Itemize Epithetical Books Leo Africanus
| Title | : | Leo Africanus |
| Author | : | Amin Maalouf |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 370 pages |
| Published | : | June 26th 2012 by Ivan R. Dee Publisher (first published 1986) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Novels. Cultural. Africa |
Amin Maalouf
Paperback | Pages: 370 pages Rating: 4.19 | 10551 Users | 933 Reviews
Interpretation Concering Books Leo Africanus
"I, Hasan the son of Muhammad the weigh-master, I, Jean-Leon de Medici, circumcised at the hand of a barber and baptized at the hand of a pope, I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia. I am also called the Granadan, the Fassi, the Zayyati, but I come from no country, from no city, no tribe. I am the son of the road, my country is the caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages." Thus wrote Leo Africanus, in his fortieth year, in this imaginary autobiography of the famous geographer, adventurer, and scholar Hasan al-Wazzan, who was born in Granada in 1488. His family fled the Inquisition and took him to the city of Fez, in North Africa. Hasan became an itinerant merchant, and made many journeys to the East, journeys rich in adventure and observation. He was captured by a Sicilian pirate and taken back to Rome as a gift to Pope Leo X, who baptized him Johannes Leo. While in Rome, he wrote the first trilingual dictionary (Latin, Arabic and Hebrew), as well as his celebrated Description of Africa, for which he is still remembered as Leo Africanus.Point Books During Leo Africanus
| Original Title: | Léon l'Africain |
| ISBN: | 1561310220 (ISBN13: 9781561310227) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Granada(Spain) Fes(Morocco) Timbuktu(Mali) …more Cairo(Egypt) Mecca(Saudi Arabia) Istanbul(Turkey) Rome: Papal States(Italy) Tunis(Tunisia) …less |
| Literary Awards: | Prix de l’Amitié franco-arabe (1986), Prix France-Liban de l'ADELF (1986) |
Rating Epithetical Books Leo Africanus
Ratings: 4.19 From 10551 Users | 933 ReviewsJudge Epithetical Books Leo Africanus
Overall, this one was a good reading experience except for when Leo started to talk about his relationship with his lovers. In different format of story telling what he was revealing probably more acceptable, but in this book, the intended reader supposed to be his Son. I could not believe peoples in Leo's life time revealing so much about their intimate relationship to their son, however close the father and son bond was.Check this out...'Wherever you are , some will want to ask questions about your skin or your prayers. Beware of gratifying their instincts, my son, beware of bending before the multitude! Muslim, Jew or Christian, they must take you as you are, or lose you. When men's minds seem narrow to you, tell yourself that the land of God is broad; broad His hands and broad His heart. Never hesitate to go far away, beyond all seas, all frontiers, all countries, all beliefs.' (p.360)Now go and read it!!!
Good God Leo Africanus is a great book! It's epic in scope, reminding me a bit of Forrest Gump in the way that Hasan/Leo keeps popping up during major historical events. His family runs into Christopher Columbus before the explorer heads to the New World. He's present in Cairo as the armies of the Grand Turk overwhelm the city. He's holed up in Castel San Angelo as hordes friendly to Emperor Charles sack the "Eternal City". He watches from a hilltop the complete destruction of Timbuktu by fire.
Fascinating, if you dont object to 16th Century Arabic attitudes towards women.
In this gripping adventure tale, Maalouf uses the historical Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan, as a narrative structure to explore turn-of-the-sixteenth century North Africa and Spain. Maalouf brings to life a world of grand cities, lives punctuated by the call to prayer, intriguing factions, lengthy and tedious merchant caravans, and the complex world of loving polygamous households.Al-Wazzan provides a great central figure. Too much about him is unknown to make an accurate biography, but enough is
One might not expect a geographer to be a great inspiration for historical fiction. But when that geographer travels the lands he chronicles at a time of great upheaval and turmoil and becomes embroiled in every sort of adventure and meets major historic figures along the way, it can indeed become a lively and engaging novel. Such is the case with the titular Moorish traveler in Amin Maalouf's 1986 book, Leo Africanus.Born as al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi in Granada in the 1490's,
Reading Amin Maalouf's book is a bit like viewing McArthur's Universal Corrective Map of the World. In that map, north is at the bottom and south at the top. In addition Asia and the Pacific Ocean are in the center. It's a jarring inversion of perspective. In the world history class I took in college, the key figures were Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V, and Martin Luther. The overarching theme was the rise of the nation state. Maalouf's narrative is through Muslim eyes. His protagonist is a
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