The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry: Is Tamerlane a Real Book?

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The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is a charming and bittersweet movie that lets viewers into the life of A.J. Fikry (Kunal Nayyar), the owner of a bookstore who stays to himself. The movie takes place on Alice Island—which is a peaceful place. It deals with grief, love, and second chances. After his wife died, A.J. was sad, and his bookstore was slowly going out of business. But then two unexpected events happened that changed his life forever. The first is the theft of a rare and valuable book by Tamerlane. The second is the leaving of Maya, a two-year-old girl, in his bookstore. These events set A.J. on a path to learn more about himself as he deals with the difficulties of being a father, falling in love, and the looming question of what life is all about.

As A.J.’s story goes on, Tamerlane is more than just a plot device; it becomes a symbol of loss, identity, and redemption that echoes the deep emotional themes running through both A.J.’s life and the story as a whole. But there’s still an interesting question: Is Tamerlane a real book?

Is Tamerlane a real book?

Edgar Allan Poe

In The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry—the book that drives the plot—a rare and highly coveted edition of Tamerlane—is not simply a creation of fiction. It is based on a real book penned by none other than Edgar Allan Poe. But what makes this book so special, and how does it fit into the story of A.J. Fikry’s life?

The Real Tamerlane

A.J. Fikry talks about Tamerlane as a rare book of poems that he loves in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. A.J. hopes that the book will give him the money he needs to retire comfortably, so it has a lot of sentimental and financial value. The truth is that Edgar Allan Poe did write Tamerlane, but the story is strange and interesting.

The Tamerlane that is talked about in the movie came out for the first time in 1827. The poem wasn’t published under Poe’s name, though; it was given to “A Bostonian.” The first edition was printed in just 50 copies, making the book very rare and valuable. This lack of things is like A.J.’s personal losses throughout the movie, as he deals with his wife’s death and the theft of his valuable book.

In its original form, Tamerlane was a poem about the life of Timur, who defeated the Turks and Mongols and is now known as Tamerlane in Western literature. This poem, on the other hand, is not a true story about Tamerlane’s life. Instead, Poe uses the character to talk about things like love, loss, and regret. Tamerlane, the main character of the poem, is a conqueror who gives up love and relationships to gain power. On his deathbed—Tamerlane thinks about the choices he has made and feels bad that he gave up love for glory.

The poem’s themes of loss, regret and identity are a lot like the problems A.J. Fikry had. I think that A.J. is driven by his grief and the weight of his past, just like Tamerlane is by his need for power. This affects the choices he makes throughout the movie. Along with being a part of the story—Poe’s Tamerlane is also a literary allegory for A.J.’s own journey of healing and finding herself.

The Significance of Tamerlane in A.J.’s Life

The fact that Tamerlane is a part of A.J. Fikry’s story makes it more complicated. A.J.’s fixation on the book is a sign of how he wants to hold on to the past. After losing his wife and then having his rare book stolen, he has been through a lot of terrible things. Tamerlane is the only thing that could make him feel safe again.

A.J.’s life is shaped by the book in many ways. His relationship with the mysterious thief who steals Tamerlane changes him, and it leads him to take in Maya, an abandoned child whose life will change in the end. Just like Tamerlane is a book about loss and regret, A.J.’s life changes when he lets go of the past and looks forward to the future. This is where the similarities between the poem and A.J.’s story really shine through.

A.J. wants Tamerlane more than anything else, but Maya, the daughter he adopts out of the blue, is the real treasure in his life. Just as Tamerlane, the character in Poe’s poem—is ultimately haunted by his choices. A.J. learns that the most meaningful things in life are not material possessions but the connections we form with others.

Tamerlane and Its Echoes in Poe’s Life

Poe wrote ‘Tamerlane’ when he was only 17 years old and going through a rough time in his life. The themes of the poem were deeply influenced by his own losses—such as the death of his mother and the end of his relationships. The lines of Tamerlane—in which the main character of the poem struggles with the weight of the choices he made in the past, remind us of Poe’s hard and sad life.

As the story goes on in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, the theft of Tamerlane forces A.J. to face his own mistakes and losses. Identity, loss and the choices we make are big ideas in Tamerlane, and A.J.’s own emotional journey is a lot like them. The poem, like A.J.’s life, makes you think about what you give up to reach your goals and what you have left over when those goals fail.

The Rare and Valuable Tamerlane in the Film

The tension between the past and the present is shown by A.J.’s rare edition of Tamerlane in the movie. The book comes from something A.J. doesn’t want to give up, but it’s also what he’s lost the most. When the book is stolen, A.J. has to face how fragile his life is, just like Poe’s main character has to face the results of his choices.

In The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, the story of Tamerlane is never directly linked to A.J.’s personal growth, but there are strong themes that link the two stories. The hero’s life in Poe’s poem is shaped by regret and the desire for power. In the same way, A.J. Fikry’s journey is one of dealing with grief, regret, and finally coming to terms with the fact that loss is a part of life.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is a poignant exploration of how books—and the stories they contain—reflect the lives we lead. Tamerlane, the rare and valuable book that is at the center of the movie, is more than just a plot device; it’s also a metaphor for A.J.’s own journey. Even though it’s a real book by Edgar Allan Poe—having it in the movie is like hearing the loss and love that shape A.J.’s life. There are themes in both the poem and the story of A.J. Fikry that go beyond questions of identity and the choices we make when things go wrong. It’s not the rare book that defines A.J.’s life, but the people and relationships he values, just like Poe’s Tamerlane shows us that love is the most valuable thing in the end.

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