Censoring an Iranian Love Story
2 journalers for this copy...
goodreads summary:
"From one of Iran’s most acclaimed and controversial contemporary writers, his first novel to appear in English—a dazzlingly inventive work of fiction that opens a revelatory window onto what it’s like to live, to love, and to be an artist in today’s Iran.
The novel entwines two equally powerful narratives. A writer named Shahriar—the author’s fictional alter ego—has struggled for years against the all-powerful censor at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Now, on the threshold of fifty, tired of writing dark and bitter stories, he has come to realize that the “world around us has enough death and destruction and sorrow.” He sets out instead to write a bewitching love story, one set in present-day Iran. It may be his greatest challenge yet.
Beautiful black-haired Sara and fiercely proud Dara fall in love in the dusty stacks of the library, where they pass secret messages to each other encoded in the pages of their favorite books. But Iran’s Campaign Against Social Corruption forbids their being alone together. Defying the state and their disapproving parents, they meet in secret amid the bustling streets, Internet cafés, and lush private gardens of Tehran.
Yet writing freely of Sara and Dara’s encounters, their desires, would put Shahriar in as much peril as his lovers. Thus we read not just the scenes Shahriar has written but also the sentences and words he’s crossed out or merely imagined, knowing they can never be published.
Laced with surprising humor and irony, at once provocative and deeply moving, Censoring an Iranian Love Story takes us unforgettably to the heart of one of the world’s most alluring yet least understood cultures. It is an ingenious, wholly original novel—a literary tour de force that is a triumph of art and spirit."
This book is reserved for the Passport to the World VBB at bookobsessed.com
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A thoroughly enjoyable book. As an author, myself, I really enjoyed the author's little asides and discussions with himself about how uncooperative his characters were, how they got out of hand and took the story far away from what he had originally intended. I loved learning about things like why he chose this name or that, and *especially* loved learning so much about the culture that requires such metaphorical acrobatics of its modern authors. Like the author, I sincerely believe that if they keep it up, they will win a nobel literature prize for sure!
Thank you, zzz, for wishing for this wonderful book! I enjoyed discovering it through you.
"From one of Iran’s most acclaimed and controversial contemporary writers, his first novel to appear in English—a dazzlingly inventive work of fiction that opens a revelatory window onto what it’s like to live, to love, and to be an artist in today’s Iran.
The novel entwines two equally powerful narratives. A writer named Shahriar—the author’s fictional alter ego—has struggled for years against the all-powerful censor at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Now, on the threshold of fifty, tired of writing dark and bitter stories, he has come to realize that the “world around us has enough death and destruction and sorrow.” He sets out instead to write a bewitching love story, one set in present-day Iran. It may be his greatest challenge yet.
Beautiful black-haired Sara and fiercely proud Dara fall in love in the dusty stacks of the library, where they pass secret messages to each other encoded in the pages of their favorite books. But Iran’s Campaign Against Social Corruption forbids their being alone together. Defying the state and their disapproving parents, they meet in secret amid the bustling streets, Internet cafés, and lush private gardens of Tehran.
Yet writing freely of Sara and Dara’s encounters, their desires, would put Shahriar in as much peril as his lovers. Thus we read not just the scenes Shahriar has written but also the sentences and words he’s crossed out or merely imagined, knowing they can never be published.
Laced with surprising humor and irony, at once provocative and deeply moving, Censoring an Iranian Love Story takes us unforgettably to the heart of one of the world’s most alluring yet least understood cultures. It is an ingenious, wholly original novel—a literary tour de force that is a triumph of art and spirit."
This book is reserved for the Passport to the World VBB at bookobsessed.com
--------------******************--------------------------*******************
"..."
A thoroughly enjoyable book. As an author, myself, I really enjoyed the author's little asides and discussions with himself about how uncooperative his characters were, how they got out of hand and took the story far away from what he had originally intended. I loved learning about things like why he chose this name or that, and *especially* loved learning so much about the culture that requires such metaphorical acrobatics of its modern authors. Like the author, I sincerely believe that if they keep it up, they will win a nobel literature prize for sure!
Thank you, zzz, for wishing for this wonderful book! I enjoyed discovering it through you.
Journal Entry 2 by GateGypsy at in the mail, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Released 10 yrs ago (5/22/2013 UTC) at in the mail, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I bought this book to add to a virtual book box specifically because it was on my friend zzz's wishlist. I love his wish list! He always has such interesting books on it ;-) So I read this, loved it, and now it is on its way to him in Serbia. Enjoy, my friend!
Hey, thank you :) I'm glad you liked it (and therefore I'm sure I'll liked it too)
