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776 reviews for:

The Blind Owl

Sadegh Hedayat

3.75 AVERAGE


"I may hope to be believed by others or at least to convince myself; for, after all, it does not matter to me whether others believe me or not. My one fear is that tomorrow I may die without having come to know myself."

will require several re-reads.

Ethereal and grisly. The hazy recollections of past events and the dreamlike inner monologue of the narrator makes this a fascinating read. Short and sweet, but an incredible amount of deeper meaning.
dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No

Reads like Iranian Poe, if he were actually addicted to opium. Dark. Hard to follow and gruesome. 
dark slow-paced
challenging mysterious tense slow-paced
dark sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I think there is something to be said about the cyclical nature of this work, but I feel the back cover description as well as the forward by the translator do the text a disservice, particularly in saying “one part justifies/reveals the truth of the other.” I like an unreliable narrator but boy, when you throw opium into the mix, it makes things hard to follow. I have no doubt that I might return to this text in the future, but many of its tricks/details felt easily identifiable to me on a first pass, while some of the cultural elements did go over my head.

«فقط می‌ترسم که فردا بمیرم و هنوز خودم را نشناخته باشم.»

درک و فهم این کتاب بدون شناخت سنبل‌ها و پیشینه‌ی فکری صادق هدایت ممکن نیست. کتاب بسیار ژرف و عمیقی‌ست که باید قدم به قدم باهاش جلو رفت و جرعه جرعه از تفکرات نوشید. قبل از بوف کور، بسیار از هدایت خونده بودم و از اونجا که عادت دارم ابتدا به سراغ چند کتاب نه چندان معروف نویسندگان برم و در آخر معروف‌ترین اثرشون رو بخونم، خواندن این اثر برام آسان و قابل درک بود چراکه اونقدر نوشته‌های هدایت و افکارش رو بررسی کردم که بخش کوچکی از مغزش رو از بر شدم، به همین خاطر هیچ چیز در این کتاب برام دور از ذهن و غیر قابل لمس نبود.

دوست دارم باز هم سراغ این کتاب بیام و بخونمش. شاید به زودی، شاید هم کمی دیرتر، ولی حتما میام و باز بهش سر می‌زنم.