Books

Democracy for all?

Paul E. Erdman’s colossal #1 bestseller novel -- The Crash of 79 -- was published in 1976 while the recent fuel crisis was very fresh in Western memories. It was an exciting novel, translating complex world monetary and economical issues into simple language for every reader to understand. Using real life personalities, as well as current affairs of the time, it made its message convincing and even made the false portray depicted by the Western propaganda machinery of the Shah of Iran during the 1970’s, more plausible. Nevertheless this calamitous prophecy written three decades ago has never been more pertinent than today>>>

Purim

Purim is one of the most Persian of Jewish festivals. The story is essentially about how Haman, the Amalekite vizier (not a Persian), tried to abuse his power to massacre all Jews and how this was thwarted by the courage of the Jewish Queen Esther, the wisdom of his uncle Mordechai and the decree of the King Achashverosh of Persia (usually identified with Xerxes) who commanded that Haman and his offsprings be executed on the same platform they had prepared for Mordechai>>>

The heart of the matter

In a publishing world where a majority of manuscripts are printed exclusively for the benefit of marketplace, it is uncommon to find the work of a new author in print simply on its own merit and because it was too good to reject. The Septembers of Shiraz is such a book. Not only is it written from the heart, but also the soft touch in Dalia Sofer’s style is a rare gift to readers who crave good literary work. True as it may be that the title could have been more relevant – as noted by several critics – by the time I realized this I was pulled so deeply into the story that I no longer cared. Ironically, the misleading title works to the book’s advantage because I doubt I would have picked it off the shelf if the title were Septembers at Evin, or any other that might have revealed its plot >>>

Whisper of a lover

Seven Valleys of Love, compiled and translated by Sheema Kalbasi, is written with a piercing clarity and a profound intensity of emotion. Her ability to preserve the integrity and poetical sensibility of the work is evident in her mastery of language, editing, and translation. Seven Valleys of Love is a vibrant celebration of extraordinary women’s voices. The colorful and lively verses in this dazzling collection emerge as small, quiet explosions out of the shadows of hopelessness and seek to inspire and restore peace, hope, and harmony in its people >>>

Dominating others

Published during revolutionary times in Iran in 1979, Missing Soluch is a 500-page tribute to the socialist ideas that so enthused the Iranian intellectuals and writers of that period. Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, who comes from a village in the north-eastern province of Khorasan, has worked in agriculture, as a craftsman, and in theater in Tehran. Published about ten years after the revolution, his longest novel and perhaps the longest existing Persian novel, Kalidar (10 volumes), earned him a permanent place in the history of Persian literature. Kalidar, is about the simplicity, dignity and bravery of ordinary people in a village in Khorasan>>>

Salt of the earth

In Shidmehr’s vastly imaginative novella, Shirin and Salt Man, a modern day Iranian woman named Shirin plans to elope with the mummy of an ancient salt miner preserved in brine and discovered in 1993 in Iran. She is not as fortunate as Nezami’s Farhad. Her insanity is not from love, but from neglect. She married the abusive Khosro, and now remorse has driven her to adultery with the pile of salted bones she imagines to be Farhad. Shidmehr’s Khosro is not a king like Nezami’s Khosro. Though the romantically obsessed heroine married him for his kingly name, he really just works at the ministry of Islamic Guidance >>>

Flowing with Forugh

Although a number of English translations of Forugh Farrokhzad's work have been published, many fail to capture the nuances of the Persian language, the incisive and edgy aspects of her mind, and her unique and powerful experience as a woman living through the turbulence of Iran’s 20th century modern history. I had the opportunity to interview Iranian-American poet-translator, Sholeh Wolpe and asked her about her role as the translator of the most recent collection of Forugh’s poetry, Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad and the way Forugh’s life and legacy has personally touched her. >>>

گناه

گرچه مترجمان بسیاری هم سعی داشته اند تا شعر فروغ را به زبان انگلیسی برگردانند و گاه ترجمه های غنی از ایشان خوانده ام اما بی شک شعله ولپی با حس شاعرانه و ممتاز خود یکی از زیباترین ترجمه های اشعار فروغ را در گلچین گناه برای خوانندگان به ارمغان آورده است. شعله با انتخاب و ترجمه این اشعار در عین حال به آگاه کردن مردم به وجود سانسور در ایران پرداخته است. بسیاری در جهان در مورد نقض حقوق بشر و استبداد حاکم بر ایران می دانند. با این وجود وظیفه هنرمند آن است که باز به افشای ستم بپردازد و توجه هر چه بیشتر جهانیان را به آن جلب کند. شعله با داشتن نامی آشنا در جامعه ادبی انگلیسی زبان به این مهم پرداخته است. وی در این تلاش یکی ازموفقترین ترجمه ها از شعر فروغ را ارائه داده است.>>>

نوروز در زندان

در راهروی بند سفره‌ای سراسری چیده شده بود و در دو طرف آن بچه‌ها نشسته بودند. در چندین نقطه از سالن، سفره‌های هفت‌سین پهن شده بودند. اسدالله و چند نفر دیگر از حواریونش! همگی با لُنگ کراوات زده و در طول بند رژه می‌رفتند و به شوخی کردن با این و آن پرداخته و به جشن و پای‌کوبی و شعرخوانی می‌پرداختند. یک نفر نیز اسدالله را همراهی می‌کرد که از او به نام” آقای فتو” نام می‌‌برد و با اشاره‌ی اسدالله از افراد مختلف با دوربین ساختگی‌ای که درست کرده بود، عکس می‌گرفت و تحویل آنان می‌داد. عکس‌ها چیزی جز نقاشی‌های ساده و ابتدایی بیش نبودند. مثلاً عکسی که ظاهراً از تواب‌‌ها می‌گرفت و به دست‌شان می‌داد، کره‌خری بود که چهار دست و پایش را هوا کرده بود. سیگارهایی ساختگی نیز به وسیله‌ی کاغذ، با استادی تمام درست شده بود که به لحاظ شکل ظاهری بسیار شبیه به سیگارهای واقعی می‌نمودند و در میان سفره‌ی هفت‌سین بند گذاشته شده بود>>>

Joy of cooking

This year, by sheer luck, I came across something wonderful, an item that could make a great Nowruz present for young parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and anybody who is in touch with young Iranians. It is Najmieh Batmanglij’s new book, Happy Nowruz: Cooking With Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year. In the tradition of Batmanglij cookbooks, this book offers excellent presentations of beautiful pictures, historical background, nostalgic memories, and of course pretty robust and fool-proof recipes. It is filled with decorating and cooking ideas we can share and do with children, celebrating our traditions and creating new memories. I should say that though I enjoy cooking very much, I have never warmed up to the idea of baking, feeling like a miserable failure every time I have tried it! >>>

The truth in black & white

The real breakthrough in Kaveh Golestan’s career as an independent photojournalist occurred during Iran’s 1979 revolution. He was honoured with the Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1979 for his coverage of the Islamic Revolution. His photographs from Ruhollah Khomeini’s arrival in Iran in late January 1979 and first public appearances at the Alavi school in Tehran were published in Time magazine. In the summer of 1979, he travelled to Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Khuzestan and Turkmen Sahra in the province of Khorasan and documented the first deadly confrontations between Kurds and Turkmens and the recently established armed forces of the Islamic regime>>>

Shock & awe(ful)

This book does more than describe complex patterns of torture techniques and offer explanations for their distribution. Torture and Democracy is also designed as an accessible and reliable sourcebook for citizens. No one these days is particularly surprised that torture has its supporters even in democracies. Since September 11, 2001, American officials have acknowledged using well-known coercive techniques on prisoners, and some influential Americans have justified torture in certain cases. And since Abu Ghraib, the world has become familiar with iconic images of American torture. Most people, though, don't know about the painful but clean tortures that now characterize so much policing around the world >>>

Vis & Ramin

Vis & Ramin is one of the world’s great love stories. It was the first major Persian romance, written between 1050 and 1055 in rhyming couplets. The plot, complex yet powerfully dramatic, revolves around royal marital customs unfamiliar to us today. Shahru, the married queen of Mah, refuses an offer of marriage from King Mobad of Marv but promises that if she bears a daughter she will give the child to him as a bride. Vis and Ramin had immense influence on later Persian poetry and is very probably also the source for the tale of Tristan and Isolde, which first appeared in Europe about a century later. The plot, complex yet powerfully dramatic, revolves around royal marital customs unfamiliar to us today >>>

The threat is still there

How likely do you think war is with Iran? KINZER: I fear that this prospect is still very real. The recent National Intelligence Estimate makes it impossible for the US to hope for broad support for new sanctions on Iran. This could mean that some people consider a military strike the only remaining alternative. People in the White House might decide that Iran is a looming threat that must be contained before it can rise. Manufacturing an incident, either in Iran, Iraq or the Gulf, would be easy, and it could become a pretext for war.>>>

زنی که دو بار اعدام شد

کتاب خانم وزیر تالیف منصوره پیر نیا آخرین شاهکار در بدنام کردن یکی از خوش نامترین زنان آزادی خواه، روشنفکر، دانشمند و مبارز ایرانی است که نامش در تاریخ اجتماعی نه تنها زن ایرانی، بلکه در جهان نیز می درخشد. شیوه محاکمه و اعدام این زن لکه ننگی است جاویدان بر پیشانی حکومت اسلامی. خانم فرخ رو پارسای را تنها به این دلیل که هرگز حاضر نشد در جلسات دادگاه یا حتی به هنگام اعدام چادر بسر کند در یک گونی بزرگ نهاده، سر گونی را محکم گره زدند و او را به دار آویختند. این واقعه ننگین البته در پرونده عدالت اسلامی ابدی است. آیندگان اگر هیچ چیز از کمالات و مبارزات آزادی خواهانه بانو فرخ رو پارسا که من و ما شاهد آن بوده ایم نخوانند و ندانند فاجعه اعدام او یادشان نمی رود و چه بسا زیر تاثیر این رویداد به دنبال شناخت حقایق تاریخی که او و پشت سر او ما ساختیم برود.>>>