Book: La Maison de la Mosquée (The House of the Mosque) by Kader Abdolah
Translated from: Dutch (author’s adopted tongue)
Rating: 8/10
Kader Abdolah is a pen-name, constructed from the names of two of the author’s friends murdered in the troubles surrounding the Islamic Revolution in Iran. This is my second experience of his writing, the first being Cunéiforme (My Father’s Notebook) and I conclude he will come to be recognised as a great and subtle writer. Right now his books are slow to appear in English.
This is a book by an exile who loves the country he fled. He writes with a light touch, spanning decades and giving us a view of the country during both the Shah’s reign and the Khomeini years from the point of view of the peaceful head of a household who is repeatedly drawn by family members into confrontation with the authorities. The disgraceful conduct of America in supporting the Shah’s regime and in supporting Saddam Hussein’s savage chemical war gets a restrained and honest airing in the book.
It’s so easy to dismiss Iran, based on the country as reported to us in the evening news. Read this book for an entirely new perspective on a dignified and cultivated people living under two consecutive intolerable regimes.
I agreed with you