Average customer rating:
- Don't Bother
- A Rich Historical Novel
- Hurry up and finish
- The Triumph of the Sun
- Plot progresses very slowly
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The Triumph of the Sun
Wilbur Smith
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0312318405
Release Date: 2005-04-28 |
Book Description
From one of the world’s most celebrated and bestselling novelists comes an epic adventure in the spirit and tradition of Monsoon and Blue Horizon.
It is 1884, and in the Sudan, decades of brutal misgovernment by the ruling Egyptian Khedive in Cairo precipitates a bloody rebellion and Holy War. The charismatic new religious leader, the Mahdi or "Expected One," has gathered his forces of Arab warlords in preparation for a siege on the city of Khartoum. The British are forced to intervene to protect their national interests and to attempt to rescue the hundreds of British subjects stranded in the city.
Along with hundreds of others, British trader and businessman Ryder Courtney is trapped in the capital city of Khartoum under the orders of the infamously iron-willed General Charles George Gordon. It is here that he meets skilled soldier and swordsman Captain Penrod Ballantyne of the 10th Hussars and the British Consul, David Benbrook, as well as Benbrook’s three beautiful daughters. Against the vivid and bloody backdrop of the Arabs’ fierce and merciless siege these three powerful men must fight to survive.
Rich with vibrant historical detail and infused with his inimitable powers of storytelling, The Triumph of the Sun is Wilbur Smith at his masterful best.
Customer Reviews:
Don't Bother.......2007-09-09
My first encounter with Wilbur Smith and most definitely the last. Clumsy, incredibly wooden writing, cheap run-down metaphors of the old "The desert...she is like a woman, dangerous, fickle..." type. Ugh. The narrative resides firmly in the white, Euroecentric, Romance of/in Empire genre of pre-WWI. The Enemy is the "(Islamic) fanatic Mahdi", the good guys are the - brace yourself - white English, with their finely (English-) trained Egyptian soldiers and the Christian Abyssinians. Reading this, I certainly felt it is no accident that so many Americans are baffled by the Middle East.
The story line follows several characters with great predictability. In the end - who'd have guessed? - the clever, wily British officer slays the emir who enslaved him. Wow. Never saw that one coming. In addition, as a number of reviewers have noted, the ending chapters are incredibly rushed with a most bizarre "Wrap-up" at the end. Of course, the wrap-up is Whites Only. We do know that some of the Sidekicks of Color, those faithful servants to the white principals, end up OK...in that they continue to serve their masters.
What is most disappointing is not that someone would write this stuff - hey, people write anything...it's that it is so popular. Shame on us, Readers.
A Rich Historical Novel .......2007-05-13
Smith takes you to late 19th Century Northern Africa in Triumph of the Sun. The novel begins slowly but intentionally like a steam locomotive. He builds the characters, environment and culture for the story very methodically. Readers may wonder in the beginning when this novel is going to get going. Once the foundation is laid, the action builds and progresses. Smith writes exceptionally vivid scenes that put you right in the middle of the desert clashes between British & Islamic forces.
Smith does not avoid tragedy. His novels grasp reality and present the good and the evil of humanity. I think his character development is as good as any contemporary writer I have read.
As one previous reviewer has noted, Smith does succinctly wrap up the conclusion of the novel. His notes pertaining to how the characters lived out their lives are similar to the end notes on the screen of a movie that give a brief summary of future events. I didn't mind the wrap up but some of it could have been left to the reader's imagination.
Once you get into this novel, it is enjoyable and captivating.
Hurry up and finish.......2007-01-09
This was your normal Smith novel storyline that any who have read the majority of his work enjoys, however, I think it needed about 200 to 300 more pages to equal any of his better novels. About two thirds of the way through the adventure he started rushing as if he were trying to make a deadline or something. Even if it was a not to bad finish, I felt that there was much more that could be told to have made it a lot better read.
The Triumph of the Sun.......2007-01-04
I first started reading Wilbur Smith while living overseas. His books were not then available in the US. This latest Courtney adventure continues with as much excitement, historical fact, and great characterization as past works. I'm very pleased that his artistry is now readily available. I have his complete collection, all of which I've read at least twice.
Plot progresses very slowly.......2006-12-12
I have been a great fan of Wilbur Smith for many years and own and have read all is previous books with great captivation.
In "The Triumph of the Sun" I find that his plot moves forward ponderously slowly and becomes a real effort to read. I must confess I read about half the book and it is still lying incomplete and hopefully will get through the rest one day soon. This is so much in contrast to many of his previous books which I found so exciting and hard to put down, often burning the midnight oil to get to the end.
Book Description
A shocking true story of contemporary slavery: a young girl, snatched from her tribal village in Africa, survives enslavement in Sudan and London before making a courageous escape to freedom.
Mende Nazer lost her childhood at age twelve, when she was sold into slavery. It all began one horrific night in 1993, when Arab raiders swept through her Nuba village, murdering the adults and rounding up thirty-one children, including Mende. .
Mende was sold to a wealthy Arab family who lived in Sudan's capital city, Khartoum. So began her dark years of enslavement. Her Arab owners called her "Yebit," or "black slave." She called them "master." She was subjected to appalling physical, sexual, and mental abuse. She slept in a shed and ate the family leftovers like a dog. She had no rights, no freedom, and no life of her own.
Normally, Mende's story never would have come to light. But seven years after she was seized and sold into slavery, she was sent to work for another master--a diplomat working in the United Kingdom. In London, she managed to make contact with other Sudanese, who took pity on her. In September 2000, she made a dramatic break for freedom.
Slave is a story almost beyond belief. It depicts the strength and dignity of the Nuba tribe. It recounts the savage way in which the Nuba and their ancient culture are being destroyed by a secret modern-day trade in slaves. Most of all, it is a remarkable testimony to one young woman's unbreakable spirit and tremendous courage.
Customer Reviews:
Is there an end to shame?.......2007-10-16
This book explores a very uncomfortable truth: this is the 21st century and slavery still exists. Following a murderous raid in her native Nuba village in Sudan, Mende Nazer was kidnapped in 1994 with other native children from that area. Her simple tribal life surrounded by a loving, united family came to an end that night. Sold to an Arab family in Khartoum, she learned to survive by "simply" enduring her fate. She was stripped of dignity and humanity, her desperation worsened by the lack of information about the rest of her family, not knowing whether they had survived the raid. It all made her plunge into a deep depression. She was humiliated, beaten and psychologically abused to a devastating extent and for several years. She was later "passed on" to another family, related to the one in Khartoum. This second family lived in London and it was there, in the year 2000, that Mende's fate changed.
This story is a condensation of facts reported simply and clearly by Mende in first person, beginning with her childhood (a very happy one despite her painful female circumcision at a very young age) all the way through her life and up until the events leading to freedom in London. She was helped in this process by journalist Damien Lewis and the result is a compelling read, where all is pieced together in a very accessible way. Mende's young and sober voice emerges with a powerful resonance in its quiet simplicity, a sad reminder of contemporary slavery. It's like a blow knocking the air out of you.
I am omitting details as the reading would be spoiled (also, many reviews and the product description itself are clear enough). I abstain from commenting as the book comments itself and also because, no matter how "used" we are to hear about atrocities nowadays, it is difficult to convey in written words the outrage in the knowledge that such horrors still exist. Just one thing: this should be a compulsory read. It is not only informative and an eye-opener. It also goes to show that, thankfully, goodness still exists despite everything and it unites everybody, irrespective of race, religion, social background.
Sad but excellent story of courage and the will to survive!.......2007-09-27
Mende's story is told in such a simple way. It's as though her emotional growth was put on pause at age 12 - in that she remains very child-like in her response to what's going on around her. Maybe this is what kept her from truly being consumed by hatred toward those who took the most precious thing from her - her family.
It's an excellent read and I'd definitely recommend it. What struck me most was Mende's comments about how she was a good Muslim and did not understand how other's who were supposed to be of her same faith treated her as or worse than the animals they kept as pets!
I think that it was her loving family and tribal life that probably played a great role in giving her the courage to continue on and finally seek means to escape - even though she often writes of her fears. This emotional armor kept her strong and proved to be a real life-line for her when things were the worst.
Difficult Subject - A call to action.......2007-07-23
This is a tough book but one that you must read.
Mende grew up in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. Her family and her tribe are black Africans who lived in peace until the government of Sudan (Arabs in contrast) raided her village and disrupted their peaceful and simple existence. While both followers of Islam, the Nuba were viewed as inferior due to their race and Mende was taken from her family and enslaved. She was stripped of her identity as a Nuba, forced to forgo her faith (one that she shared with those enslaving her), and treated as disposable.
Her story is remarkable in that she survived. Many of her friends taken captive with her did not. This is an unremarkable story in that there are an estimated 27 million slaves worldwide.
My suggestion: read this book and then find some way to help the 27 million Mende's of the world that are relying on you to put an end to slavery for good.
The Nasty Truth Revealed!!! .......2007-06-14
Anyone that desires to get to the crux of the Sudanese abuses needs to look no further. This is a brilliant first-hand account of attrocities committed by the Sudanese government with active colaboration between the Sudanese army and the Janjaweed militia.
The only difference from the harsh realities laid out by this awesome work is that in the recent past, the Sudanese government has become more desperate since they discovered oil in the Western & Southern parts of the country. This has led to even further abuse, and so for anybody that thinks what happened in this book is bad, just imagine it 2 or 3 fold worse than it was in the period the book relates to.
Sudanese and other Arab societies have (prior to the western-world's involvement) and still actively engage in slavery as described in this book.
It's high time the world took a stand against such flagrant abuse of human rights in a more comprehensive & robust way. Mende is one of the lucky few who ever escape the cycle & she needs to be made the face and encouraged to give public talks & presentations in the fight against this canker of society.
Narrative Comes Alive.......2007-06-11
I found this writing something of a watershed for the purpose of capturing the psychological mechanisms and cultural place of slavery from the first person. It will be my primary frame of reference. Although the account of Mende Nazer's specific case, the sole subject of this book, was never corroborated by the text of the British Home Office determinations of 2002 and later, it none the less credibly brings life to, and brings fairly detailed mechanical observation of what a slave experiences within Arab culture. (In light of the Darfur situation, the prevalence of this latter phenomenon is not credibly disputed.) If you want to gain an internalized feeling for what a young African slave feels, thinks, and survives, as well to fathom what a slaveholder might think, feel, and do to establish pyschological influence over a slave within the cultural context of this book, well, this is the book to buy. (Steve Hassan's books on overcoming cult mind control, for me, make a very illuminating complement to this story.) It does as well expose a fundamental juxtaposition between vices within Arab culture and that culture's inextricable centrality to the Islamic religion (a faith with which Arab culture is portrayed to be in conflict in this book).
Book Description
Before there was Osama bin Laden, Abu al-Zarqawi or Ayatollah Khomeini, there was the Mahdi-the "Expected One"-who raised the Arabs in pan-tribal revolt against infidels and apostates in the late 19th-century Sudan. Born on the Nile in 1844, Muhammed Ahmed grew into a devout, charismatic young man, whose visage was said to have always featured the placid hint of a smile. He developed a ferocious resentment, however, against the corrupt Ottoman Turks, their Egyptian lackeys, and finally the Europeans who he felt held the Arab people in subjugation. In 1880, he raised the banner of holy war, and thousands of warriors flocked to his side. The Egyptians dispatched a punitive expedition to the Sudan, but the Mahdist forces destroyed it. In 1883, Col. William Hicks gathered a larger army of nearly 10,000 men. Trapped by the tribesmen in a defile at El Obeid, it was massacred to a man. Three months later, another British-led force met disaster at El Teb. Prime Minister William Gladstone ordered a withdrawal from Sudan, and dispatched one of Victoria's most celebrated heroes, General Charles "Chinese" Gordon, to effect the evacuation. Instead, Gordon was besieged by the Mahdi at Khartoum. In an epic contest pitting military innovation and discipline against religious fervor, the Mahdi and Gordon dueled throughout 1884, while the British government hesitated to send relief. On January 26, 1885 a treacherous native (or patriot, depending on one's point of view) let the Mahdist forces into the city of Khartoum. Gordon, realizing that the end was at hand, donned a white uniform, took up his sword, and walked out upon his palace steps. He was hacked to death by jihadists and his head was carried around the city on a pole. A British relief column arrived two days later. The Mahdi died shortly afterward, yet his revolt had succeeded. The British vacated the territory for almost 15 years until in 1899, led by Herbert Kitchner, they returned to forestall encroachments by other European powers. The Mahdist forces were crushed at the Battle of Omdurman, and the great jihad temporarily dissolved into the desert, not to be renewed for another century. In today's world the Mahdi's words have been repeated almost verbatim by the Muslim jihadists who have attacked New York, Washington, Madrid and London, and continue to wage war from the Hindu Kush to the Mediterranean. Along with Saladin, who once defeated a holy war, the Mahdi stands as an Islamic icon who once launched his own successful crusade against the West. This deeply researched work reminds us that the "clash of civilizations" that supposedly came upon us in September 2001 in fact began much earlier. This book is essential reading for all those who seek to understand the roots of our current relationship with Islam. REVIEWS "... For those looking to find the origins of the extreme terrorism now gripping the planet, this book is the ideal starting point. Butler (Age of Cunard) has extensively researched the struggle for empire in the late 19th-century Middle East among Egypt, Great Britain, and Muhammed Ahmed, the Mahdi-or "Expected One"-of what was then the Sudan. This struggle reached the world stage with the siege of Khartoum by Sudanese rebels in 1884 and the subsequent massacre of the Egyptian inhabitants and their British defender, Gen. Charles Gordon. It culminated in the destruction of Mahdist forces at the Battle of Omdurman in 1899. The jihad dissolved into the sands of the desert only to be renewed 100 years later, and the similarities between these two events-the jihads, then and now-are frighteningly real. Although Butler states that his initial purpose was not to draw that parallel, the facts are there for all to see. Highly recommended."-David Lee Poremba, Haines City P.L., FL, Library Journal March 1, 2007 "...key to understanding not only the Mahdi, but his ongoing importance to events happening today."J Cox, California Bookwatch, 7-07 "...lays important tracks into the study of terrorism, fundamentalism and the early clashbetween Islam and Christianity..."Publishers Weekly 1/8/07
Customer Reviews:
College-level collections strong in Middle East history and culture need this........2007-07-27
Before Bin Laden or Hussein there was the Mahdi, the 'Expected One' who raised the Arabs in a revolt against infidels in 19th century Sudan - and THE FIRST JIHAD: THE BATTLE FOR KHARTOUM AND THE DAWN OF MILITANT ISLAM is key to understanding not only the Mahdi, but his ongoing importance to events happening today. The Mahdi's army crushed forces dispatched from British Egypt to half his uprising, succeeded in unifying much of the Arab world, and developed early winning military strategies: THE FIRST JIHAD focuses both on these military encounters and on the biography and background of Muhammed Ahmed, whose charisma was to spark action among peoples. College-level collections strong in Middle East history and culture need this.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
This is how it all started!.......2007-05-23
Islam is shown at it's core beliefs in this book. This book gives you an understanding of what it's all about, and where it's going. Eva-Christ Makes you wonder if that angel of light in that cave, who gave Muhammad the Quran, really was?
Customer Reviews:
History repeats.......2006-08-19
To understand the troubles that sprang from the deserts in the last decade, one might trace Osama Bin Laden's journey to Sudan between 1994 and 1998. The al-Qaeda we now know is in many ways the spiritual inheritor of the philosophy and traditions of the Mahdist uprising in the Sudan of the 1880's.
Between than and now, little seems to have changed, but the names of the actors and the colours of the uniforms.
The reader is drawn with precise detail into the era, and advanced through the stages of the campaign. The politics and heroism of both sides is shown in balance, and the collision between two very different worlds made real.
This incredibly readable book makes me think of George Santayana who commented 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'
Book Description
Early in 1881 unrest in the Sudan began to crystallise around Mohammed Ibn Ahmed el-Sayyid Abdullah. Proclaiming himself the long-expected Madhi, the Guided One of the Prophet, he preached that the Sudan was to be purged of its Egyptian oppressors. Drawn in by the Egyptian failure to deal with the situation, the British sent General Gordon to organise an evacuation. On reaching Khartoum however, General Gordon believed, incorrectly, that the Madhi could be reasoned with. Instead of negotiating, the Madhi besieged the town for 317 days. This title looks in particular, although not exclusively, at the battles fought by the British columns sent to relieve Khartoum.
Customer Reviews:
Puts It All Together--Vastly Superior to State Department.......2001-12-02
I read this book at the same time that I read the quasi-official story on Sudan ("Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict, and Catastrophe") and I have to say, not only is this collection of edited articles--and the editorial summary--quite pleasing in its professional grasp of history, its depth, its coverage of the core issues in a comprehensive and actionable way--but it also causes me extreme anguish when I compare it to what can only be described as a self-centered mediocre State Department memoire.
This is good solid stuff. It is especially helpful in setting aside the superficial views that ethnic conflict or European-drawn borders are the root of Sudan's internal conflict issues, and it cuts to chase: "it's about wealth, simpleton!".
The history of Sudan is well-drawn out, with the bottom line being that the southerners and their especially rich territory have been constantly besieged and ravished by the northern elite. The only time of peace in the 200 year war has been when the British imposed that peace, and there is a suggestive air about that finding.
The varied discussions of genocide and "cultural cleansing", including the forced rape of the women in the groups being eradicated, and the use of famine to kill two million, are dismaying in the extreme.
"Ecology and economics provide controlling metaphors." This is an excellent summary of the book.
Also helpful is the book's coverage of the relations between Egypt and Sudan (both historical and current), the explicit (northern) Sudanese sponsorship of terrorism and hosting of many Islamic and other terrorist groups within its territory, and the general references to the varying influences of the Turks, the British, and the missionaries.
This is a serious book, by serious people, and it does the Sudan issues full justice. One puts the book down feeling somewhat aghast at the ignorance of the U.S. government, the incapacity of the United Nations, and the blatant malevolence of the northern Sudanese predators. This book is strongly recommended for any person who wonders about their government's competence and compassion. Sudan is a cancer, not just within Africa, but within the larger world, and the continued acceptance of the genocide and slavery and related plagues that characterize this place call into question the legitimacy, the ethics, the accountabilty, of all Western governments.
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Gordon Of Khartoum (History Makers (Christian Focus))
Pollock, John
Manufacturer: Christian Focus
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ASIN: 1845500636 |
Product Description
376 pages plus Index. Gordon was a prolific correspondent, and much the most important source for a biography of him is his own letters, of which by far the greater number are unpublished. Of these, thanks to the generosity of these owners, I have been fortunate enough to examine hundreds, I could almost say many thousands.
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