Reviews

I am quite surprised to discover the lack of attention which this book seems to have received. A highly respected political analyst and writer, (And a brilliant speaker. I have witnessed him speaking at the Oxford Union and he was as impressive as I had heard), Tariq Ali, in my opinion ventures successfully into the area of novel writing. My wife and I enjoyed the book quite a bit and it provoked many an interesting discussion. I would say that the highpoints are an impressive depiction of the progressive, liberal and still very much Muslim society which existed in Spain and its cultural and literary achievements. This is indeed a golden era of Spanish, Muslim and world history and the South of Spain still contains many a splendid remnant of this golden past. At various levels, Tariq Ali is very successful in showing what the last days of this great civilization must have been like and how brutal and narrow-minded the inquisition was after this period of great political harmony, intellectual and cultural synthesis and progress. Tariq Ali paints his characters with affection and care and most of the time they are highly believable. The sincere pathos he feels about this chapter of history comes through clearly in his depiction of various instances especially the burning of the Islamic libraries by the Christians who successfully went on to more or less erase the Muslim character of and contribution to Spanish history. A recent trip to the Mayan ruins in Mexico revealed the brutality and wonton destruction of other cultures by the same people in other geographical contexts. Indeed the christian revival which transformed into the inquisition was one of the most repressive regimes in the history of mankind. Tariq Ali shows how a one-time magnificent Muslim culture, gets corrupted and sterile and loses out to a more vicious and narrow-minded zealotry. Anyone who has been to the south of Spain and has seen Moorish cities will empathize with the lament of the writer in this book. There are stylistically awkward instances in the novel but on the whole it is quite well written and evocative and covers an important point in history. I think that Tariq Ali should seriously consider continuing fiction writing. A worthwhile read which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the history of Islam, Moorish Spain, the Inquisition or even the broad category of good fiction coming from writers of South Asian origin.

This review is from: Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (Vol. 1) (The Islam Quintet) (Paperback) Ali's "Shadow of the Pomegranate Tree" provides not only a great reading, but an extremely useful corrective to the general western misconception about Muslim society. His work while a fiction, has clearly been thoroughly researched. The openness, tolerance and cosmopolitanism of Islamic society during the Moorish period is clearly presented with accents and touches that ring true. While westerners are inclined to view Islam as a monolithic entity, Ali brings out the division and tension that existed within the societies of each period.

"Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree" is set in Spain after the fall of Granada. The story of the Banu Hudayl, a landed aristocratic family, the book explores the fateful decision that the Muslims of Spain had to make in the aftermath of the Reconquista. Shadows opens with the Muslim community having been recently shaken by the burning of their books on the order of Ximenes de Cisneros, Isabella's confessor. Sent to Granada to debate theology, Cisneros was verbally bested by the Muslim scholars. Defeated, he ordered all Muslim books to be destroyed two million manuscripts burned. "They set our culture on fire...The record of eight centuries was annihilated in one day", Umar the head of the Hudayl, laments. The only books to be saved from this wanton destruction were 300 medical and scientific works, spared by the petitions of Christian scholars who realized their superiority, and those books that the soldiers carrying them to the square discarded, judging the books' importance by their weight.

Cisneros, a man of the church is hell bent on destroying all vestiges of the Muslim society and culture in Granada. He sees force as the only way to win the conversion of the Muslims to Christianity, unlike his predecessor, who had given orders for the priests to learn Arabic and have Christian works translated. Yet his actions also have a personal element, as others whisper about his apparent Jewish features. Cisneros cruelty is interestingly contrasted to the outlook of Don Ignio, the civilian governor of the Granada region, and a life long friend of Umar's. Don's entrouge consisted of Jewish and Moors, and he tells Umar "For me a Granada without them is like a desert without Oasis. But I am on my own" When Umar comments that the current situation would never have arisen had the Moors used the same tactics that the Christian were now employing, Dons's response is: "Instead you attempted to bring civilization to the whole peninsula regardless of faith or creed. It was noble of you now you must pay the price."

The reason I find this an excellent read is because Ali treats western history with the same thoroughness and brutal honesty, he demolishes the myth that the episode was a victory of one sort or the other of western society, simply by incorporating facts into the narrative. The triumphalism and sheer blood thirstiness of the Christian west is underscored most clearly in "Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree".

This review is from: Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (Vol. 1) (The Islam Quintet) (Paperback) This small novel covers the late 14th Century and the attitudes of the Church that spawned the Inquisition. Many are aware of the damage to the Jews through the cruelty and torture of the Inqisitors. However, there was another target in Spain- the demolition of Moorish culture, particularly Granada. The most spectacular and infamous event in this history is the massive burning of all the great Muslim writings on mathematics, science and religion. Under the watchful eyes of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, a fanatical Inquisitor, Ximenes de Cisneros, attempts to thoroughly obliterate the Moorish culture. The book burning is merely the first step in the plan; Cisneros understands that if you can destroy history, traditions and freedom to speak the language, people are more easily subjugated. During this shameful period, the Catholic Church was relentless in its efforts to destroy those who refused conversion. Families who had passed their land and wealth from generation to generation were targeted for assimilation as "conversos" or put to death. We follow the lives of one such family as its members decide to either flee for safety, join forces to fight, or are brutally slain. The story moves slowly throughout, but historically, so did the times. I would like to have had more detail about the activities of the Inquisitors and the beliefs of the Muslims in Granada; the primary statement of belief is stated, "There is only one God and His name is Allah, and his prophet is Mohammed." At times it almost felt like reading a fable in the style the author used, an ancient story passed along in oral tradition. Unfortunately, it isn't just a fable. This is an area of great interest as belief systems affect modern as well as ancient attitudes.

The Shadow of the Pomegranate is the second part of the three book series about Katherine of Aragon. It spans the time period from shortly after Katherine’s marriage to Henry up until shortly after the birth of Henry’s son with Bessie Blount. This is the true heart and soul of the story of Henry and Kate.

One of the things that I enjoyed was the way the story of Bessie Blount was described. The feeling that I had gotten about her before what that she wasn’t really anyone. This story made her feel like more of a person and understand what Henry might have seen in her and how he could have rationalized his liaison (not that I really liked her). Another significant part of the novel was the viewpoints of Emperor Maximilian and King Ferdinand of Spain. I hadn’t read anything up to this point that had shown an outsider perspective of him. It does seem that they really did use him for their own ends. I enjoyed the depiction of Katherine in this book – she was angry and outspoken about his affairs. Although my all time favorite characterization of Katherine still has to be in The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory.

Although this is part of a trilogy, this book works well as a stand-alone – especially if you know anything about the relationship between Henry and Katherine. The other books in the trilogy are Katherine the Virgin Widow (1st book) and The King’s Secret Matter (3rd book)

This is my first Jean Plaidy audiobook and the fact that I had already read the book (more than 3 years ago) did not diminish my enjoyment of the story. I’ve been reminded why Plaidy’s version of the Tudors is my favorite, and for the same reason I like all of her books: they mix political intrigue perfectly with the character’s personalities and offer excellent explanations as to the thoughts and actions of those characters.

The Shadow of the Pomegranate is the middle book in the Katharine of Aragon trilogy, the first being Katharine the Virgin Widow and the last The King’s Secret Matter. Though it is in a trilogy it reads as a stand-alone, beginning shortly after the marriage of Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon. The foundation of Katharine’s relationship with Henry is laid, while she watches him slowly change from petulant boy to tyrannical man. She holds her place firmly in his affection until the perfidy of her father – using Henry to pay for his wars, while promising him conquest for England – and, of course, her many failures at producing the male heir Henry so greatly desires.

This novel covers the European powers of the time, from the Emperor Maximilian, Ferdinand of Spain and Louis XII of France to Charles V and Francois I of France. Henry’s disastrous early campaigns to gain territory in France and Katharine’s great defeat of the Scots are expanded upon, but there is also much intriguing in the court between courtiers , statesmen (like Cardinal Wosley) and the foreign ambassadors trying to rise in favor and in the process degrade one another. I really enjoy a book that can tie all of these together to make an intriguing story.

As usual there are mini-stories happening in the background to explain the actions of the main characters. A relationship between a peasant woman and one of the King of Navarre’s secretaries claims a chapter of the book in order to explain how his schemes were found out by Ferdinand and thus a war was started which robbed Henry of his desired campaigning on the continent. I marvel at small details like this because it is the product of such immaculate research.

As for the format, I really enjoyed listening to this book being read on my commute to and from work. Anne Flasnik is an excellent narrator and I plan to buy more Jean Plaidy audiobooks read by her. She can flawlessly execute a different voice for each character – so feminine for the ladies and a deeper tone for the men. She also has a gift with pronunciation and foreign accents.