Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2005, page 70
Book Review
A Sultan in Palermo
By Tariq Ali, Verso, 2005, 246 pp. List: $24; AET: $20.
Reviewed by Sara Powell
READING any work by Tariq Ali is a treat, be it politics or fiction. Ali’s readers know that his deep knowledge of history isn’t limited to the Middle East and Europe, but extends to South Asia and the Americas as well, with forays into the rest of the world. A favorite subject—and clearly a crucial one in today’s world—is the convergence of the Christian and Islamic worlds.
In the first three novels of Ali’s “Islam Quintet,” the Muslim and Christian religions cross paths in the fall of Al Andalus/Reconquista Spain (Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree), in the Crusades (The Book of Saladin) and in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire (The Stone Woman). In A Sultan of Palermo, the long-awaited fourth volume, Ali revisits the medieval era, this time in Sicily—and during a less well-known period of tension between Islam and Christianity. Ali’s subtlety in introducing readers—who may just want to enjoy a good read—both to little known aspects of Islamic culture (at least to his U.S. audiences) and to various historic clashes of Christian and Islamic fundamentalisms, provide a context in which to view the current political situation. Nor does Ali resort to didacticism, instead treating his readers to tales of love and death, power and suspense, human frailty and great courage.
Ali incorporates other political ideals in his fiction as well. Although his novels are set in patriarchal societies, the author portrays women as he portrays men: as individuals with a range of qualities and character. Men and women alike exhibit strengths, weaknesses, intelligence, stupidity, grace, greed and desires. Stock characters will not be found in Ali’s work, where sexuality is fluid and love is complex.
While his novels tend to be set among society’s elite, Ali nonetheless addresses questions of class, advocating education in particular as an equalizing factor. In A Sultan in Palermo, education and land redistribution form the basis for the oppressed’s resistance, much as they have done in more contemporary resistance movements. Ali’s works resemble a rich tapestry in which continuous threads of various hues—religion, love, politics—reflect the human condition.
There is no doubt that the final volume in Ali’s “Islam Quartet” also will address—in the form of a hard-to-put-down novel—tension between Islam and Christianity, love, death, power and equality. What remains open for speculation is its particular topic. In 2000, with the publication of The Stone Woman, only four books were planned. In 2002—not long after the attacks of 9/11—when Ali’s The Clash of Fundamentalisms was published, the quartet became a quintet. Will the eagerly awaited fifth volume be set in contemporary times? This reader can’t wait to find out.
Sara Powell is director of the AET Book Club.
SIDEBAR
Special Series Offer!
The AET Book Club is pleased to announce a new program of special offers on books in a series. Throughout the year, complete sets of selected books by a single author or on a single issue will be made available at an additional 10 percent off our already discounted prices. Now available:
The Edward Said Collection: Orientalism, The Question of Palestine, Peace and Its Discontents, The Politics of Dispossession, The End of the Peace Process, Covering Islam, From Oslo to Iraq, and Out of Place for $83.70, (retail price of $126.90).
The Paul Findley Collection: Deliberate Deceptions, They Dare to Speak Out, and Silent No More for $31.50 (retail $49.85).
The Tariq Ali Collection: Clash of Fundamentalisms, Bush in Babylon, Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, The Book of Saladin, The Stone Woman, and A Sultan in Palermo for $69.75 (retail $101).
The Naguib Mahfouz Collection: Children of Gebelaawi, Fountain and Tomb, Miramar, Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, and Sugar Street for $60.50 (retail $88.90).
The Cookbook Collection: Food for the Vegetarian, From the Lands of Figs and Olives, A Taste of Lebanon, and Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine for $45.90 (retail $67.80).
The Children’s Folk Collection: Folk Tales of Egypt, Goha, Tales from Morocco, Tales from Sudan, Festivals of Egypt, Animal Tales from the Arab World, The Voyages of Sinbad, Aladdin and the Lamp, Maarouf and the Dream Caravan, and Tales from Ancient Egypt for $45.45 (retail $66).
These collections are a wonderful way to build a library—your own or someone else’s—and a great holiday buy.
