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The Colonel: A Novel, by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
PDF Ebook The Colonel: A Novel, by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
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Winner of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize
Longlististed for the Man Asian Literary Prize
A new novel by the master of Iranian letters that directly engages politics in Iran today
Ten years in the writing, this fearless novel—so powerful it’s banned in Iran—tells the stirring story of a tortured people forced to live under successive oppressive regimes.
It begins on a pitch black, rainy night, when there’s a knock on the Colonel’s door. Two policemen have come to summon him to collect the tortured body of his youngest daughter. The Islamic Revolution is devouring its own children. Set over the course of a single night, the novel follows the Colonel as he pays a bribe to recover his daughter’s body and then races to bury her before sunrise.
As we watch him struggle with the death of his innocent child, we find him wracked with guilt and anger over the condition of his country, particularly as represented by his own children: a son who fell during the 1979 revolution; another driven to madness after being tortured during the Shah’s regime; a third who went off to martyr himself fighting for the ayatollahs in their war against Iraq; one murdered daughter, and another who survives by being married to a cruel opportunist.
An incredibly powerful novel about nation, history and family, The Colonel is a startling illumination of the consequences of years of oppression and political upheaval in Iran.
- Sales Rank: #754341 in Books
- Published on: 2012-05-08
- Released on: 2012-05-08
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.99" h x .68" w x 4.99" l, .44 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 256 pages
Review
"This important novel offers at least some glimmer of insight into recent history that remains quite opaque to most of us…and perhaps even to many Iranians themselves."
—Paste
"Yes, it's a good book."
—Vice-chairman of the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (although the book is still unavailable in Iran) in the New York Times
“Dowlatabadi combines the poetic tradition of his culture with the direct and unembellished everyday speech of the villages. With this highly topical new novel Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Iran’s most important novelist, sheds light on the upheavals, which haunts his country until today.”
—Man Asian Literary Prize nomination citation
“[A] masterpiece." —Quarterly Conversation
"A demanding and richly composed book by a novelist who stands apart."—Kirkus Reviews
"Mr. Dowlatabadi draws a detailed, realist picture of Iranian life, especially that of the rural poor, in language that is complex and lyrical, rather than simplistic." —The Financial Times
"The Colonel is a remarkable and important book ... a masterpiece." —The Globe and Mail
"The nature of authoritarians is not to learn from mistakes but to attempt to erase them. The Colonel is a very thorough accounting of those mistakes, and of their cost, and a demonstration of the necessity, for humanity’s sake, of overcoming them." —The Rumpus
"Iran's greatest writer."—The Millions
“It’s about time everyone even remotely interested in Iran read this novel.”
—The Independent
"An affecting and beautiful novel." —The Literary Review
" ... Instructive ... a stirring tale replete with the hideous viscera of violent confrontation."
—Booklist
“An outstanding master achievement.”—Der Spiegel
“The Colonel is a page-turning panorama of Iranian mental anguish, producing visions and nightmares like dark exotic blossoms.”
—Neue Zurcher Zeitung
“This novel has what it takes to become a strong and irresistible window into Iran.”—Die Zeit
“…a very powerful work."—Michael Orthofer, The Complete Review
“Because of its honesty and indeed brutal clarity of language the novel has so far not been published in its original language, Persian…[an] honest and truly literary account.”
—English Pen
Praise for Missing Soluch
“Beautifully and incisively rendered, and imbued throughout with hope.”—Publishers Weekly
“There are some brilliantly tough pieces of writing…[The original’s] vigour comes through in translation.”—Times Literary Supplement
“Brings East of Eden to mind… Dowlatabadi knows a world that has seldom overlapped with the modern novel."—The New York Sun
"Dowlatabadi has created a masterpiece."—Words Without Borders
About the Author
MAHMOUD DOWLATABADI is one of the Middle East’s most important writers. The author of numerous novels, plays, and screenplays, he is also a leading proponent of social and artistic freedom in Iran.
Born in 1940 in a remote farming region of Iran, the son of a shoemaker, his early life and teens were spent as an agricultural day laborer until he made his way to Tehran, where he started working in the theater and began writing plays, stories and novels. He is the author Missing Soluch, published by Melville House and his first work to be translated into English, and a 10-book portrait of Iranian village life, Kelidar. The Colonel has been shortlisted for the Haus der Kulturen Berlin International Literary Award and longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize.
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
A great contemporary Iranian novel
By Jane Botsman
It is lovely to read something which tries, at least allegorically, to discuss the complexities of Iranian political life in the last half century. On one level this is a fable of the political agenda's and affiliations of the past 40 years in Iran. The colonel and his children are characters only as representatives of the organisations they represent. The links it makes to the great and loved literature of Iran puts it in a broader cultural context. In many respects it is an elegy for what might have been and despairing of all the hope that has been lost. The incessant rain feel like tears for a great nation in the wilderness.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
A Dark and Masterfully Told Story of Revolution, Despair and Madness
By Anthony Roberts
"The Colonel" by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi is a dark, demanding and shattering account of the immediate aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. The story plays out as nightmare/fable/hallucination pitting historic Iranian ideals of pride and social justice against the crushing reality of each new regime's ruthless quest for power. At its core this is a novel about betrayal and the madness it brings to all sides. For those not acquainted with Iranian history, this may be a maddening read too as you try to sort out all the characters, their allegiance's and how they relate to Iran's history.
The story unfolds in flashbacks, internal dialogs and nightmarish visions as the protagonist, "the Colonel" attempts to retrieve the body of his youngest daughter who has been tortured then hung for passing out leaflets against the regime. This is but a small tip of the iceberg of the horrors visited upon the Colonel and all five of his children. The novel switches views between the Colonel and his eldest son, Amir, who fought as a communist in the revolution, only to see his friends and comrades purged as the Islamists consolidated power leaving Amir guilt-ridden and on the brink of suicide.
The title "The Colonel" refers not only to the protagonist, who was an officer in the Shah's army (and a bit of a madman who murders his wife in a drunken rage), but also to a painting of the protagonist's hero, Colonel Mahhamad-Taqi Khan Pesayn, a famous Iranian nationalist from the early 20th century, and yet another victim of another Iranian regime. The protagonist `colonel' (always lowercase) has many conversations and confessions with "The Colonel" hanging on his wall. This can be a bit confusing at times, but again, this is a story of madness so confusion comes with the territory.
"The Colonel" is full of references to Persian heritage and the English translator, Tom Patterdale, does a good job of footnoting them to give English readers a deeper sense of the story. This is a powerful novel in English, but I'm sure it is even more so in the original Persian, and I say `Persian' as Mr. Dowlatabadi shuns Arabic words and phrases much as Ferdowsi did in Iran's epic national poem, "The Shahnameh". We're told that the author also writes in a more common `street' vernacular, which would bring shades of meaning to his fellow countrymen, but are lost in this translation - another reason why this novel must be published in its original language.
The author's own history cannot be ignored when reading "The Colonel". Mr. Dowlatabadi was imprisoned under the Shah's reign by the notorious secret police, SAVAK, in a Kafkaesque circumstance of having no charges brought against him except that his novels where often found in the homes of subversives, therefore, he must be guilty of something.
Mr. Dowlatabadi was released from prison in 1976 where he began writing again in secret. "The Colonel" was written in 1980 as the author watched the revolution turn into a bloodbath of brutal reprisals and summary executions coupled with the beginning of the Iran/Iraq war, which decimated a generation of young Iranian men. When the author finished "The Colonel" he hid it way for decades fearing the consequences of having his name attached to such a horrific account of the `glorious' revolution. In 2012, the novel was published in English, but has yet to be published in its original language though it has been submitted to the IRI regime for approval, which is unlikely.
This is a very dark, non-linear, novel full of nothing but despair, but written in a style that illustrates the author's masterful story telling skills. It's certainly not for everyone, but if you have an interest in Iran at one of its most pivotal and heart wrenching moments, this is an incredible read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A Great Book From a Great Author.
By Alert Consumer
I loved the book, I only wish I could have the original script written in Farsi as well. He's a great writer but no matter what, you always lose something in the translation process. Nevertheless, it was great!
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