Man of the Mountains

Man of the Mountains" is a book about a young Muslim Chechen boy, Zaur who becomes a central figure representing the fight of local indigenous people against both the Russians invading the country and Islamic radicals trying to take a leverage of the situation, using it to push their narrow political agenda on the eve of collapse of the USSR. After 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan by coalition forces, the subject of the Islamic jihadi movement has become an important subject for the Western readers. But few know about the resistance movement from the local intellectuals and moderates against radical Islamists taking strong hold in the area. "Man of the Mountains" offers a deeper look at the growing influence of Islamic radicals in the Caucasus, particularly in the northern part where the author is from, and its philosophy and operational tools on the ground.

Reviews:

"This new book, from the winner of the 2013 Open Central Asia Book Forum and Literature Festival, is a powerful work based on real experience that leaves its readers fully immersed in the history and mysticism of the Caucasus region.
A thrilling ride from start to finish."
- Nick Rowan, Editor-in-Chief of Open Central Asia magazine

In Abdulla Isa's ( Zaur Khasanov) novel, the reader is imbued with the fate of its colourful characters. The mystery of the soul becomes apparent and the reader witnesses violence and deceit, cowardice and betrayal, victory and defeat, and, in the end, heroism."

- National Writer of Kyrgyzstan, Kazat Akmatov

Using the I-perspective, the main character - a Chechen highlander - shares with us an almost ten-year period of his young life, mainly against the backdrop of two Russian-Chechen wars. With Wahabi influence increasing in his native village, leading to the mysterious death of his father, the main personage is drawn further into his odyssey. Guided by the historical figures of the Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi and Alexander the Great, Zaur is manoeuvring his future between the ranks of Chechen fighters on the one hand, and taking care of his family on the other hand. Then, a girl enters his life...

-Matthias van Lohuizen, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, Netherlands

As a British poet and critic, I found that Zaur Hasanov's (Abdulla Isa) novel Man of the Mountains reached an unexpectedly high plateau of literary attainment. Indeed, this impressive first person narrative immediately caught my attention due to the strength of its "highland" characters. All be they within an exotic, harsh, yet virile, Chechen cultural environment. However, in this surprisingly sophisticated tale of lost innocence and radicalization, it is the terrain itself which acts as the true protagonist. Unarguably, these living, rugged, landscapes gift Isa's "hero" (Zaur) with both an unending courage and naive foolhardiness typical of all those who mature amid titanic panoramas. And as such, this is a genuinely fascinating book worthy of a large international readership.

-David Parry, Poet and critic ( United Kingdom)