The Story of Zahra

I found this book, The Story of Zahra, amazing. I never even figured out what the end would be until I reached it. Then I had to ask, how could I be so dumb! I read this book in a matter of hours and was totally engrossed in the story. It really highlights the psychological life of a Muslim woman in Lebanon and how her behavior affects others. I disagree with the reviewer who believes that Zahra has a "psychological disorder." I think that she is a normal woman forced by convention and an oppressive life into behaviors she would never engage in if she was permitted more freedom and an ounce of respect. Zahra is never a person with self-determination but owned and controlled by others. She is eventually treated as a mere comodity.

This book althought set in a world very different than my own, can be seen as universal. The trials of Zahra before the war and after the war show how a troubled woman with psychological disorders manages to survive in a somewhat difficult world. As an Arab woman with a psychological disorder, she is an outsider. As Salwa Bakr notes in The Wiles of Men women are often seen as silly and crazy when they have psychological disorders.Although the depiction of the war may not be as detailed or accurate as many wish, that is not what Al-Shaykh is trying to convey with this novel.She is showing how the war is a catharsis for poor Zahra. While everyone's attention is towards the gory and war fears, Zahra is not pointed out as crazy and strange, she is able to live her own destiny. This book is a page turner...highly recommended

While classical poetry from Persia has been known in the West for more than two centuries, it is surprising how little is known about contemporary poetry from Iran and other Persian-speaking lands.One might come to believe that Rumi, Omar Khayyam and Hafiz had no descendants.This book, however, introduces three such descendants of Persia's great classical poets.The best of the three, to my mind, is Mrs. Simin Behbahani who also seems to be the most traditional. But there are also moments when Naderpour's poetry rises to the loftiest peaks of imagination and eloquence. Royai's poems are engimatic and intriguing. He is a surrealist in the European, mostly French, style while also maintining roots in the Sufi tradition of classical poets.The introduction is well-written and informative. It offers a brief history of modern Persian poetry and its principal themes and preoccupations. But it also provides the social and political context in which Persian poetry was modernised.The translations, though uneven, appear strong and full of life as the original poems.The introduction mentions a number of other Persian poets, including Sohrab Sepehri and Mehdi Akhavan Salless, known to this reviewer from occasional translations of their work into English and/or French. I think both should have been included in this volume, perhaps, along with another great contemporary of theirsManuchehr Yekta'i. May be in another book?For those who wish to enter the world of mdoern Persian poetry this book is a good primer. Pierre Benedile

In response to the Lebanese reviewer who knows "everything" about being Lebanese.....this book is purely fiction! However, the author, herself being Lebanese used different aspects of Lebanese culture and society as a setting to her beautiful and saddening story. The story is set upon the horror of civil war and the breakdown of society that inevitably occurs as the war drags on. The story is not supposed to be a true story or one that you could find happened to a typical Lebanese survivor of the war. It is, however, a story about how war can destroy the very fibers of a person's life who is not a member of any warring faction. It is truly a heartbreaking story of a woman-child who struggles to hold onto her own sanity. From, Another Lebanese

When Time Magazine asked its readers last year to nominate the great men and women of the last millennium, only one Iranian found a place on the list: he was Jalaleddin Mowlavi, better known as Rumi, the poet. This was not surprising to those who know that poetry represents the pinnacle of Iranian literary achievements. Iran, also known as Persia, is one of the half adozen or so nations that can be described as truly poetical. " Wounded Rose" introduces three contemporary Iranian poets who have tried to continue a tradition, dating back to almost 1100 years, in three different ways. Mrs. Simin Behbahani has revived the " ghazal" or sonnet form,injecting it with fresh vigour by introducing topics of contemporary life and concern. Nader Naderpour provides a bridge between classical and modern. Naderpour, who died in exile at the age of 70 in February 2000, was by far the best loved Iranian contemporary poet. Although his work was banned by the Islamic regime in Tehran his poems, including those he wrote in California where he spent the last 18 years of his life, continued to attract a wide readership in Iran-thanks to samizdats and pirate editions. Naderpour is the only Iranian poet to have been nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature, and many believe he would have won the honour had he not died in exile. The third poet introduced in this volume is Yadollah Royai who represents the avant-garde school of modern Persian poetry. At first glance his poems appear too abstract, too surrealistic, almost alien to the tradition of Persioan poetry. But a closer reading reveals how deeply Iranian he is. The three poets represent three distinct voices in modern Persian poetry, a veritable treasure that deserves to be known to a wider audience outside the Persian-speaking world. Thanks to a number of good translations, Rumi has been a best-selling poet in the United States in the past few years. The three poets introduced in this volume are children of Rumi. Getting to know their work is pure pleasure.The book includes a long introduction that narrates the history of modern Persian poetry and discusses some of its principal themes. The non-specialist reader could skip the introduction and go straight for the poems which are a real treat. A Reader in London