Quintescential Depiction of Iranian Character

books:


	• My Uncle Napoleon: A Novel (Modern Library Paperbacks) Iraj Pezeshkzad Modern Library, 2006 - 528 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Amust not miss classic

My Uncle Napoleon is a hilariously funny book which captures the idiosyncrasies of Iranian culture to a "T". When the TV series came out in Iran Over 30 years ago, people were glued to their TV sets like Americans were (watching Dallas) back in the 70's.
Iraj Pezeshkzad's has a rare gift where he forces people look at themselves and their culture, point out things that are wrong, and make them laugh at themselves without getting offended. Bravo. An absolute classic of Modern Iranian literature. I will not repeat the storyline as other reviewers have done so already, but it suffices to say that this book (more than any other) will give a rare glimpse into the complex psyche (including all of their rational and irrational paranoias) of the modern Iranian. And by the way have a great laugh as well. :)

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The most Fun book

I had already read the book in original language (Persian) and had seen the TV series. The translation is almost perfect and I'm sure the reader enjoys reading it. It's kind of those books that stays in your mind for a long time.

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Quintescential Depiction of Iranian Character

My name is Brian H. Appleton and I am an anglo American who lived in Iran from 1974-1979 and spent most of my time with one old Persian aristocratic family and their clan. This book was like reliving those times; the idiosyncracies of the patriarch and of each of the family members and the extended family. The relationships with the servants who became like relatives, the jealousies, the pride, the sacrifices for friendship, the secret liasons and sexual trysts, the humor, the jokes people play on eachother, the importance of everything for appearance sake. Iraj Pezekhzad has it completely nailed. I have often said that you pay a high price and heavy maintenance for Persian friendship but it is well worth it. Every other kind pales by comparison and life is never boring with Persian friends.

I found myself laughing so hard with recognition and I loved the surprise ending which I should have anticipated but it caught me completely off guard. Even for someone who knows nothing about Iran it is a highly entertaining read and an education. The anglophobia to the point of being pro-Nazi and suspecting British subterfuge to be at the root of every ill, all of that was right on.

This is the kind of novel which I will read more than once. Bravo Iraj Khan. I would like to add that I acted the part of Sir Robert Shirley in a documentary film in Iran with the late Gholam Hossein Nakhshineh, who later went on to act as Uncle Napoleon, in the popular TV series in the 1970's in Iran which was based on this book and he was the perfect actor for the part. In our film he played a bombastic Spanish Ambassador. For photos of him in that film see my website www.zirzameen.com or click on customer images to the left for pictures of Nakhshineh.

I remember how after the TV series "Daijan Napoleon" started airing, the expression "Berim San Francisco" or in English:"Let's Go to San Francisco," which the young married couple would tell each other when ever they got bored at a family function, which was a euphamism for "Let's go get it on" became a household expression in Iran in those days. How funny that the West is under the impression that Iran is a prudish,sexless society...the hardliners might like to impose that but the harder they try, the more people think about it...and that is the beauty of human nature.

all the best,

Brian H. Appleton aka Rasool Aryadust

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A West End Farce From Iran

I accept the previous reviewers comments re the perfect translation,and Pezeshkhad's opinion that Davis has done a first rate job,but at times I felt that something was lost in translation. Maybe the 'catch phrases' alliterated more comically in Persian,or maybe it is a particular of arabian fiction that placement details/discriptions are not vital to the work. The book read very much as a live stage production where scenery and setting were basic,or like a fast moving comedy show.
However,I really did enjoy this book.After 'settling' into the style,I found the satire first rate and the characters unforgettable.It also has touches of 'David Brent' 'Office' style humiliation comedy;Uncle Napoleons 'aristocratic' family marrying off the pregnant Qamar to the first idiot they can find,and whilst trying to fabricate the grooms superb upbringing for the sake of the family honour in front of the village gossip,the grooms bearded mother reveals that he husband used to boil sheeps heads on a stall in the market! With the wonderful Asadollah Mirza keeping things stirring nicely,and the hilarious Mash 'why should I lie' Qasem backing up the masters fictions,you get a great insight into Iranian humour and thinking,which is a world away from the drivel we're spoon fed everyday!Take away poiticians and religious zealots from each side;swop humour art and literature,and Iran and the west will get on fine! Thats what made this book-all in all-uplifting.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

The most beloved Iranian novel of the twentieth century

?God forbid, I?ve fallen in love with Layli!? So begins the farce of our narrator?s life, one spent in a large extended Iranian family lorded over by the blustering, paranoid patriarch, Dear Uncle Napoleon. When Uncle Napoleon?s least-favorite nephew falls for his daughter, Layli, family fortunes are reversed, feuds fired up and resolved, and assignations attempted and thwarted.

First published in Iran in the 1970s and adapted into a hugely successful television series, this beloved novel is now ?Suggested Reading? in Azar Nafisi?s Reading Lolita in Tehran. My Uncle Napoleon is a timeless and universal satire of first love and family intrigue.

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