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elementchaos 's review for:
A Good Country
by Laleh Khadivi
I was one of the fortunate people to win this in a giveaway on Goodreads. I give this 4.5 out of 5.
I have not had a lot of practice in reviewing, so please forgive me!
I believe at the core, this is a coming of age story. This is the third book in a loose trilogy following an Iranian family through their troubled history in Iran to America and then, finally, back again. Are we in control of our fate? Is there any point in trying to change yourself or your future? This book, even after I turned the last page, kept me thinking for days. Pondering.
Laleh Khadivi is a cinematographer and a novelist born in Esfahan, Iran but now living in California. I am so glad I was given the chance to pick this book up because I am in love with her writing style. I am really curious what her filmography is like too.
Khadivi begins this book describing a typical 14 year old boy, Rez, with typical American teen problems. Being teased for not smoking a joint. Virgin, but desperately not wanting to be. A bit of a chemistry genius, but with a harsh unyielding father. The family had immigrated from Iran was now living, since before Rez's birth, in wealthy Southern Cali. His future is controlled and assured.
Until something breaks. He gets a B in history.
While this isn't really the breaking point I do think this is his first rebellion against his future. And unfortunately this coming of age story does not have a happy ending.
The style of this book took some getting used to. There are no quotation marks, making it very hard to distinguish from inner thought and speech. To distinguish Rez from other. But as the story progresses the lines begin to blur. What is Rez and what is not? How much is the boy and how much is it the environment shaping him.
Khadivi is in love with sentences, and she uses it like a weapon. There are too many beautiful ones to quote them all, but here is one I find deeply touching:
Choices. To make them yourself and then live by them. To know what to do with your own body and mind. A man made choices. A child did not make choices.....He considered himself, and the way he moved in reaction, like a pinball, from one thing to the next, as he was told, as was expected, as made the least friction, and the knew this was the lazy behavior of a scared boy.
I loved him so much, and every pain, every assault against his definition of self had me hurting for him. This book forces us to look at ourselves. Our actions, not matter how small, have consequences. This is a truly touching book and I hope many people love it like I do! I just wish I had known this was a series before I started this - though it is written to be read as a stand-alone. I am planning to start from the beginning as soon as possible!
I have not had a lot of practice in reviewing, so please forgive me!
I believe at the core, this is a coming of age story. This is the third book in a loose trilogy following an Iranian family through their troubled history in Iran to America and then, finally, back again. Are we in control of our fate? Is there any point in trying to change yourself or your future? This book, even after I turned the last page, kept me thinking for days. Pondering.
Laleh Khadivi is a cinematographer and a novelist born in Esfahan, Iran but now living in California. I am so glad I was given the chance to pick this book up because I am in love with her writing style. I am really curious what her filmography is like too.
Khadivi begins this book describing a typical 14 year old boy, Rez, with typical American teen problems. Being teased for not smoking a joint. Virgin, but desperately not wanting to be. A bit of a chemistry genius, but with a harsh unyielding father. The family had immigrated from Iran was now living, since before Rez's birth, in wealthy Southern Cali. His future is controlled and assured.
Until something breaks. He gets a B in history.
While this isn't really the breaking point I do think this is his first rebellion against his future. And unfortunately this coming of age story does not have a happy ending.
The style of this book took some getting used to. There are no quotation marks, making it very hard to distinguish from inner thought and speech. To distinguish Rez from other. But as the story progresses the lines begin to blur. What is Rez and what is not? How much is the boy and how much is it the environment shaping him.
Khadivi is in love with sentences, and she uses it like a weapon. There are too many beautiful ones to quote them all, but here is one I find deeply touching:
Choices. To make them yourself and then live by them. To know what to do with your own body and mind. A man made choices. A child did not make choices.....He considered himself, and the way he moved in reaction, like a pinball, from one thing to the next, as he was told, as was expected, as made the least friction, and the knew this was the lazy behavior of a scared boy.
I loved him so much, and every pain, every assault against his definition of self had me hurting for him. This book forces us to look at ourselves. Our actions, not matter how small, have consequences. This is a truly touching book and I hope many people love it like I do! I just wish I had known this was a series before I started this - though it is written to be read as a stand-alone. I am planning to start from the beginning as soon as possible!