I don’t really know what I think of this book.
On the one hand, I found Mandanipour’s description of the agonies of being a censored writer fascinating. An American writer can simply sit before their computers and let the words flow, but an Iranian writer must constantly think about whether or not a sentence or word may be seen as provocative or corrupting in the eyes of the Islamic Republic. And isn’t it interesting that use technologies purchased from the hated West in order to monitor and purify their literature? Talk about hypocrisy.
However . . .
On the other hand, the love story was quite dull, not to mention ridiculous. Dara was an insane stalker, in my opinion. Rather like an Iranian Florentino Ariza (from Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera). My impression of Sara is that she’s a spoiled child. She liked male attention in a society where it was banned. Liked watching their jealousies and the rivalries for her love. First Sinbad and Dara, then Dara and Farhad. She kept insisting that Dara prove his love for her in idiotic and childish ways, as if she actually wanted him to get arrested. Until, that is, it happens. But does she learn her lesson? No. She just has to flirt with the good doctor at the wedding. See? Ridiculous!
There is one good thing about the love story: I also kind of liked the idea of a Hashashin in modern-day Tehran. It was an interesting twist to the story. I was also amused by the references to other novels an stories integrated into the text.
Censoring an Iranian Love Story is certainly an enlightening read, but not very entertaining.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment