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sarahelanany's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
wereallinthegutter's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
thebobsphere's review against another edition
4.0
One thing I like about the International Booker is that I’m exposed to quite a few interesting books. Never would I have believed that one day I would be reviewing a Persian Magical Realist novel.
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree breaks a lot of rules. First of all the narrator is dead. Secondly the book goes into some detail about the Iranian revolutions and there’s some scenes which guarantee a bit of chair squirming.
The narrator is Bahar and she is a ghost floating in and out of her family’s lives. Throughout the book she documents her family’s background, how she became a ghost and the destinies of her brother and sister. One is quite brutal and the other is surreal.
As this is a novel which focuses on magical realism, a lot of strange things occur : Black snow which kills all life, the narrator’s mother sitting on a tree for three days, underground glass palaces and mermaids ( imagine my delight when I read that passage)
Leaving the weird bits aside .. Greengage Tree is a political novel. Shookoofeh Azar writes about the kidnappings, torture, the cruel imprisonments, the book burnings (the book related sections are an absolute joy to read) and censorship.The thing is that no matter how bizarre these acts were, they actually happened.
I guess that’s the ironic aspect of this novel. Magical realism and the more cruel aspects of history can be blurred. By the end of the novel it’s difficult to distinguish between the two.
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree did take me by surprise. There were passages which I read greedily, while there were others which filled me a sense of unease. Not too many books can play with your emotions like that.
essjay1's review against another edition
3.0
A difficult book to read, yet one that lingers in the mind. It feels like an autobiographical story embedded in the style of magical realism. The tragedy of Iran is on every page, heartbreaking and infuriating in equal parts. I don’t know enough about Persian storytelling but it seems to me this book is rooted in those traditions while also using satire and myth to tell this miserable tale.
One of my favourite lines was towards the end, when Rosa is trying to label everything so that she doesn’t forget her words & not knowing where else to put some words (after having already labelled the vase, table, refrigerator etc): “Over her heart, she had sewn: love, heartsickness, lovemaking, sorrow, God and hope”.
One of my favourite lines was towards the end, when Rosa is trying to label everything so that she doesn’t forget her words & not knowing where else to put some words (after having already labelled the vase, table, refrigerator etc): “Over her heart, she had sewn: love, heartsickness, lovemaking, sorrow, God and hope”.
mislaid_circus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I found this book really educating at times, and because of the rich mysticism and cultural references behind it, i would love to say i really enjoyed it, and i've really been thinking about writing this review, but i just found myself getting lost so many times. it could be because of course i needed time to reflect on the tragedies i had just read, but sometimes the fantasy was too much, and i wasn't able to connect all the plot. i especially found the ending a bit weird, i just didn't expect the dad to be going to jail all of a sudden, though i guess that just explains how awful de iranian situation is. overall, i'd say there's many things to learn from this book, but focus is highly required and therefore i might reread it in the future.
diego_duguo's review against another edition
4.0
Mörg eftirminnileg atriði sem ég mun hugsa um í langan tíma.
gingerwithasoul's review against another edition
2.0
It is difficult to find books in the US in both Farsi and English, so I was quite excited to find this one: a book my husband and I can read together. I read it in English and my husband in Farsi.
He abandoned it at Chapter 12.
I finished it and feel conflicted. On the one hand, I love the cultural mysticism and ancient religion woven throughout the story. The beginning is strong. On the other hand, the strong beginning gives way to a muddle of magic that detracts from the story rather than adds to it. The folktale style of writing loses emotional depth on heavy topics as everything is told from the viewpoint of a narrator watching above as opposed to the characters experiencing it themselves. It is fun at first but gets tiring eventually. I would think perhaps that magical realism is not for me, and it is true it is not what I usually reach for, but I have enjoyed other novels in this genre. Life of Pi is one of my all-time favorites.
It is like a collection of short stories with a thin thread holding them all together which makes it a structural mess of a plot. Individually, a folktale style, magical realism, and lack of a coherent story would be fine, but I think it is the combination of all of the above that made it such a difficult read for me.
The final nail in the coffin is as we get to close to the end. I really don't know why she wrote it the way she did, as if all of Iran now 30-40 years post-Revolution supports the government and hates the West. The only thing I can think of is that she knew it would sell, and on that point, she is correct. Yet this type of Western pandering does nothing to help the Iranian people. This notion of people standing around burning flags and yelling "Marg bar Amrika" (or England in this specific novel) and assaulting and arresting men who wear neckties makes it appear as if most Iranians support the government, thus giving it legitimacy. In the US at least, this type of view fuels racism on the Right who reason that Iranians hate America and would be happy to drop atomic bombs on our shores and isolationism on the Left who reason that if the Iranians support their government, it's none of our business.
My husband found this scene of the man arrested for buying a necktie utterly ridiculous in present (or near present) day Iran. This type of depiction gives the wrong impression to non-Iranians of Iranians and their views on the West in a way that is unfair and not representative of the majority. Do some participate in such endeavors? Certainly. We see them on television often enough. But her only depiction of Tehran and recent Iran are the same angry mobs Westerners see on TV, and is not an accurate representation of the current state of affairs. This is ultimately what loses me in this novel. It is a novelized version of headlines from CNN and contains no nuance at all.
He abandoned it at Chapter 12.
I finished it and feel conflicted. On the one hand, I love the cultural mysticism and ancient religion woven throughout the story. The beginning is strong. On the other hand, the strong beginning gives way to a muddle of magic that detracts from the story rather than adds to it. The folktale style of writing loses emotional depth on heavy topics as everything is told from the viewpoint of a narrator watching above as opposed to the characters experiencing it themselves. It is fun at first but gets tiring eventually. I would think perhaps that magical realism is not for me, and it is true it is not what I usually reach for, but I have enjoyed other novels in this genre. Life of Pi is one of my all-time favorites.
It is like a collection of short stories with a thin thread holding them all together which makes it a structural mess of a plot. Individually, a folktale style, magical realism, and lack of a coherent story would be fine, but I think it is the combination of all of the above that made it such a difficult read for me.
The final nail in the coffin is as we get to close to the end. I really don't know why she wrote it the way she did, as if all of Iran now 30-40 years post-Revolution supports the government and hates the West. The only thing I can think of is that she knew it would sell, and on that point, she is correct. Yet this type of Western pandering does nothing to help the Iranian people. This notion of people standing around burning flags and yelling "Marg bar Amrika" (or England in this specific novel) and assaulting and arresting men who wear neckties makes it appear as if most Iranians support the government, thus giving it legitimacy. In the US at least, this type of view fuels racism on the Right who reason that Iranians hate America and would be happy to drop atomic bombs on our shores and isolationism on the Left who reason that if the Iranians support their government, it's none of our business.
My husband found this scene of the man arrested for buying a necktie utterly ridiculous in present (or near present) day Iran. This type of depiction gives the wrong impression to non-Iranians of Iranians and their views on the West in a way that is unfair and not representative of the majority. Do some participate in such endeavors? Certainly. We see them on television often enough. But her only depiction of Tehran and recent Iran are the same angry mobs Westerners see on TV, and is not an accurate representation of the current state of affairs. This is ultimately what loses me in this novel. It is a novelized version of headlines from CNN and contains no nuance at all.
tlaynejones's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, War, Sexism, Mental illness, Grief, Misogyny, and Death
donasbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Read Around the World Challenge 2023 -- Read a book set in or written by an author born in each of 50 countries on the Asian continent: Book 17 / 50: Iran
lamensolatraboccante's review against another edition
5.0
Iran 1979. La famiglia di Bahar fugge da Teheran per cercare di scampare alla Rivoluzione e si rifugia a Razan.
Una storia di dolore e di perdita, a tratti straziante se l'autrice non avesse infuso tutto in un mondo magico e surreale.
Non ho mai letto molti libri di questo genere, ma sono rimasta molto affascinata dal realismo magico presente in questo romanzo.
Una lettura preziosa, con dei contenuti forti che esaltano l'importanza e la bellezza della cultura, ho assaporato ogni parola!
Una storia di dolore e di perdita, a tratti straziante se l'autrice non avesse infuso tutto in un mondo magico e surreale.
Non ho mai letto molti libri di questo genere, ma sono rimasta molto affascinata dal realismo magico presente in questo romanzo.
Una lettura preziosa, con dei contenuti forti che esaltano l'importanza e la bellezza della cultura, ho assaporato ogni parola!