Ports of Call [Paperback]

Amin Maalouf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1999 | ISBN-10: 1860464475 | ISBN-13: 978-1860464478 | Edition: 3rd

Translated from the French by Alberto Manguel To call your son Ossyane is like calling him Rebellion or Disobedience. When Ossyane's father gives him that name, it represents the protest of an aristocratic but liberal man against a history of sectarianism and violence that has characterized the world he inherited from his Ottoman ancestors. But his brilliant, dutiful son develops into a peaceable young man, and travels to France to study, away from the burden of his father's revolutionary ambitions. War breaks out in Europe, and Ossyane is drawn into the Resistance, where he meets Clara. He returns to Beirut, to a rebel hero's welcome after all, and to joyful marriage with Clara. The Jewish-Muslim couple move to Haifa, but if one war has made a hero out of Ossyane, another, much closer to home, is destined to separate him from the people and the world that he loves. In this novel, the first by Amin Maalouf to be set in the modern Middle East, the author's exceptional gift of narrative lends itself to a story that becomes a powerful allegory for the struggles and anarchy that have beset his native land for the last half-century.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Ports Of Call ($24.00; Nov. 30; 197 pp.; 1-86046-446-7): The native Lebanese (now French) author of such exotic fiction as The Rock of Tanios (1994) and The Gardens of Light (p. 177) offers here the winsome (though strangely uninvolving) story of Turkish-Lebanese nobleman Ossyane Ketabdar's renunciation of both his father's revolutionary ardor and Clara, the Jewish woman whom their respective cultures, a world war, and the later (1948) Arab-Israeli War keep apart for many years, before a final bittersweet meeting seals their fates. Ossyanes recall of his thwarted life, recounted to Maalouf's sympathetic narrator, has several fine moments (especially when focused on his experiences, while living in Paris, with the Resistance). But, overall, both his pacifism and his passivity seem unfortunately generic, and his plight never fully engages our emotions. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Maalouf is a master storyteller. . . and his observation of human nature in all its facets is wonderfully accurate." -- David Robson, The Daily Telegraph --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 197 pages
• Publisher: Harvill Pr; 3rd edition (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860464475
• ISBN-13: 978-1860464478
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,283,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Triumph of Love, May 5, 2002

By 

Alaturka (Northport, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ports of Call (Paperback)

This is a very pleasant read. It is how a novel should be, effortless and touching essentially human issues, like love and destiny.

His third person narrative makes it interesting and allows Amin to voice his own thoughts throughout.

It is full of regional colors, characters and history, so typical of most of his writing. Quintessential Mediterane.

I was shocked to find out that his "Balthasar's Travels" is yet to be pubished here. I read the translation, it is a magnificient epic through medival Europe and Middle East, highly recommended also when it comes out this year. Amin is a master of historical context.

The heros of this book live a love story punctuated by wars, family tragedies and cultural and religious tensions. Most of the background events are the ones that have actually dominated our news for decades, but these folks actually live through it. In the end, their love seems to be the only thing that survives, or is it?

Highly recommended for a relaxing and warm reading that leaves a lasting taste and memory.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ports Of Call, April 17, 2001

By 

M. A. ZAIDI "Ali Zaidi" (Karachi; Pakistan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ports of Call (Hardcover)

The novel is the story of two ill-starred lovers in the Middle East. Ossyane, the principle narrator a muslim Ottoman prince and a hero of the french revolution and his beloved Clara a jew. Ossyane is a name which means `Rebellion' or "Disobedience'. When Ossyane's father gave him that name it represented a protest of an aristocratic but liberal man against history of sectarianism and violence that had characterized the world inherited from his Ottoman ancestors.

Ossyane tells of how he went to France, to become a doctor but instead became an accidental hero. He briefly meets Clara whom he meets again back home after the war. They marry in the after math of WWII; unfortunately the chaotic dislocations that ensure keep them apart for quarter of a century, during which time the prince is unjustly committed to a mental asylum of the insane. The marriage is presented here as an exemplary rejection of suspicion and hatred between people, most particulary in the Middle East.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maalouf at his best, January 16, 2001

By 

Diana El-Azar (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ports of Call (Hardcover)

This is my personal favourite from Maalouf. For those who like his historical research, you will appreciate this Levantine history. For those who like a good novel, you will fall for his love story and for those who look for an eloquent narrator and an excellent writer, you will marvel at his words. This is one of very few books that made me cry!