Interesting - loved the Arabian fable feel of this tale, the historical aspect regarding Baghdad, and the development of the main character's background and family relationships. Didn't really enjoy the young lovers' story as much, but still interesting. ( )

A story based on an episode of theThousand and One Nights. It doesn't focus on the traditional protagonist, but on Abdulhassan, a pharmacist and alchemist who drifted into friendship with the Sultan. He's an old man now, but is drawn helplessly into the story of two youngsters while trying to do the right thing, and his fate is sealed by that. I found it slow to begin with, but enjoyed it very much in the end. The story mostly deals with love (of various kinds), absorption in things, age and life, but there's plenty of action amongst it. I enjoyed the portrayal of an unwittingly selfish old man who's doing his best to do good, without much idea or evidence of what's the right thing to do. It's a touching and interesting story, full of nice details: Abdulhassan's inability to understand his family; the challenges of life in an autocracy where you can be killed simply to quash a rumour; and the thoughts and friendship of old men. ( )

This book is a mixed bag. The plot goes from engaging and then became very loose and then returns to form, and so on. It is a fairy tale that is elongated to a novel length, and in that process loose some of the charm. As a fairy tale, the plot is simple. The characters do not grow, until the sudden growth spurt at then end of the book. The settings are beautifully done though, maybe the saving grace which made me keep reading.

This book manage to interest me long enough for me to finish the book, but at times it is painful to do so. ( )