Ali and Nino by Kurban Said: book review

Ali and Nino (1937, English version 2000), is set in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 1914-1920, during the First World War, and the short-lived (23-month) Azerbaijan independence from 1918-1920. It ends with the Russian “re-conquest” in 1920.

The novel is heavily influenced by war, but it is also about love. A statue in Batumi, Georgia, commemorates the love of Ali and Nino. Created by Tamar Kvesitadze, it is seven meters high, of steel and lights, and every ten minutes the figures move toward each other and merge as one. The author’s identity, through the use of a pseudonym, was speculative for 30 years, adding another layer to the book’s fascination.

Azerbaijan is between Europe and the Asiatic – the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Its boundaries include the Caspian Sea to the east, Georgia and Turkey to the northwest, Armenia to the west, Russia to the north, and Iran to the south.

It is in Baku that the story commences. Ali Khan Shirvanshir is an 18-year-old Muslim madly in love with Nino Kipiani, an almost 17-year-old Christian from an illustrious Georgian family, living the “English way.” He has just finished his exams and it is summer holidays. The Kipiani family are going to Shusha in Karabakh. For graduation, Ali Khan’s father has granted his son three wishes. For the first wish, Ali Khan asks to spend the summer holiday in Shusha, alone, so that he can spend time with Nino. His wish is granted.

They discuss getting married when she graduates from school the following year. Already they ask questions about the future – will Ali Khan expect Nino to wear a veil, and what religion will their children have?

Karabakh (now in Armenia) was the bridge between the Caucasian countries Iran and Turkey, part of the Elisabethpol Governorate administration of Russia. While on holiday, the First World War was declared, and they rush back to Baku. Azerbaijan men were great warriors, but Ali Khan did not want to go to war. He wanted to stay in Baku and marry Nino. For his second wish, Ali Khan requests that he draws his sword when he wants to. His wish is granted, but to his father, Ali Khan was “sitting on the carpet of cowardice.”

To marry, the parents of both sides must consent. Ali Khan’s father consents, but Nino must first finish school and Ali Khan must “not let her bring the foreign faith into our home.” Nino’s father suggests that they wait until the war ends. Ali Khan cannot wait to marry Nino. Consequently his friend, Melik Nachararyan, an Armenian and member of the noblest family in Karabakh, negotiates with both families until they agree – he has “changed fate.”

A year later, with school examinations passed, they travel to Tiflis (Tbilisi), the capital of Georgia, to arrange their wedding. With war still raging, Georgia was “in between two claws of a pair of red-hot tongs. If the Germans win—it’s the end of the land of Tamar. If the Russians win—what then?” Nachararyan steps in to save Nino from the war – he professes his love for her, saying he will take her to Sweden, a neutral country. But now Armenia has joined with the Soviet Union against Azerbaijan. Ali Khan expresses his outrage in the severest manner.

Ali Khan has decisions to make. “My life has become a tangle. The road to the front is barred, Nino has forgotten how to laugh, and I shed ink instead of blood.” He chooses “utter submission” – an act in which Nino had “suddenly seen the abyss dividing us.” What is Ali Khan’s third wish?

War heightens differences – ideologies, family cultures, religions, east and west, alliances and allegiances. They return to Baku. The Soviet Union and Turkey are fighting in Baku, both wanting the land of Azerbaijan, and then - the English occupation. “New Zealanders, Canadians and Australians flooded our town.” Azerbaijan is liberated and seeks independence. Less than two years later, the Russians arrive, again.

Ali Khan’s love for Baku remains strong. But, in times of war, is it his country or Nino that Ali Khan chooses to live and die for?

Despite the time of the writing, the novel is evocative and rich in descriptions of places, people, events, culture, philosophies, and feelings. It is both poignant and passionate. It is well paced and enticingly engaging. It doesn’t lose its grip until long after the end.