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granbeck's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty great, and the descriptions of the many events taking place in a divided Tehran, Iran, horrifyingly real. The language was colourful yet easily understood and the stories of the people were devastatingly moving. I definitely recommend giving this a read; the only thing I found lacking was that there were many perspectives, characters and time lapses that were involved, which was somewhat confusing and I found myself many times going back to past parts of the book to check facts and make sure that I understood everything correctly.
audaciaray's review against another edition
4.0
Huge, historical things happen in this book about children and parents in Iran from 1983 to 2011. And yet, it has a slow pace to it because the huge things that happen happen largely outside of the detailed scenes in the book. The history of oppressive regimes and rebellions are the back drop, but it's essentially a character study. Really compelling interwoven stories, though you don't exactly get to know any one character with depth, there's a depth to the characters considered as a whole.
harrisgrace's review against another edition
5.0
i read this for a class on political imprisonment and the author actually came to speak to us about it and her personal family history!! so cool
teresa_r's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Siento cierta culpabilidad por darle una baja nota a este libro. La idea que plantea es preciosa: seguimos las historias de diferentes personas que participaron en las revueltas de Irán en la década de 1980 y de sus descendientes a lo largo de los 2000s. Poco a poco descubrimos cómo sus vidas están entrelazadas y, lo más importante, cómo la cárcel ha definido las experiencias vitales de las dos generaciones que protagonizan la obra de Delijani. La esperanza y la frustración se dan la mano y moldean la vida de unos iraníes que viven, ya sea como partícipes o como espectadores que se han visto forzados a migrar, las esperanzas que promete el cambio, su fracaso y las consecuencias que éste tiene.
Y pese a esta premisa, el libro acaba resultando flojo. El ritmo se hace excesivamente lento y las ideas no acaban de desarrollarse del todo. Hay demasiados personajes y sus historias son demasiado cortas, por lo que cuesta recordar cómo se vinculan entre ellos y, lo más triste dado la dureza de lo que se relata, al final no he conectado con ninguno de los personajes.
Y pese a esta premisa, el libro acaba resultando flojo. El ritmo se hace excesivamente lento y las ideas no acaban de desarrollarse del todo. Hay demasiados personajes y sus historias son demasiado cortas, por lo que cuesta recordar cómo se vinculan entre ellos y, lo más triste dado la dureza de lo que se relata, al final no he conectado con ninguno de los personajes.
mohogany225's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was such an emotional, and eye-opening read! It did seem to jump around amongst the characters a bit too much for me, but this book was a lovely read!
This book is set in Iran, starting after the revolution and moves through time to present day. It centres on a neighbourhood where many families had people arrested and sent to Evin Prison as political prisoners, and follows both the family members inside the prison, and the families left outside. Once some of the adults are released from the prison, the families struggle with finding some sort of normalcy as they all deal with their time in prison.
This was an incredible story to get to read, and I found it very emotional at times. The strength of the women who had to look after the children that were left when their parents were arrested, then to return them once they were released years later, is incredible. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and with the jump in time, I can get tricky keeping everyone straight. But this was so interesting a story that it was easy to put in that effort.
This book is set in Iran, starting after the revolution and moves through time to present day. It centres on a neighbourhood where many families had people arrested and sent to Evin Prison as political prisoners, and follows both the family members inside the prison, and the families left outside. Once some of the adults are released from the prison, the families struggle with finding some sort of normalcy as they all deal with their time in prison.
This was an incredible story to get to read, and I found it very emotional at times. The strength of the women who had to look after the children that were left when their parents were arrested, then to return them once they were released years later, is incredible. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and with the jump in time, I can get tricky keeping everyone straight. But this was so interesting a story that it was easy to put in that effort.
tine1789's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Dit boek trok mijn aandacht ten eerste door die prachtige cover en ten tweede door het lovende citaat van Khaled Hosseini. Het verhaal zelf wordt niet chronologisch verteld en switcht voortdurend tussen een groot aantal personages. Dit maakte het wat moeilijk om te volgen. Ook stoorde de schrijfstijl me. Delijani gebruikt heel veel vergelijkingen en weinig voegwoorden, waardoor sommige stukken wat "overdreven" geschreven waren en sommige wat "droog". Hierdoor dwaalde mijn aandacht soms af.
Tegelijk heb ik heel wat goede dingen te zeggen: het verhaal heeft wel vaart, vooral in het begin zitten er spannende stukken. Daarnaast is het ook heel aangrijpend: Delijani heeft het gebaseerd op de ervaringen van haar eigen familie en die authenticiteit is duidelijk merkbaar als je verhaal leest. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik een keer met mijn mond open heb gezeten En hoewel de schrijfstijl me soms stoorde, heb ik ook een paar heel mooie zinnen gelezen in dit boek.
Het is een vrij kort boek (278 bladzijdes) en je komt over elk personage wel iets te weten. Ondanks dat er geen tijd was om welk personage dan ook volledig uit te diepen, heeft Delijani een mooi gevarieerde cast van karakters gecreëerd.
Dit boek trok mijn aandacht ten eerste door die prachtige cover en ten tweede door het lovende citaat van Khaled Hosseini. Het verhaal zelf wordt niet chronologisch verteld en switcht voortdurend tussen een groot aantal personages. Dit maakte het wat moeilijk om te volgen. Ook stoorde de schrijfstijl me. Delijani gebruikt heel veel vergelijkingen en weinig voegwoorden, waardoor sommige stukken wat "overdreven" geschreven waren en sommige wat "droog". Hierdoor dwaalde mijn aandacht soms af.
Tegelijk heb ik heel wat goede dingen te zeggen: het verhaal heeft wel vaart, vooral in het begin zitten er spannende stukken. Daarnaast is het ook heel aangrijpend: Delijani heeft het gebaseerd op de ervaringen van haar eigen familie en die authenticiteit is duidelijk merkbaar als je verhaal leest. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik een keer met mijn mond open heb gezeten
Spoiler
Ik had wel een voorgevoel over Behrouz' dood, maar tegelijk hoopte ik nog dat hij het op de een of andere manier zou overleven. Hij werd heel abrupt uit zijn cel gehaald en opgehangen, en hierdoor was ik toch geschokt. Ik vind dat Delijani die scène heel goed heeft geschreven en dat ze de verwarde gevoelens van het moment heel goed heeft overgebracht.Het is een vrij kort boek (278 bladzijdes) en je komt over elk personage wel iets te weten. Ondanks dat er geen tijd was om welk personage dan ook volledig uit te diepen, heeft Delijani een mooi gevarieerde cast van karakters gecreëerd.
lauralh05's review against another edition
3.0
This was alright, a quick read. I liked several of the characters and found myself wanting to know more about them. I feel like they could have been a bit more fleshed out, or the book slightly longer. It seemed that I would just get to know a character and the author would move on, keeping you always on the outskirts.
misspalah's review against another edition
4.0
“She could only see them as three reflections of one body. Three in one, like the branches of a tree, the jacaranda tree in their courtyard. One could never tell where the tree ended and the branches started. That was what they were, the three children: the tree and its branches."
- Sahar Delijani, Children of the Jacaranda Tree
.
.
This book was written on the account of Author’s experience of being born in the Notorious Evin Prison in Iran. She written back what her mother went through as she went into the labor, she was held in a room for hours and at the same time being interrogated while enduring the pain. The book began with Azar’s POV of going through the same as experience as the author’s mother. As you might wonder why the title is “Children of Jacaranda Tree”, it is because this is a story of the children of those who were being detained in Iran during and after the revolution of the 1980's. Throughout the book, we explored the life of Iranian political prisoners in the 1980s, the mass killing of leftist prisoners in 1988, the long term impact of imprisonment on relationships between former prisoners and their children. The imprisonment did directly affected the author as Delijani's uncle was killed by the regime as he was the only one remain during the mass killing of prisoners in 1988. He had been arrested six years before, along with his two brothers, his wife and Delijani's mother. From the opening scenes of a prison birth to receiving clothes from prison officials after the death of her husband while in custody, this is how ghosts of revolution cast a long shadow on everyone’s lives. Throughout the stories that are entangled with ech other, we followed Azar who gave birth to Neda but could not take care of her as she was being taken away soon from her arms. Then, Leila, Azar’s sister appeared in the story dedicating her life to take care her niece and at the same time other kids that has been taken in by both Azar’s and Leila’s Parents. Then, we followed entirely different story but this time, A story of Amir, Maryam and their daughter, Sheida who never met her father as he never made it out alive of the prison. We saw the dilemma of Maryam who wanted to leave the country and we saw why Sheida felt betrayed knowing her father is not dead due to cancer but being executed. There are other children’s tales too,l like Dante where he was being abandoned when their parents are arrested and brought up with other family members.Delijani's writing is truly gorgeous. It felt real, like you were the spectator when she’s describing what the characters felt like and how certain situations unfolded. I deducted 1 stars because some of the characters are not developed well and it is disjointed to the point you get confused that you have to trace back which character you are following. Other than that, what an evocative novel.
- Sahar Delijani, Children of the Jacaranda Tree
.
.
This book was written on the account of Author’s experience of being born in the Notorious Evin Prison in Iran. She written back what her mother went through as she went into the labor, she was held in a room for hours and at the same time being interrogated while enduring the pain. The book began with Azar’s POV of going through the same as experience as the author’s mother. As you might wonder why the title is “Children of Jacaranda Tree”, it is because this is a story of the children of those who were being detained in Iran during and after the revolution of the 1980's. Throughout the book, we explored the life of Iranian political prisoners in the 1980s, the mass killing of leftist prisoners in 1988, the long term impact of imprisonment on relationships between former prisoners and their children. The imprisonment did directly affected the author as Delijani's uncle was killed by the regime as he was the only one remain during the mass killing of prisoners in 1988. He had been arrested six years before, along with his two brothers, his wife and Delijani's mother. From the opening scenes of a prison birth to receiving clothes from prison officials after the death of her husband while in custody, this is how ghosts of revolution cast a long shadow on everyone’s lives. Throughout the stories that are entangled with ech other, we followed Azar who gave birth to Neda but could not take care of her as she was being taken away soon from her arms. Then, Leila, Azar’s sister appeared in the story dedicating her life to take care her niece and at the same time other kids that has been taken in by both Azar’s and Leila’s Parents. Then, we followed entirely different story but this time, A story of Amir, Maryam and their daughter, Sheida who never met her father as he never made it out alive of the prison. We saw the dilemma of Maryam who wanted to leave the country and we saw why Sheida felt betrayed knowing her father is not dead due to cancer but being executed. There are other children’s tales too,l like Dante where he was being abandoned when their parents are arrested and brought up with other family members.Delijani's writing is truly gorgeous. It felt real, like you were the spectator when she’s describing what the characters felt like and how certain situations unfolded. I deducted 1 stars because some of the characters are not developed well and it is disjointed to the point you get confused that you have to trace back which character you are following. Other than that, what an evocative novel.
frilledutt's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
trankin's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully-written. Compelling story based on the author's family history in Iran over a 25-year period of time. The author was born in a prison in Tehran where her parents were political prisoners. The narrative jumps around between several characters and their individual stories. My only complaint, it sometimes was hard to remember which stories went with which characters.