--- product_id: 118778790 title: "Balthasar's Odyssey Kindle Edition" brand: "amin maalouf" price: "NZ$28" currency: NZD in_stock: true reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/118778790-balthasars-odyssey-kindle-edition store_origin: NZ region: New Zealand --- # Balthasar's Odyssey Kindle Edition **Brand:** amin maalouf **Price:** NZ$28 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Balthasar's Odyssey Kindle Edition by amin maalouf - **How much does it cost?** NZ$28 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/118778790-balthasars-odyssey-kindle-edition) ## Best For - amin maalouf enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted amin maalouf brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![Balthasar's Odyssey Kindle Edition - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yNn+NTFoL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Exchanging views-- a meditation on communication and history. *by F***B on Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2006* I have to confess that I did not expect to enjoy Balthasar's Odyssey. I had chosen it on the strength of The Crusades Through Arab Eyes and it was only after I bought it that I became aware of the mixed reviews and the unhappy readers.I am pleased to say that in the end I enjoyed it quite a bit. Far from discouraging me in reading further in the Maalouf novels, it has encouraged me to think that I will enjoy the rest of his work. I will be picking up Samarkand next, I think.The key to enjoying Balthasar's Odyssey is in having the proper expectations before you read the book. Based on my two-book selection I will say that Maalouf writes history like a novelist, and novels like a historian.I can understand why so many readers were irritated. Maalouf does not tie up his loose ends. Unexplained motivations remain unexplained. Things are lost and never found again. Conversations remain unfinished and characters disappear, never to reemerge. If you are looking for a plot in a restorative Hollywood sense, you will not find it in this book.What Balthasar's Odyssey is about, fundamentally, is communication. Balthasar is a Levantine seller of books and antiquities. His family came to the Levant from Genoa, and are famous for being foreigners-- "the last Genoese to come to this part of the world." The quest for the book "The Hundredth Name" takes him on an amazing journey to Constantinople, the Mediterranean, London and France-- all in the aid of finding an answer to a question that he is not even sure needs answering.Along the way, he meets people from all over the world. He travels with a mysterious Persian prince, becomes close to a woman in London just prior to the great fire, flees through France with an Austrian emigrant, and finally has to come to terms with his "own"-- Genoese families who know him by family name rather than in person.The trip and its goal are largely incidental. The beauty of this book are in the moments of communication that Balthasar is able to find with his fellow travellers. If you set those conversations and efforts at cultural understanding against the backdrop of 1666 (the year of the beast), you have a complex and quietly cutting commentary that just as easily applies to our own time as it does to history.The translation seemed largely very good (aside from a tendancy to over-use exclamation points) and Maalouf is a very good writer. The journal form works well for the subject, but does take a little bit of persistence on the part of the reader in the beginning.I would recommend Balthasar's Odyssey to people who like intelligent historical literary fiction. It will probably appeal more to people who like Pamuk than it will to fans of Eco. A potential readers should be comfortable with non-traditional plotting and not be expecting too much in the way of resolution. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great book *by H***K on Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2008* This book, as are most of Amin Maalouf's books, is amazing, the story is very well told and it is captivating. I bought it after having read it years ago in my school library, and I've read it several times over the years.I strongly recommend this book to anyone, it is a great read, very enjoyable. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The history is intriguing, the author's elegance is remarkable ... *by C***G on Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015* The history is intriguing, the author's elegance is remarkable but I felt bit frustrated to not know more about the content of the Hundred name. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nz/products/118778790-balthasars-odyssey-kindle-edition](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/118778790-balthasars-odyssey-kindle-edition) --- *Product available on Desertcart New Zealand* *Store origin: NZ* *Last updated: 2026-04-24*