My Father's Notebook - Couverture souple

Abdolah, Kader

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1841959278 ISBN 13 : 9781841959276

Editeur : Canongate Books, 2007

Synopsis

On a holy mountain in the depths of Persia there is a cave with a mysterious cuneiform carving deep inside it. Aga Akbar, a deaf-mute boy from the mountain, develops his own private script from these symbols and writes passionately of his life, his family and his efforts to make sense of the changes the twentieth century brings to his country. Exiled in Holland a generation later, Akbar's son Ishmael struggles to decipher the notebook, reflecting on how his own political activities have forced him to flee his country and abandon his family. As he gets closer to the heart of his father's story, he unravels the intricate tale of how the silent world of a village carpet-mender was forced to give way to one where the increasingly hostile environment of modern Iran has brought the family both love and sacrifice.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Aga Akbar, the youngest of seven children and the illegitimate son of a Persian nobleman, is a deaf-mute. He makes use of a rudimentary sign language to get by in the world, but his deepest thoughts and feelings go unexpressed. Hoping to free the boy from his emotional confinement, his uncle asks him to visit a cave on nearby Saffron Mountain and to copy a three-thousand-year-old cuneiform inscription -- an order of the first king of Persia and the destination of many pilgrimages. Through the rest of his life, Aga Akbar uses these cuneiform characters to fill his notebook with writings only he can understand.

Years later, his political-dissident son, Ishmael, has been forced to flee Iran. From his new home in the Netherlands, he attempts to translate the notebook, and in the process he tells his father's story, his own story, and the story of twentieth-century Iran -- from the building of the first railroad to the struggles for power among the shah, the communists, and the mullahs, and ending with the revolution.

Rich in the myths of Persia and peopled with characters of rare archetypal power, this stunning and ambitious novel by Kader Abdolah masterfully charts a culture's troubled voyage into modernity. Just as poignantly, it is a magnificent, timeless tale of a son's love for his father.

Revue de presse :

“A field guide to present day Iran... MY FATHER’S NOTEBOOK is a winning, courtly tale of Persian culture.” (Buffalo News)

“Wonderful... Blends contemporary realism with Persian folklore, mirroring Iran’s... history through the eyes of a father and his son.” (Houston Chronicle)

“MY FATHER’S NOTEBOOK, a lovely novel, has the cadence of a fairy tale and the clarity of truth .” (Wall Street Journal)

“A storyteller of utmost subtlety and natural ease.” (Times Literary Supplement)

“Moving and illuminating . . . The history of Iran in the 20th century glints through.” (Publishers Weekly)

“An intimate portrait... Abdolah’s prose... is clean and lyrical... A sweeping novel that chronicles the tumultuous modern history of [Iran].” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Myth and unlovely reality meet and mingle... Conveys the heartache of an exile who cannot help but feel a traitor.” (Christian Science Monitor)

“Beautiful and poetic.” (Library Journal)

“Remarkable . . . Moving, dreamlike . . . Scenes are beautifully rendered.” (Providence Journal)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Canongate Books
• Date d'édition: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1841959278
• ISBN 13: 9781841959276
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 336