In March Book Haul blog, I wrote that I will be a very happy person during this month for the reason that I would be reaidng Iranian Literature. I couldn't have been more right! I managed to read 5 books, 4 fiction and 1 nonfiction, this month and each of these books answered to my yearning of living in Iran with Iranian people. Iran, her people and her culture, combined make, not only for a wholesome and fulfilling literature, but also for an equally fulfilling life. Not that I have lived in Iran, I haven't even visited it, but I can imagine how living there for a long period and getting to know the natives and their culture, would really be something close to a realization of a lifelong dream. Anyways, let's get to the specifics and see what each of five books that I read during this month meant to me.
1 - The Gardens of Consolation by Parisa Reza
First of all, Parisa is a beautiful name. Reza's novel, too, was equally as beautiful and fulfilling novel. I couldn't have picked a better novel to start this month of reading Iranian Lit. Starting from the eacly 1900s, Reza's novel than spans across the years telling a story of struggle, changing times, and push and pull between the old and new people of Iran, and ends in 1953 coup which dethroned Mossadegh, Iranian Prime Minister. It was the only novel that wrote about the early 1900s Iran, and for that, it beautifully contrasted with the changing times of decades that would follow. Beautifully written, obersvantly described, and intimately told novel.
2 - The Stationary Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
One of the best, and geniune, love stories I have ever read. Also, one of the best ending ever, which only makes the love story that much more heart-wrenching. Kamali's novel starts in the tumultuous times of 1950s Iran, and in its course, goes back to 1910s for a short while to tell an important side-plot, and ends in USA of 2010s. It's a novel about love, patriotism, life-changing misunderstandings, moving to a new country and starting a new life, and above all, it's a novel about keeping love alive, regardless of the separation.
3 - The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
This turned out to be a masterpiece. Nominated for the Booker International Prize last year, Azar's novel was too new to strike me so deep; yet it did. Both a heart-drowningly tragic story and an imaginatively beautifully written novel, Azar's novel is about an individual and collective grief that most of Iranian went through after the promising yet bleak Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini. On the political side, this novel countered to a biography of Khomeini that I had read in 2019, and in doing so balanced my perspective on one of the much cherished and condenmed revolutions.
This was a unplanned, side read for me. Reading Kundera is never disappointing, though he can be a bit frustrating to read at the beginning if you haven't read him before, for he has always something uniquely weird and significant to say about human life. In this short novella, he writes about the identity and how, even our closest and loveliest people, can be hard to identity, for identity itself and ever changing, elusive trait. Read it and enjoy!
5 - Patriot of Persia by Christain de Bellaigue
The name, the much lauded man, Mohammad Mossadegh kept appearing in the first two novels I read in this month; so much so that it intrigued me into reading a nonficiton on the man alone. I am so glad I did: not only is this book the story of a patriot, but also a champion of democracy, which sadly didn't see his day due to the inconsiderate anc cruel policies of 1900s goliaths. The 1953 prime minister of Iran, Mossadegh wanted to nationalize Iranian oil and bring democracy into Iran, both of which were warning signs for the British and US at that time, so they plotted a coup to dethrone him. Welcome to the coup! would be a fitting subtitle for this book.
6 - The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat (*reading)
Appearing on the few lists of must-read Iran Lit that I went through, Hedayat's novella is considerate literary classic from Iran. While I'm still reading it, I can however attest to the well-established fact that this indeed is a classic work of literary fiction. A meditation on truth and fiction and where the line blends into their elusive relationship. Beautifully written. *review coming