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lillyminasyan's review
5.0
I believe this is my very first book written by Azerbaijani.
Banine’s memoire was very interesting (to say the least). It was an interesting insight of how people were living in the Caucasus in the beginning of the 1900’s. She was quite an open minded person and overall sounded unbiased for me.
I am also glad she talked about the Armenian-Azeri relation throughout her book and how Dashnaks had affected her life and how a good Armenian family took care of her.
Shows that in every nation there is a group that is just filled with hatred and is doomed by it.
The books is translated from French (I believe), not sure how well she has written in French, but the descriptions in English were very vivid and I did not get bored at all.
Noting, that her life was not a typical one, she was the daughter of one of the richest man in Azerbaijan, then they lost all of it to Bolsheviks and started their lives abroad, in France.
Definitely recommending this book, especially if you are as interested in history as me
Banine’s memoire was very interesting (to say the least). It was an interesting insight of how people were living in the Caucasus in the beginning of the 1900’s. She was quite an open minded person and overall sounded unbiased for me.
I am also glad she talked about the Armenian-Azeri relation throughout her book and how Dashnaks had affected her life and how a good Armenian family took care of her.
Shows that in every nation there is a group that is just filled with hatred and is doomed by it.
The books is translated from French (I believe), not sure how well she has written in French, but the descriptions in English were very vivid and I did not get bored at all.
Noting, that her life was not a typical one, she was the daughter of one of the richest man in Azerbaijan, then they lost all of it to Bolsheviks and started their lives abroad, in France.
Definitely recommending this book, especially if you are as interested in history as me
audreyapproved's review
4.0
Read around the world project - Azerbaijan
Insightful, eye-opening and pensive, yet very humorous. I really enjoyed this!
Insightful, eye-opening and pensive, yet very humorous. I really enjoyed this!
lit's review
5.0
Umm El-Banu Assadullayeva, más conocida como Banine, nació en Bakú, capital de Azerbaiyán a finales de 1905 en el seno de una familia de campesinos que, dos generaciones antes, se habían convertido en multimillonarios de la noche a la mañana tras encontrar petróleo en abundancia en sus campos. Así pues, nació rodeada de sirvientes y lujo en un tiempo en el que su país pertenecía al imperio ruso. Más tarde llegó la revolución rusa y, con ella, los bolcheviques, que confiscaron todos sus bienes y pertenencias obligándola, finalmente, a huir del país, primero a Turquía y, poco después, Francia, su destino final. Durante el libro vamos conociendo aquella región del Cáucaso (Bakú era una ciudad polvorienta y sucia, acuciada por un calor sofocante en verano), así como también las costumbres de sus gentes, especialmente de su familia, musulmanes, pero no demasiado estrictos, exceptuando a la abuela de Banine, que no tenía reparos en repartir sopapos e insultos a cualquiera que no le cayese bien. Adentrándonos en la lectura, vamos viendo cómo Banine se hace “adulta” (allá, a los 14 años una niña podía, debía, ser madre y ocuparse del marido, aunque por lo que vamos descubriendo en este libro, las mujeres eran bastante despiadadas con sus esposos). Finalmente, Banine tiene que huir, no sólo de los bolcheviques, sino también de la prisión moral a la que su padre le había condenado.