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A review by bluepigeon
The Pomegranate Lady and Her Sons: Selected Stories by Sara Khalili, Goli Taraghi
5.0
A great collection for shorts that are on the longish side. I find it puzzling that some people thought the stories were not collected with a theme in mind. Really? The stories all deal with characters trying to cope with the Islamic Revolution in Iran, whether it be in the newly strange homeland or in exile (Paris, which was a popular destination for any liberal Iranian who could afford it). The stories depict life after the sharp turn the whole country took, leaving most baffled and confused and scared, and allowing some to enjoy unprecedented power and freedom. Freedom here is used in its most adult meaning, that nobody is truly free, that to be free means to have power, but even those with power are bound by the rules of the game that provide them the power they have, and on and on (one can argue that the liberals, with their Francophilia and their strict connections to the Persian past, were as free or not as the uber-conservative Muslims who came to rule the new country... freedom is just an illusion...)
Taraghi's characters are alive and most of them are on the liberal spectrum, living in a daze and fear after the Revolution. They mourn the thousands of years of superior Persian culture that is so adamantly protected by the new government (taking out or even owning, in some cases, antiques are illegal, etc.) yet utterly undervalued as the remnants of a decadent past that does not fit with the new conservative way of life (though it does, doesn't it?) They mourn having to leave their country for a freer life elsewhere, and inevitably they are poorer and misunderstood in this elsewhere; they go from being highly cultured, well educated, relatively wealthy people to living as immigrants in European countries or the USA. There is plenty of pain and suffering in these pages, but there is also a lot of humor. The stories concerning flights (invariably between Tehran and Paris) are hilarious, as all who live in another country and have to travel back and forth with "their own kind" have experienced the frustration, difficulties, and the hilarity of these kinds of flights.
I am always hesitant to read works in translation, but Sara Khalili does an excellent job in translating the language as well as the feeling in the stories, which makes for a delightful read.
Highly recommended for short story fans, antique smugglers, and international jet setters.
Taraghi's characters are alive and most of them are on the liberal spectrum, living in a daze and fear after the Revolution. They mourn the thousands of years of superior Persian culture that is so adamantly protected by the new government (taking out or even owning, in some cases, antiques are illegal, etc.) yet utterly undervalued as the remnants of a decadent past that does not fit with the new conservative way of life (though it does, doesn't it?) They mourn having to leave their country for a freer life elsewhere, and inevitably they are poorer and misunderstood in this elsewhere; they go from being highly cultured, well educated, relatively wealthy people to living as immigrants in European countries or the USA. There is plenty of pain and suffering in these pages, but there is also a lot of humor. The stories concerning flights (invariably between Tehran and Paris) are hilarious, as all who live in another country and have to travel back and forth with "their own kind" have experienced the frustration, difficulties, and the hilarity of these kinds of flights.
I am always hesitant to read works in translation, but Sara Khalili does an excellent job in translating the language as well as the feeling in the stories, which makes for a delightful read.
Highly recommended for short story fans, antique smugglers, and international jet setters.