army of devotees who were willing to kill, and be killed, in order to achieve paradise. Believing in the supreme Ismaili motto “Nothing is true, everything is permitted,” Sabbah wanted to “experiment” with how far he could manipulate religious devotion for his own political gain through appealing to what he called the stupidity and gullibility of people and their passion for pleasure and selfish desires.
The novel focuses on Sabbah as he unveils his plan to his inner circle, and on two of his young followers — the beautiful slave girl Halima, who has come to Alamut to join Sabbah's paradise on earth, and young ibn Tahir, Sabbah's most gifted fighter. As both Halima and ibn Tahir become disillusioned with Sabbah's vision, their lives take unexpected turns.
Alamut was originally written in 1938 as an allegory to Mussolini's fascist state. In the 1960's it became a cult favorite throughout Tito's Yugoslavia, and in the 1990s, during the Balkan's War, it was read as an allegory of the region's strife and became a bestseller in Germany, France and Spain. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the book once again took on a new life, selling more than 20,000 copies in a new Slovenian edition, and being translated around the world in more than 19 languages. This edition, translated by Michael Biggins, in the first-ever English translation.
- Sales Rank: #128476 in Books
- Published on: 2007-11-20
- Released on: 2007-11-20
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.96" h x 1.14" w x 6.04" l, 1.30 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 400 pages
Review
“If Osama bin Laden did not exist, Vladimir Bartol would have invented him.”—L’Express“...an epic novel of conspiracies, love stories, and subtle religious and philosophical subtexts that bravely confronts the issue of political extremism.”—Ricardo Arturo Ríos Torres, La Prensa“...an adventure story from 1938 which transforms itself ... into a nightmare novel of the new century.”—Oliver Maison, Journal de la Culture"This new edition of Alamut is gorgeous...a fascinating historical drama that triumphs in its exploration of modern themes."—The Midwest Book Review
From the Publisher
Michael Biggins has translated works by a number of Slovenia's leading contemporary writers. He currently curates the library collections for Russian and East European studies and teaches in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, both at the University of Washington in Seattle.
About the Author
Vladimir Bartol (1903-1967) was a Slovene intellect and journalist living in the Trieste region of Italy prior to World War II. An early follower of Jung and Freud, and Slovenia's first translator of Nietzsche, Bartol wanted to fuse psychology and literature to with the story of the world's first terrorist to tell the story of Mussolini. Bartol's view of Mussolini was ambiguous; he originally wanted to dedicate Alamut to the dictator, but was convinced otherwise by his publisher. Bartol spent nearly a decade writing Alamut, which was the first book of a projected trilogy. He went on to write several minor works, short stories and plays, but never wrote another novel. He died in 1967.
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
More than historical fiction, a great work of philosophy!
By Umer Vakil
This historical novel launches our imagination into the historical castle of Alamut, captured by Hasan ibn-Sabah, presented against the background of the reign of Nizam-ul-Mulk as the vizier of the Seljug Empire. Although the writer gives us brief third-person access to his characters, our first look into Alamut is initially seen through ibn-Tahir, the grandson of a famous poet and Halima, a maiden - both who are soon to be incorporated into a cunning plan that we are introduced to with suspenseful hiatuses.
All the newcomers into the 'institution' of Alamut are to leave their earlier lives behind and are systematically indoctrinated with Ismaili thought that they soon internalise. This thought cures many of their existential angst and as we see later, presents them with a vision to die or kill for. To serve the guild is taken as a path to achieve transcendence. Presented with the internal workings of Alamut, ibn-Sabah is shown to us as a God-like invisible mythological figure who best reminds us of Plato's Philosopher-King. Almost as a field experiment for Plato, his institution has well-defined heirarchies with the future "Guardian" Feyedeen taken as initiates to be given instruction in algebra, Arabic grammar, philosophy and the military arts and amongst other subjects. Sayyiduma's (Sabah's title) words and laws are binding and any dissent is to be met with death. Before he makes his physical appearance, the notion of unquestionable loyalty to Sayyiduma is presented as a thinking-tool to compare this notion with the rationally of staying loyal to a hidden divine entity such a God.
Even in his physical state, Sayyiduma is presented as a strangely composed and confident character, even while having to calculate infinite variables to make sure his plans come to fruition. Although thought to be a religious leader by those under his command, he is a freethinker with an unmatchable intellect (reminds you of Adrian "Ozymandias" Viedt from 'Watchmen') that embodies the idea of the Übermensch who has transcended morality and humanity.
"Until now I've trusted my statesmanship. But now I'm going to see what FAITH can accomplish" - ibn-Sabah
The story however, is simply a backdrop or stage that is shown to give practical examples of larger philosophical theories and thought experiments. At every page, it is difficult to miss parallels with current events, and in this right the book is timeless in nature. ibn-Sabah lures us into considering a wide range questions such as the nature of reality and consciousness, the nature of sensory perception, man and his relation with God, the idea of ecstasy, how men would kill to seek brief moments of perfection. Furthermore, we are confronted with ethical questions such as the bliss of ignorance, righteous deception, the morality of risking innocent lives for a a grandiose vision and uncountable others. It doesn't take long to realise that this book is a work of philosophical genius that manages to capture so many ideas in one simple story.
Of course, as a work of fiction - there are large deviations from History. But that shouldn't bother anyone who takes this book as a work of philosophy more than a novel. Also, the poems in this book seem to be beautiful in their English translation. It entices me to learn Slovenian and Farsi simply so I could capture the emotion of the poetry in its original and untampered form. A fan of Omar Khayyam's works wouldn't be disappointed either, as he is given a significant role in the novel as an old friend of Sayyiduma.
A must read!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
A Slovenian masterpiece about Crusades-era Persia, a 1938 commentary on Mussolini's regime? Wait... stay with me...
By K. P. Badertscher
An intriguing book that mixes Crusades-era Muslim history with surprisingly modern religious extremist ideology. Not a dry book at all - the well-written characters and snowballing plot lines result in a satisfying read. I docked it a star for several ridiculous young female characters who were rendered hopelessly silly either by translation (the original book was in Slovenian), or by design.
I got this book because I read that it was part of the inspiration for the original Assassin's Creed game. The slogan of the Ismaili leadership ("Nothing is true; everything is permitted") is used in the game, and the book mentions Masyaf, a locale also in the game. Other than those two things, the book and the game have nothing in common. The game even warps the slogan to a completely different meaning than that developed by the book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Recommended to me by a Slovenian friend of mine
By Michael Goodman
Recommended to me by a Slovenian friend of mine. This book was surprisingly great. I've seen virtually no press coverage of it in the states, but really, it's super interesting. You obviously need to suspend disbelief because some of the premises are more than a bit off (e.g. that hash absolutely makes people fall asleep and act all trippy...riiiighhtttt...)
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