English translation published 2022

Summary

In 1990, when trying to save an Armenian from being killed by a group of Azerbaijanis, Sadai Sadygly, an Azerbaijani himself, was nearly beaten to death. A friend intervenes and rushes him to the hospital, where he languishes in a coma. 

While in the coma, he dreams of his hometown of Aylis and the people he knew there, including his father-in-law, his childhood friends and two kind Armenian women. In 1919, under the leadership of Adif Bey, the Armenian population of Aylis was slaughtered and though Sadai has no memory of that time, it continues to haunt him. He had never understood the rivalry between the two peoples who had lived in peace for centuries. 

In his dreamlike state, Sadai also reflects on the corruption of the government. The old leaders have been overthrown, but he has no faith in perestroika because he believes equally corrupt leaders will fill the void.

People have changed to the point of the being unrecognizable. It’s so terrible, Moposh, that there didn’t turn out to be a single spiritual authority in the whole country who was able to tell people the truth, who was unafraid for his own skin. Where is our humane nation? Where is our intelligentsia? I’ve felt that for a long time.

Stone Dreams, P. 93

My Thoughts

Because of this book, the author, Akram Aylisli, has lost his right to leave his country or even his city. He has been under virtual house arrest for 12 years. He lost his state pension. His wife and sons lost their jobs. This book and all of his prior books were removed from the shelves, burned and banned. There have been protests outside his apartment building calling for his death. His “crime” was showing sympathy to Armenian victims of ethnic cleansing while failing to mention Armenian crimes against Azerbaijan.

This is a book that deserves to be read for these reasons alone.

It’s a short story of just over 100 pages, but it took me two weeks to read it. The writing is dense, and a lot of the cultural references were unfamiliar to me, so I chose to stop to research them. 

The concept behind the story – seeing the dreams of a man in a coma – was an interesting stylistic choice. Because of the dreamlike state of Sadai, the story does occasionally have a feeling of being disjointed  as he jumps about through his memories. Ultimately, the reader is never really meant to care about Sadai, but the reader is meant to care about ethnic cleansing and corruption. The stories about the 1919 slaughter are powerful.

The author’s love for his hometown is evident in the writing. He paints a beautiful picture of the region. 

Challenges

I’ve chosen this book to represent Azerbaijan in both my personal Around the World in 193 Books challenge and the Read Europe 2024 Challenge.

About the Author

Akram Aylisli is the pen name of Akram Najaf oglu Naibov. He chose the last name Aylisli out of his love for his hometown. Aylisli is a novelist, playwright, and former member of parliament. He has been under virtual house arrest since 2012 when Stone Dreams was first published.

About the Translator

Katerine E. Young is a poet and a translator of literature from the Russian language. She has been nominated for and won awards for both her own writing and her translations. To learn more about her and her work be sure to check her website.