- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
This stirring, poignant novel, based on real historical events that made of actual people true heroes, unfolds the tragedy that befell the Armenian people in the dark year of 1915. The Great War is raging through Europe, and in the ancient, mountainous lands southwest of the Caspian Sea the Turks have begun systematically to exterminate their Christian subjects. Unable to deny his birthright or his people, one man, Gabriel Bagradian—born an Armenian, educated in Paris, married to a Frenchwoman, and an officer doing his duty as a Turkish subject in the Ottoman army—will strive to resist death at the hands of his blood enemy by leading 5,000 Armenian villagers to the top of Musa Dagh, "the mountain of Moses." There, for forty days, in the face of almost certain death, they will suffer the siege of a Turkish army hell-bent on genocide. A passionate warning against the dangers of racism and scapegoating, and prefiguring the ethnic horrors of World War II, this important novel from the early 1930s remains the only significant treatment, in fiction or nonfiction, of the first genocide in the twentieth century's long series of inhumanities. It also continues to be today what the New York Times deemed it in 1933—"a true and thrilling novel ... a story which must rouse the emotions of all human beings." "Musa Dagh gives us a lasting sense of participation in a stirring episode of history.... Magnificent."—The New York Times Book Review "A novel full of the breath, the flesh and blood and bone and spirit of life."—Saturday Review
| Introduction | ix | |
| Book 1 | Coming Events | |
| 1. | Teskere | 3 |
| 2. | Konak--Hamam--Selamlik | 22 |
| 3. | The Notables of Yoghonoluk | 41 |
| 4. | The First Incident | 65 |
| 5. | Interlude of the Gods | 123 |
| 6. | The Great Assembly | 152 |
| 7. | The Funeral of the Bells | 236 |
| Book 2 | The Struggle of the Weak | |
| 1. | Life on the Mountain | 295 |
| 2. | The Exploits of the Boys | 338 |
| 3. | The Procession of Fire | 395 |
| 4. | Sato's Ways | 483 |
| Book 3 | Disaster, Rescue, the End | |
| 1. | Interlude of the Gods | 529 |
| 2. | Stephan Sets Out and Returns | 566 |
| 3. | Pain | 612 |
| 4. | Decline and Temptation | 637 |
| 5. | The Altar Flame | 679 |
| 6. | The Script in the Fog | 754 |
| 7. | To the Inexplicable in Us and Above Us! | 811 |
| List of Characters | 819 | |
| Glossary of Armenian and Turkish Terms | 821 |
Anonymous
Posted February 27, 2006
How do I begin describing this book? this marvelous novel penned by an Austrian writer who was not indebted to the Armenian people and owed them nothing. How do I describe and compress this eight-hundred page long book into a miniscule summary? The truth of the matter is, is that words alone cannot describe Franz Werfel's 'The Forty Days of Musa Dagh'. It is too grand a story that should, rather, be read by everyone and experienced to the greatest extent possible in the human spirit. The novel revolves around the life and culture of the Armenian people in a Western region of Syria in 1915. The Ottoman Empire, lead by the Young Turkish leadership have enacted the state-wide policy of genocide against the Armenians. Sensing the impending the danger, the 4,000 people of this region are forced to take shelter on the towering and biblical mountain of Musa Dagh. With a Turkish military force encircling the mountain, it is up to the Armenians to defend their way of life or die and vanish into history. I do not wish to impede on others' reviews and assert my position on whether or not they are correct, it is their opinions after all however, those who gave this book a one star rating did it out of malice and contempt over what they see as a misrepresentation of their country's history. Rather they looked at what the book was professing about and instead of placing what they thought of a well-written novel, they placed their version of the events of 1915. It is of no matter, it is up to the reader to gain an understanding from what the reviewer provides. Werfel composes a beaufiful note which instills the reader's spirt with much more than words, it gives them hope, it gives them proof that perhaps there are happy and positive stories that stem from tragedies. Werfel couldn't have done it any better.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 4, 2003
This half forgotten author wrote a masterpeace of the half forgotten fate of the first genocide of the 20th century
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 26, 2012
I've read this book three times: at age 18 (in Hungarian), and at age 38 and 60 respectively, in English.
No book I've ever read in my lifetime left me with such a deep understanding of how history and
human tragedy are intimately intertwined. A true masterpiece!
Thank you Franz Werfel for giving humanity such a legacy.
Anonymous
Posted February 1, 2013
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted March 15, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted July 14, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
This stirring, poignant novel, based on real historical events that made of actual people true heroes, unfolds the tragedy that befell the Armenian people in the dark year of 1915. The Great War is raging through Europe, and in the ancient, mountainous lands southwest of the Caspian Sea the Turks have begun systematically to exterminate their Christian subjects. Unable to deny his birthright or his people, one man, Gabriel Bagradian—born an Armenian, educated in Paris, married to a Frenchwoman, and an officer ...