Arriving in Cordoba as a young man in 1088 to learn medicine, Yehuda Halevi is enchanted by a world in which Muslim, Jewish and Christian courtiers share poetry and philosophy in their elegant gardens. Here he falls in love with Deborah, the spirited daughter of his host. In this turbulent world, however, Yehuda also encounters invasions and pirates, book burnings and bandits.
Driven by conflict to move from city to city, Yehuda and Deborah are often parted - but always in the hope that they will one day return together to Cordoba. As Yehuda's fame grows as a poet and as a philosopher, his writings become increasingly mystical but also increasingly restless, for he yearns to travel to the holy city of Jerusalem. In 1140, as an old man, he must finally decide whether to stay with his family or begin the perilous voyage towards Egypt and Crusader Jerusalem...
In this beautifully evocative story, Robert L. Stone transports the reader to twelfth-century Andalucia as he traces the extraordinary life of a man determined to devote himself - and his exceptional talent - to a greater truth.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'It was a truly demanding ambition to follow the life of a great poet from his youth through to his old age against the rich, often turbulent background of the complex intellectual, religious and political history of life in 12th Century Andalusia and the wider Mediterranean arena. Yet while pursuing its narrative as a love-story and a quest for wholeness, the novel is filled with impressive scholarship and, more importantly, it is rich in insights founded in the various wisdom traditions.' Lindsay Clarke (author The Chymical Wedding, The Troy Quartet); 'The Golden Bell consistently paints word-pictures of people and places not just knowledgeable but insightful and revealing; always faithful to the historical facts, the story evidences the possibility of mutually enriching coexistence between the three Abrahamic faiths; and where history is silent - about the lives of Halevi's wife and daughter - Robert Stone portrays women as contributing equally to thought and life.' Rabbi Tony Bayfield, author of Beyond the Dysfunctional Family: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Dialogue
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Maße
Höhe: 198 mm
Breite: 129 mm
Dicke: 18 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-915036-53-7 (9781915036537)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Having gained a PhD in history and political anthropology from Cambridge University, Robert L. Stone has worked for many years advising governments on strategies to fight poverty, particularly in the wake of conflicts. He has a lifelong interest in how different cultures and ethnicities relate to each other - this, combined with his love of literature, is the inspiration for The Golden Bell.
