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Aslında bir Arap çöl efsanesi olan Leylâ ve Mecnun hikâyesi, Arap edebiyatında bedevi geleneklerini yansıtan derinlikli bir gelişme çizgisi izler. Bu acılı aşk serüveni, Arap edebiyatından daha çok İran ve Türk edebiyatlarında hayat bulmuş, en güzel ve en görkemli meyvesini Osmanlı şairi Fuzulî'nin kaleminden vermiştir. Türk edebiyatının önde gelen eserlerinden biri olan Fuzûlî'nin Leylâ ve Mecnun'u, üslûp ve ifade güzelliği, bir çöl menkıbesini tasavvufun duyguları coşturan ve insan ruhunu kanatlandıran açılımlarıyla yoğurup bir lirizm çağlayanı haline getirmiştir. İnsani özü korumasındaki... more Aslında bir Arap çöl efsanesi olan Leylâ ve Mecnun hikâyesi, Arap edebiyatında bedevi geleneklerini yansıtan derinlikli bir gelişme çizgisi izler. Bu acılı aşk serüveni, Arap edebiyatından daha çok İran ve Türk edebiyatlarında hayat bulmuş, en güzel ve en görkemli meyvesini Osmanlı şairi Fuzulî'nin kaleminden vermiştir. Türk edebiyatının önde gelen eserlerinden biri olan Fuzûlî'nin Leylâ ve Mecnun'u, üslûp ve ifade güzelliği, bir çöl menkıbesini tasavvufun duyguları coşturan ve insan ruhunu kanatlandıran açılımlarıyla yoğurup bir lirizm çağlayanı haline getirmiştir. İnsani özü korumasındaki başarısı, insanı gerçekten etkileyen içtenliği ve yazıldığı dönemin birçok sosyal, kültürel, estetik, dini ve tasavvufi bilgi özelliklerini yansıtarak dünya edebiyatlarının şaheserleri arasında anılır. Yüzlerce yazma ve basma nüshası bulunan bu hikâye yüzyıllar boyunca hep okunmuş ve çoğaltılmış. Eser günümüzde de birçok kez basılmıştır. Son kez İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Öğretim Üyesi Prof. Dr. Muhammet Nur Doğan, Leylâ ve Mecnun'u yeniden okudu ve özgün metni şiirli bir dille günümüz Türkçesine çevirdi; çok sayıda açıklayıcı ve bilgilendirici not ve yirmi iki minyatür ekiyle yayına hazırladı. Yüzyıllardır aynı heyecan ve coşkuyla anlatılan bu efsaneyi günümüzde yeniden Fuzulî'nin eksiksiz metniyle okumak, başka bir dil tadını da beraberinde getiriyor. less 
Nigar Hasan-ZadehYes. It’s the same story but it was rewritten many times by different Eastern poets in different shapes and forms – because nobody could imitate or wanted to imitate the original style. But Fuzuli’s version, from the beginning of the 16th century, is the best. The main difference in this version is that he is talking about the love story not so much between a man and a woman but between man and... (Source)
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Nigar Hasan-ZadehNizami (1141-1209) is the greatest poet of Azerbaijan and one of the most significant poets in the whole of Asia. He was born and grew up in Ganja, spending all his life in that region. He is the apostle of Eastern poetry and his Khamseh, his five epic poems, are his most famous work. He wrote in Farsi and today I think interest in his poetry is growing again. He invented the idea of Utopia and... (Source)
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In its first years as an independent state, Azerbaijan was a prime example of post-Soviet chaos - beset by coups and civil strife and astride an ethnic, political and religious divide. Author Goltz was detoured in Baku in mid-1991 and decided to stay, this diary is the record of his experiences. more In its first years as an independent state, Azerbaijan was a prime example of post-Soviet chaos - beset by coups and civil strife and astride an ethnic, political and religious divide. Author Goltz was detoured in Baku in mid-1991 and decided to stay, this diary is the record of his experiences. less 
Thomas de WaalTo my mind this is the best on-the-ground inside account of what it was like to live in the margins of the Soviet Union as it broke up. (Source)
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First published in Vienna in 1937, this classic story of romance and adventure has been compared to Dr. Zhivago and Romeo and Juliet. Its mysterious author was recently the subject of a feature article in the New Yorker, which has inspired a forthcoming biography. Out of print for nearly three decades until the hardcover re-release last year, Ali and Nino is Kurban Said's masterpiece. It is a captivating novel as evocative of the exotic desert landscape as it is of the passion between two people pulled apart by culture, religion, and war.
It is the eve... more First published in Vienna in 1937, this classic story of romance and adventure has been compared to Dr. Zhivago and Romeo and Juliet. Its mysterious author was recently the subject of a feature article in the New Yorker, which has inspired a forthcoming biography. Out of print for nearly three decades until the hardcover re-release last year, Ali and Nino is Kurban Said's masterpiece. It is a captivating novel as evocative of the exotic desert landscape as it is of the passion between two people pulled apart by culture, religion, and war.
It is the eve of World War I in Baku, Azerbaijan, a city on the edge of the Caspian Sea, poised precariously between east and west. Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Muslim schoolboy from a proud, aristocratic family, has fallen in love with the beautiful and enigmatic Nino Kipiani, a Christian girl with distinctly European sensibilities. To be together they must overcome blood feud and scandal, attempt a daring horseback rescue, and travel from the bustling street of oil-boom Baku, through starkly beautiful deserts and remote mountain villages, to the opulent palace of Ali's uncle in neighboring Persia. Ultimately the lovers are drawn back to Baku, but when war threatens their future, Ali is forced to choose between his loyalty to the beliefs of his Asian ancestors and his profound devotion to Nino. Combining the exotic fascination of a tale told by Scheherazade with the range and magnificence of an epic, Ali and Nino is a timeless classic of love in the face of war. less 
Per GahrtonThis is the story of a guy and a girl from different ethnic and religious groups falling in love, and the surroundings give this depth. Tbilisi now seems completely Georgian, but 100 years ago there were more Armenians than Georgians. (Source)
Nigar Hasan-ZadehIt’s a novel, and really it’s a love story between a young Muslim Azeri man and a Christian Georgian woman and it’s full of historical, cultural, political facts. (Source)
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Mikhail Bulgakov, Diana Burgin, Katherine Tiernan O'Connor | 4.45
Mikhail Bulgakov's devastating satire of Soviet life was written during the darkest period of Stalin's regime. Combining two distinct yet interwoven parts—one set in ancient Jerusalem, one in contemporary Moscow—the novel veers from moods of wild theatricality with violent storms, vampire attacks, and a Satanic ball; to such somber scenes as the meeting of Pilate and Yeshua, and the murder of Judas in the moonlit garden of Gethsemane; to the substanceless, circus-like reality of Moscow. Its central characters, Woland (Satan) and his retinue—including the vodka-drinking black cat, Behemoth;... more Mikhail Bulgakov's devastating satire of Soviet life was written during the darkest period of Stalin's regime. Combining two distinct yet interwoven parts—one set in ancient Jerusalem, one in contemporary Moscow—the novel veers from moods of wild theatricality with violent storms, vampire attacks, and a Satanic ball; to such somber scenes as the meeting of Pilate and Yeshua, and the murder of Judas in the moonlit garden of Gethsemane; to the substanceless, circus-like reality of Moscow. Its central characters, Woland (Satan) and his retinue—including the vodka-drinking black cat, Behemoth; the poet, Ivan Homeless; Pontius Pilate; and a writer known only as The Master, and his passionate companion, Margarita—exist in a world that blends fantasy and chilling realism, an artful collage of grotesqueries, dark comedy, and timeless ethical questions.
Though completed in 1940, "The Master and Margarita" wasn't published in Moscow until 1966, when the first part appeared in the magazine "Moskva." It was an immediate and enduring success: audiences responded with great enthusiasm to its expression of artistic and spiritual freedom. less 
Rupert IsaacsonIt’s all about compassion for yourself, for others and really how ultimately that’s all that matters. (Source)
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