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A review by aqsa_ayman
Alamut by Vladimir Bartol
5.0
This review might be a little long, since it gave me a lot to think about...
This book was based on the story of Hasan-e Sabbah, who founded the order of Assassins at the fortress of Alamut. He supposedly tricked them into thinking he could send them to paradise, by building a fake paradise to make them devout believers, ready to carry out political assassinations and further his cause.
When I first saw the synopsis, it was hard to believe that this was historically based rather than pure fiction, but it’s also very relevant to the dictatorships seen in history, and of course to modern terrorism. Hasan leads these men to their death in the name of his cause, but the most interesting part of the story (besides the fake paradise, because that is seriously out there) is the fact that he began this whole scheme after discovering that there is no ultimate god or religion, or anything waiting for him after death.
Hasan convinces himself he’s doing these men a favour, since they go to their deaths with joy in the knowledge that they’ll go straight to paradise, while he suffers from the loneliness of knowing there is nothing out there. I wonder whether he really believes in this justification, or if he needed a distraction from that realisation.
I think Bartol’s structure was really well done - you read from the perspective of one of the fedayeen (assassins, in this context, but literally meaning those willing to sacrifice themselves) but also from one of the girls brought to the harem. Hasan uses this harem and their hidden gardens to fool a few chosen ones into believing that he holds the key to paradise, from which the rumours propagate until everyone at Alamut is in awe. It’s a little sad how things end from the girls’ side of the story, but I know it doesn’t make sense to expect a happy ending, or happy anything, especially when Halima is so young and naive.
Later, as both sides are trained and the military side of things progresses, we meet Hasan and see for ourselves what kind of person he is. Bartol writes him from various angles, so we get to see moments of weakness where he recognises the immorality of what he is doing, or fears that everything he has worked for will fail. In one memorable scene, he is being pulled down a pulley system by the eunuchs that guard him, and he thinks about what would happen if they realised how much power they have in that moment, if they just let go. His character is undoubtedly a distasteful and horrific one, but these moments make the story so much stronger, in my opinion.
Seeing that one of Slovenia’s most famous books is about a political and ideological struggle in 11th century Iran is pretty epic. I appreciated not seeing a bias towards certain characters or against the events that occurred. This was a powerful book, and it explored concepts like faith, religion and nihilism, but still had interesting and complex characters.
This book was based on the story of Hasan-e Sabbah, who founded the order of Assassins at the fortress of Alamut. He supposedly tricked them into thinking he could send them to paradise, by building a fake paradise to make them devout believers, ready to carry out political assassinations and further his cause.
When I first saw the synopsis, it was hard to believe that this was historically based rather than pure fiction, but it’s also very relevant to the dictatorships seen in history, and of course to modern terrorism. Hasan leads these men to their death in the name of his cause, but the most interesting part of the story (besides the fake paradise, because that is seriously out there) is the fact that he began this whole scheme after discovering that there is no ultimate god or religion, or anything waiting for him after death.
Hasan convinces himself he’s doing these men a favour, since they go to their deaths with joy in the knowledge that they’ll go straight to paradise, while he suffers from the loneliness of knowing there is nothing out there. I wonder whether he really believes in this justification, or if he needed a distraction from that realisation.
I think Bartol’s structure was really well done - you read from the perspective of one of the fedayeen (assassins, in this context, but literally meaning those willing to sacrifice themselves) but also from one of the girls brought to the harem. Hasan uses this harem and their hidden gardens to fool a few chosen ones into believing that he holds the key to paradise, from which the rumours propagate until everyone at Alamut is in awe. It’s a little sad how things end from the girls’ side of the story, but I know it doesn’t make sense to expect a happy ending, or happy anything, especially when Halima is so young and naive.
Later, as both sides are trained and the military side of things progresses, we meet Hasan and see for ourselves what kind of person he is. Bartol writes him from various angles, so we get to see moments of weakness where he recognises the immorality of what he is doing, or fears that everything he has worked for will fail. In one memorable scene, he is being pulled down a pulley system by the eunuchs that guard him, and he thinks about what would happen if they realised how much power they have in that moment, if they just let go. His character is undoubtedly a distasteful and horrific one, but these moments make the story so much stronger, in my opinion.
Seeing that one of Slovenia’s most famous books is about a political and ideological struggle in 11th century Iran is pretty epic. I appreciated not seeing a bias towards certain characters or against the events that occurred. This was a powerful book, and it explored concepts like faith, religion and nihilism, but still had interesting and complex characters.