My Father's Notebook
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
'...beautifully evoked in often touching and amusing detail...My Father's Notebook is an intriguing, complex and often playful novel that deserves attention' Scotland on Sunday 'With seamlessly interwoven quotations from Persian and Dutch literature, deft storytelling and affectionate humour, he offers the reader buoyancy as well as weight ...My Father's Notebook is a gift to English readers.' The Independent 'An original and subtle novel ... The history of Iran unfolds like a beautiful Persian carpet' Le Monde Des Livres
Les Inrockuptibles
‘A magnificent story informed by the Arabian Nights, the farce of the modern world and the tragedy of fanaticism’
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having started on a nicely quirky note, the book settles into a more prosaic style - fortunately without losing too much of its charm. It takes place in Iran, initially at the end of the Shah dynasty and then into the rule of the Mullahs. An Immam on every corner! Whilst neither regime was exactly democratic, the changeover boosted the number of political prisoners, disappearances and executions.
Although important, the political scene is the context rather than the centrepiece. The underlying theme is the close relationship between father and son. The father is an illiterate deaf-mute who becomes inspired by ancient cave writings. They are inscribed in an esoteric pictorial script that the experts struggle to translate. He invents his own version to enable him to set down his life's thoughts in secret. Son Ishmael is alway close at hand to help his father communicate day by day and to offer moral support. As Ishmael benefits from a formal education, and becomes an underground party activist, the two men's interdependency reduces. However their love and mutual respect never diminish.
Although important, the political scene is the context rather than the centrepiece. The underlying theme is the close relationship between father and son. The father is an illiterate deaf-mute who becomes inspired by ancient cave writings. They are inscribed in an esoteric pictorial script that the experts struggle to translate. He invents his own version to enable him to set down his life's thoughts in secret. Son Ishmael is alway close at hand to help his father communicate day by day and to offer moral support. As Ishmael benefits from a formal education, and becomes an underground party activist, the two men's interdependency reduces. However their love and mutual respect never diminish.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A superb novel about life in Iran during the reign of the last Sjah and Khomeini afterwards. Written in Dutch by a political refugee now living in the Netherlands, it covers relationships, politics, religion, love and pain. But despite the 'big' subjects, the story is magical and moves along at a nice pace. An excellent read!
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can only echo the previous reviewer's thoughts. This is a beautiful, haunting and vibrant novel, so moving that it brought me to tears (the first time a book has done that in 8 years (too embarrassed to say what the last book was)). It bears comparison with the Kite Runner and Midnight's Children, but I enjoyed it more than either of those excellent novels.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Spellbinding, unforgettable.
This book is classed as fiction but it reads like fact. I have just finished this book and I feel shattered, my heart broken at Ishmael's story. Read more
Published 18 months ago by persialr
Poetic prose but left me slightly underwhelmed
This book was in my recommendations and on the strength of the other reviews here, I decided to order a copy. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Pease
perfectly OK but not special
Kader Abdolah left Iran as a political refugee, having been part of a leftist political party that opposed first the Shah and then the ayatollahs. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Harry Rutherford
Arrived in good time, item was as described in advert
Happy with purchase, new product no faults with the condition of the book or with the time taken from placing my order to receipt of item.
Published on 5 Mar 2010 by Ms. A. Cole
Enjoyable Read
Found this book an easy read. Am unsure whether somethings were lost in the translation or simply left unexplained. Certainly, this didn't detract. Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2010 by john
haunting
This book was one of the best books I have read in a long time. The language was simple and the story straight forward but the complexity was astounding. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2006 by Emer Martin
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
