A review by crafalsk264
Disoriental by Négar Djavadi

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Oriental - of, relating to a characteristic of the Orient.

Dis - remix meaning apart, asunder, having a privatize, negative or reversing force.

The word used as the title for this novel is not listed in the dictionary so in order to give it a meaning, it needs to be linked to the with the prefix for reversing a condition. The coined word is oddly suitable to the story of an Iranian refugee who had lived in France since she was 10 years old. Born into an intellectual family who were opposed to the regimes of the Shah, then Khomeini. Her unique grasp switches back and forth between her own time in the early 2000s and those of a great grandmother who lived in a harem. The stories of her upbringing in a different Iran—one of education for women, books, foreign news and patriarchy—nourishing and enhancing the lives of the characters outside of its borders.

On the surface, this book is a novel. Autobiographical in nature, it is also a reflection on a life desired and hoped for. The author has used the format of a family saga to frame a very individual story. I personally found the flashback story of the parents and grandparents the most compelling and had much less investment in the narrative of the author’s refugee experience. The author’s background as a screen writer/director shows in the cinematic format of the narrative. I found my attention to the coming of age component waning. For me, the current time frame only served as a gateway to the story of the earlier family members. Perhaps this way the intent of the author, and if so, she succeeded. 

The novel was a bit of a mixture of styles with the main narrative in a first person voice. At times, it was tempting to read the novel as a memoir rather than a fictional creation. I don’t know how much was autobiographical vs invention, but suspect it was close. Overall the parts that were from the present were less compelling and the “Side A” narrative was richer and more substantial. The author’s use of her personal footnotes explains complex concepts was useful and entertaining. For instance, her entry on the vinyl records reads “Side B is the failed side, the weak side.” I congratulate the author on her self awareness in using the footnotes to her advantage. Overall, it was an interesting premise, well executed with elegant writing which told the story of a dedicated, loving family in untenable circumstances, which changed them all. This is a debut novel in 2016 but I expect there may be additional books by the author in the future . But finally I never connected with the main character and as she was the narrator for all the others, I couldn’t connect with them as I expected to and don’t anticipate reading additional work.  Recommend to readers of historical, literary, contemporary fiction, LGBT, queer, Iran, France and motherhood.

Quotations:

“Life is such that, even in the darkest depths of the drama, there is still a little room left the absurd.”

“To really integrate into a culture…you have to disintegrate first.”

“After so much time and distance, it’s not their world that flows in my veins anymore, or their languages or traditions or beliefs, or even their fears, but their stories.”

“But the truth of memory is strange, isn’t it? Our memories select, eliminate, exaggerate, minimize, glorify, denigrate. They create their own versions of events and serve up their own reality. Disparate, but cohesive. Imperfect yet sincere.”