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A review by naddie_reads
The Devils' Dance by Hamid Ismailov
3.75
"The Devils' Dance" is a fictional account of Abdulla Qodiriy, one of Uzbekistan's most well-loved literary figures. In 1938, he was imprisoned along with many other writers, poets, learned intellectuals, and professionals during Stalin's Great Terror, and many of them were dispatched off on trumped-up charges during this time.
In this, Ismailov imagines what the famous writer could have gone through while in prison. Additionally, there's another book within this book as Ismailov further extends his imagination to include Qodiriy's unfinished third novel titled Emir Umar's Slave Girl, rumored to have been completed but is now lost and presumably destroyed by the NKVD (Soviet Union's now-defunct agency tasked to look after prisons and labor camps, and is responsible for the prisoner massacre depicted in this book). So in essence, you have two books in "The Devils' Dance", wherein writer (& now political prisoner) Qodiriy spends his time in prison trying to finish his third novel in his head.
This is the second book I've read from Ismailov, and there's definitely a pattern to them. His novels tend to weave in the narrator's story with Asiatic folklore and poetry, which means we get several tales within a tale. Since there isn't much translation of Uzbek works readily available, I can't compare it with other novels written by Uzbek writers, but I have a feeling poetry plays a major role in their storytelling.
I'm still not too sure not to make of this one. While I enjoyed it for what it was, I still feel like the two threads of the story felt disjointed, almost as if they were haphazardly patched together. It does make for a rather disorienting read at times, trying to keep track of all the different characters and timelines running around the book. Ultimately, though, I'm glad I read this and I especially appreciated the afterword that gives the context of making sense of the intertwining storylines.
This book will not be for everyone and can be an acquired taste; it's best if you have some appreciation for non-linear storytelling and a semi-complex narrative. Also, get ready to crack your head open over the meaning of each poem and how it bears to the characters' present circumstances because there will be a lot of those. Best of luck!
In this, Ismailov imagines what the famous writer could have gone through while in prison. Additionally, there's another book within this book as Ismailov further extends his imagination to include Qodiriy's unfinished third novel titled Emir Umar's Slave Girl, rumored to have been completed but is now lost and presumably destroyed by the NKVD (Soviet Union's now-defunct agency tasked to look after prisons and labor camps, and is responsible for the prisoner massacre depicted in this book). So in essence, you have two books in "The Devils' Dance", wherein writer (& now political prisoner) Qodiriy spends his time in prison trying to finish his third novel in his head.
This is the second book I've read from Ismailov, and there's definitely a pattern to them. His novels tend to weave in the narrator's story with Asiatic folklore and poetry, which means we get several tales within a tale. Since there isn't much translation of Uzbek works readily available, I can't compare it with other novels written by Uzbek writers, but I have a feeling poetry plays a major role in their storytelling.
I'm still not too sure not to make of this one. While I enjoyed it for what it was, I still feel like the two threads of the story felt disjointed, almost as if they were haphazardly patched together. It does make for a rather disorienting read at times, trying to keep track of all the different characters and timelines running around the book. Ultimately, though, I'm glad I read this and I especially appreciated the afterword that gives the context of making sense of the intertwining storylines.
This book will not be for everyone and can be an acquired taste; it's best if you have some appreciation for non-linear storytelling and a semi-complex narrative. Also, get ready to crack your head open over the meaning of each poem and how it bears to the characters' present circumstances because there will be a lot of those. Best of luck!