Samarkand (novel)

Samarkand (French: Samarcande) is a 1988 historical novel by the French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf. The story is set in Central Asia in the 11th century, and revolves around the mystic and poet Omar Khayyám, and a love affair he has with a female poet at he court of Samarkand. The novel received the Prix Maison de la Presse.^[1]

Reception

Ahmed Rashid reviewed the book for The Independent, and wrote: "Maalouf has written an extraordinary book, describing the lives and times of people who have never appeared in fiction before and are unlikely to do so again. The book is far more than a simple historical novel; like the intricate embroidery of an oriental carpet it weaves back and forth through the centuries, linking the poetry, philosophy and passion of the Sufi past with modernism."^[2]

See also

• 1988 in literature
• 20th-century French literature

References