Reviews

Touba and the Meaning of Night by Shahrnush Parsipur

davidpatricx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

keetham's review against another edition

4.0

This book took me so.long.to.read. It was an interesting book, especially if you're into magical realism, but it was taxing to read and so I found myself avoiding it (it's really overdue to be returned to the library). It reminds me of 100 years of solitude in that it tells the story of a place through a personal story. Touba and the Meaning of Night tells the story of 20th century Iran through it's many revolutions and changes. There were moments where I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The foreword warns of this though, that it's a translation and unless you know Islam and the context of Iran you won't really get it. I feel like a scratched the surface of this book

lilibuus's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

samikoonjones's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

logantmartin's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My feelings about this book slid from page to page. In one moment I was bored by the dry writing style, in the next I was amazed by the complex characters with deep histories. Parsipur's commitment to telling the story of one woman's whole life often leads to a lack of focus and intrigue, but the philosophical tidbits scattered throughout the work made me put the book down and think for a few minutes. Touba is full of contradictions that aren't entirely unpleasant, but that do leave much to be desired.

melanie_reads's review against another edition

3.0

This book is part of my quest to read more non-western literature and what better place to travel than Iran. Recognizing that I live a completely different experience, especially in the world of women's rights, what was most disappointing about Touba as a character is that she starts out so strong and in opposition to doing as society dictates. And yet she grows into an old woman seeped in tradition that proves irrelevant in the new world she finds herself in. Realistic future for many an average citizen. But Touba from which all life is born? Sorry, I wanted more ...

disreputabledog's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

chelle's review

2.0

I couldn't get through the book. I think part of it is my lack of historical context, but it was just slow moving and I was not engaged enough to be motivated to finish it.