What do You think about The Book Of Saladin (1999)?
Do not recommend. I'm not sure exactly what this was supposed to be (about), but it reads like some sort of light porn for medieval teenage boys. The history and the life of one of the most important leaders in the Islam is obviously amazing, but the fact that you can't turn a page without someone having some kind of perverted sex (including repeated references to bestiality) was just too much of a distraction for me. Plus, some 97% of characters are gay or bi, which I thought was a bit excessive.I understand that all that was probably to make the book more appealing to the western reader.If you want to read about Saladin, i suggest you find a different book.The worst thing is that when I was reading the reviews before I took the book, everyone kept saying this exact same thing, but I kept thinking „what prudes, relax! “. But yeah, everyone is right, this was completely unnecessary.
—Amina
Tariq Ali's The Book of Saladin is narrated by a fictional Jewish scribe at the court of the great Muslim king Salah al-Din who liberated Jerusalem from the rule of the Franks. I enjoyed the narrative style that borrowed quite a bit from the Arabian Nights, and reading about the Crusades from the perspective of the Muslims (and Jews) who endured great misery at the hands of their Christian conquerors is fascinating. I am always a bit suspicious, though, of historical golden ages, even when depicted in fiction, so I was a little less than convinced about Saladin's 'secularism' and extreme tolerance of what was viewed as heresy (especially on the part of his wife Jamila) as depicted by Ali. I felt that this was possibly a bit of the author's own bias showing through, since I know that he is (or was) a very outspoken Marxist.Still, I did enjoy the novel quite a bit, and it had the additional result of indirectly providing me with a long non-fiction reading list about Saladin.
—Bibliophile
I as overwhelmingly disgusted by the numerous allusions to homosexuality, paedophilia, sodomy, and prostitution described in this novel, especially of the suggestion that those closest to Saladin, including imams and advisers were involved with such heinous acts. I do not deny that these things occur in the Muslim world, but writing about such a great military leader and of those closest to him using such shameful behaviour is shallow, tasteless, and base.As the sequel to Tariq Ali's first novel of this quartet, Shadow's of the Pomegranate Tree (which I enjoyed), this novel is an utter disgrace.I do not recommended this novel all, even if you have the desire to complete reading the quartet of books (which I still intend to do).
—Imraan
