Product Description

'Sparkling and erudite, this is a wonderful novel' Independent

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65158 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 440 pages

Synopsis
In the Koran, there are 99 names for God. Does the 100th exist? Months before the dawn of the apocalyptic "year of the beast", 1666, Balthasar Embriaco, a Genoese Levantine merchant embarks on a quest to find the answer. He sets out on a journey that will take him across the breadth of the civilized world, making his way to Constantinople and on to Smyrna and Aleppo before embarking for the Isle of Chios and sailing through the Mediterranean, via Genoa and Lisbon, arriving in London shortly before the outbreak of the Great Fire. The purpose of Balthasar's expedition is to search for a copy of the rarest of books, one entitled "The One Hundredth Name". Merely to know this most secret of the names of God will, Balthasar believes, ensure he is saved.

About the Author
Amin Maalouf's fiction includes Leo the African, Rock of Tanios, which won the 1993 Prix Goncourt, Samarkand and Ports of Call. He is also the author of an acclaimed scholarly work, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, as well as the much admired essay, On Identity

Customer Reviews

Terrific
This is not my usual read at all, being fantasy and historical, but I did absolutely love it. It is a rich and colourful book. The style is fabulous and so easy to read, the plot flows effortlessly. The portrayal of the Mediterranean is excellent and the characters are delightful, even if a few are quite unsavoury. Within a very clever and slightly comical plot many modern day issues are touch upon, but in the same breath the historical accounts are well researched and accurate.

I just can't praise this read enough and look forward to reading more of this author's books.

Exotic Historical Adventure
This is a wonderful historical novel with an exotic flavour, not unlike that to be found in the Thousand and One Nights. The story is set in the 17th century and is told through the diary entries of the protagonist, a Genoese antique bookseller living in the Near East. One day he is given a Mystical Book which he almost immediately loses and he spends the rest of the novel touring the Mediteranean in search of it. On his travels he meets a variety of fascinating people with all kinds of different outlooks on life and he gets into a number of scrapes which you do not know how he is going to get himself out of. Through his journeys we get a wonderful glimpse of life at that time in various places. There are many likeable people, mad or crazy people and some not particularly nice people! This is the third book by Maalouf I have read and I think it is probably the best. He is a lovely writer, with an easy, warm style. His books are always full of the exotic and full of adventure. Religion often features prominently in his books as it does in this one - but not in a way that would put you off. Anyone interested in history, adventure, the Near East and anybody else that appreciates great literature, should love this book. Recommended!

A splendid novel
For those that have read his previous books, like Leo the African and Samarkand, it will be no surprise that the Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf again delivers a splendid book. You can read it as a historical novel, as a metaphysical one or just as an adventure novel; it is all three.

The main protagonist, Balthasare, gets involved with a book, the Hundreth Name, which apparently gives the magic hundreth's name for Allah, a certain cure to avoid the end of the world. Set in 1966, the year that many believed to be the year that the world would come to an end, this is certainly a book to be treasured. Alas, he loses it and he sets out on a journey to retrieve it. a journey which will take him from his home in Lebanon to Constantinople, Genoa, Amsterdam, London and many other places. During his trips he encounters many people and thinkers from all main religions, Catholics, Muslims, Jews etc, as well as a whole range of scoundrels after his money or other possessions. The many meetings contain gems of debates about the meaning of life and religion. The debate is wonderful and insightful and poses very interesting questions; one non-catholic questions whether the phrase "Love thy neighbour as one self" is that important as self love is always flawed and suggest that "He who is without sin casts the first stone" really should be thr prime guideline for our life.

All this is set against a painstaikingly well researched historical background ranging from the upsurges against Constantinople to the Great Fire of London.

A magic adventure indeed!