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Ali and Nino

Kurban Said

Start date: November 1, 2023

Finish date: November 30, 2023

Why we're reading this: For our last A country, Azerbaijan, we are reading Ali and Nino. This was recently turned into a movie.
[close] For our last A country, Azerbaijan, we are reading Ali and Nino. This was recently turned into a movie.

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Dec 15, 2023 Elise rated it liked it

This was part of my Read the World Series for country Azerbaijan. I don't see why everyone thought this book was so romantic. Ali and Nino really should not have been together and if their world was not falling apart I don't think they would have lasted as long as they did. This is also another book where the story of the author is more interesting than the story that they wrote.

Ali, a Muslim, and Nino, a christian, live in Baku the capital of Azerbaijan. Both are from prominent families but Nin This was part of my Read the World Series for country Azerbaijan. I don't see why everyone thought this book was so romantic. Ali and Nino really should not have been together and if their world was not falling apart I don't think they would have lasted as long as they did. This is also another book where the story of the author is more interesting than the story that they wrote.

Ali, a Muslim, and Nino, a christian, live in Baku the capital of Azerbaijan. Both are from prominent families but Nino's family is Georgian and has ties to the Czar from Russia. When World War I breaks out just after Ali graduates from high school, he decides not to enlist to fight but stays home. He decides he is ready to marry Nino and there is an incident between her and an Armenian friend that causes SO MUCH DRAMA, that Ali ends up being wanted by the police and he has to hide and flee.

The war ends up coming closer to Azerbaijan as they need to defend themselves from the Russians. Ali and Nino do marry and come back to Baku when they once again need to flee and go to Persia. Nino is not going to wear the veil of a Muslim since she has not converted. Ali is ok with her decision but his expended family is not and Nino has to stay inside the harem since she is married and "western". Once Baku is safe again, they are able to go back home.

There were a couple of issues I had. One, I agree with Nino that women are not soulless pieces of land waiting to be plowed. Two, while the incident with the Armenian friend ignited my interest with the story I still don't understand what really happened. Three, the book is not really a Romeo and Juliet story but about the tug-a-war happening within the country being the pull of Europe or Asian identity. Ali believes in more of an Asian influence while Nino wants a European influence, so why they are different it is about the direction of the country not the characters.

I do like how supportive Ali is of Nino and her wishes but it seems like they don't actually have anything in common except the fact that they like each other. Also, the back of the book talks about Nino going to Paris but that doesn't actually happen but is mentioned at the very end of the book as a possibility.

The very end of the book is the story of the authors as Kurban Said is a pen name. Their story was so interesting and allows the reader to see the influences that appear in the story. I was going to give this 2 stars but there were some events that were page turners pushing it to a 3. ...more

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Jan 21, 2023 Danita L marked it as to-read

Shelves: _-available-on-hoopla, authors-ukraine

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