A Poet and Bin-Laden

Author

Hamid Ismailov

Original Work

A Poet and Bin Laden

Translators

Andrew Bromfield·Richard MacKane

Editor

Camilla Stein

Language

English

Year

2012

Publisher

Glagoslav Publications

Country

United Kingdom

Pages

296

ISBN

9781909156333

0000

The story begins on the eve of 9/11, with the narrator's haunting description of the airplane attack on the Twin Towers as seen on TV while he is on holiday in Central Asia. Subsequent chapters shift backwards and forwards in time, but two main themes emerge: the rise of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan under the charismatic but reclusive leadership of Tahir Yuldash and Juma Namangani; and the main character, poet Belgi's movement from the outer edge of the circle, from the mountains of Osh, into the inner sanctum of al-Qaeda, and ultimately to a meeting with Sheikh bin Laden himself. His journey begins with a search for a Sufi spiritual master and ends in guerrilla warfare, and it is this tension between a transcendental and a violent response to oppression, between the book and the bomb, that gives the novel its specific poignancy.— Google Books