Garden of the Brave in War: Recollections of Iran

Terence O'Donnell does a masterful job of vividly describing the scenery, the people, the lives, the simplicity and the colorful everyday lives of "locals" in the villages and towns he has stayed and visited in Iran. His observations, I found, very insightful and as best as I have experienced them myself, very accurate. I was saddened to know that he has passed away, this would have been a man I would have loved to sit down with and hear his stories, over a hot cup of sweet tea.

This book involes a great deal of humor, culture, and one man's experience in the wonderful and somewhat mysterious country of Iran. It is an extremely easy book to read, and is very informative. When finished with the book you think about how good the book was, and later you realize how much you learned about the Iranian culture. I recommend it to anyone interested in culture and/or the Middle East. I also recommend it to anyone who is looking to read a book so different it is refreshing.

This book is a treasure, beloved by anyone who has spent time in Iran, and/or who loves the English language used in a way unique to O'Donnell. It has been comared to Out of Africa - the deceptively simple wording, pared to the bone. I have given this book to people in Europe and America and they all, without prodding, contact me to tell me what a wonderful experience it has been for them.Of course things have changed since he was there! But this gem will bring forth an Iran that many of us were blessed to know (1960's). None of us would pretend to have understood the complexity of that wonderfully rich culture but O'Donnell was comfortable with almost anyone, highranking to druckdrivers. He spoke the language, he knew all the verses to some of the rather louche folksongs, yet he never pretended to be The Expert. One of your reviewers, an Iranian, who gave the book 3 stars, has got it wrong. This is a memoir, evoking a period when Americans roamed freely, coming into contact with a very ancient civilization which many of them couldn't pretend to understand. If the recounting of the experiences of this extraordinary American, who understood more than any of us in Shiraz at the time, appears condescending to anyone, I have to say they are missing the point. Any brilliant travel writing is bound to upset someone, but this is a piece of writing that leaves such questions moot, they shouldn't even apply. One man's experiences, and this has some riotously funny ones, have made for a fabulous read, period.

This is an excellent book. The stories are charming and the prose a literary gem -- simple, humorous, and yet realistic. I could not stop reading it from cover to cover. The author's second book (Seven Shadows of Memory) is definitely on my list of reading.

Reading this book was like savoring a fine wine. I had to read each page so slowly because I dreaded for this experience to be over. Terence O'Donnell convies such wonderful stories of his day's in Iran ,that I actually felt transported at times to the Iran of Mr. O'Donnells tales. How I envy his experiences of his time there. Truly an enchanting book, written by an eloquent man. Excellent reading !