Origins, by the world-renowned writer Amin Maalouf, is a sprawling, hemisphere-spanning, intergenerational saga. Set during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth - in the mountains of Lebanon and in Havana, Cuba. Origins recounts the family history of the generation of Maalouf's paternal grandfather, Boutros Maalouf.
Maalouf sets out to discover the truth about why Boutros, a poet and educator in Lebanon, traveled across the globe to rescue his younger brother, Gabrayel, who had settled in Havana. What follows is the gripping excavation of a family's hidden past. Maalouf is an energetic and amiable narrator, illuminating the more obscure corners of late Ottoman nationalism, the psychology of Lebanese sectarianism, and the dynamics of family quarrels. He moves with great agility across time and space, and across genres of writing. But he never loses track of his story's central thread: his quest to lift the shadow of legend from his family's past. Origins is at once a gripping family chronicle and a timely consideration of Lebanese culture and politics.
Maalouf sets out to discover the truth about why Boutros, a poet and educator in Lebanon, traveled across the globe to rescue his younger brother, Gabrayel, who had settled in Havana. What follows is the gripping excavation of a family's hidden past. Maalouf is an energetic and amiable narrator, illuminating the more obscure corners of late Ottoman nationalism, the psychology of Lebanese sectarianism, and the dynamics of family quarrels. He moves with great agility across time and space, and across genres of writing. But he never loses track of his story's central thread: his quest to lift the shadow of legend from his family's past. Origins is at once a gripping family chronicle and a timely consideration of Lebanese culture and politics.
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Used availability for Amin Maalouf's Origins
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
September 2008 : Hardback
| Title: Origins: A Memoir Author(s): Amin Maalouf ISBN: 0-330-44248-1 / 978-0-330-44248-0 (UK edition) Publisher: Picador Availability: Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
May 2008 : Hardback
| Title: Origins: A Memoir Author(s): Amin Maalouf ISBN: 0-374-22732-2 / 978-0-374-22732-6 (USA edition) Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
September 2009 : Paperback
| Title: Origins Author(s): Amin Maalouf ISBN: 0-330-44249-X / 978-0-330-44249-7 (UK edition) Publisher: Picador Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
June 2009 : Paperback
| Title: Origins: A Memoir Author(s): Amin Maalouf ISBN: 0-374-53176-5 / 978-0-374-53176-8 (USA edition) Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
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