Scan barcode
A review by farrahjune
In the Time of our History by Susanne Pari
4.0
The story was interesting and kept me wanting to read more, especially during the second half.
I was sometimes somewhat perturbed by the way that iranians and Iran were often portrayed throughout the book. I do understand that the story takes place a few decades ago and that views and certain behaviours might have been different or seen in a different light then. However as a half iranian myself I can't help but think that despite the few nuanced descriptions or addition of some positive aspects of our culture and the people, most readers that aren't familiar with Iran will mostly see its people as uneducated or weird, even potentially like savages after reading the descriptions from this book. I feel like the author didn't do quite a good job of separating the government and the people, even though those issues are discussed several times. Probably it's because of the way that the author (who is iranian also) actually views the situation and thus I respect their opinion but feel like it's a shame if it leads some people to misunderstand some aspects if the culture, especially during these times of revolt from the people in Iran and its implications as well as the US's stigmatization of the country.
Other than that, I enjoyed the book and felt for the characters, a truly heart-breaking story. It was sometimes empowering and well written, not redundant and nice to have different pov to keep it interesting. I cried, laughed and smiled, and felt like giving a phone call to my mamanbozorg
I was sometimes somewhat perturbed by the way that iranians and Iran were often portrayed throughout the book. I do understand that the story takes place a few decades ago and that views and certain behaviours might have been different or seen in a different light then. However as a half iranian myself I can't help but think that despite the few nuanced descriptions or addition of some positive aspects of our culture and the people, most readers that aren't familiar with Iran will mostly see its people as uneducated or weird, even potentially like savages after reading the descriptions from this book. I feel like the author didn't do quite a good job of separating the government and the people, even though those issues are discussed several times. Probably it's because of the way that the author (who is iranian also) actually views the situation and thus I respect their opinion but feel like it's a shame if it leads some people to misunderstand some aspects if the culture, especially during these times of revolt from the people in Iran and its implications as well as the US's stigmatization of the country.
Other than that, I enjoyed the book and felt for the characters, a truly heart-breaking story. It was sometimes empowering and well written, not redundant and nice to have different pov to keep it interesting. I cried, laughed and smiled, and felt like giving a phone call to my mamanbozorg
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia and Sexual assault