The Patience Stone
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`her monologue is a direct attempt on the part of Rahimi to rip away the veil over Afghan women's lives' --The Observer
Book Description
This explosive, controversial and moving short novel - winner of France's prestigious Goncourt Prize - is a compelling look behind the veil that confronts taboos of female oppression and sexuality
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Set in Afghanistan, The Patience Stone is a partly allegorical tale of a Muslim wife tending to her comatose soldier husband who has been shot in the neck. As she cares for him, for the first time ever she is able to speak to him without fear of censorship and he becomes, for her, like the mythical Patience Stone to which you tell your troubles and when the stone finally bursts, you are free from your torments. But also this might mean the Apocalypse.
The obvious literary link is with Khaled Hosseini, author of `The Kite Runner' and `A Thousand Splendid Suns'. Obvious in that, like Hosseini's works, this is set in Afghanistan and deals with the censorship of women there. Indeed, Hosseini provides a brief, thoughtful introduction to this English translation which has been beautifully translated from the French in which it was written by Polly McLean. But it's less melodramatic than Hosseini's books in my view.
The Patience Stone is set almost entirely in one room - the bedroom of the husband and just about the only character who talks is the wife (they are referred to as `'Man'` and `'Woman'` throughout). We are not even told on which side the Man was fighting or who he was fighting (although it appears to be a civil war rather than Western aggressors). This gives the book a strong focus that makes it feel that you are truly in the mind of the Woman throughout.
Perhaps only by writing in French himself, is Rahimi able to talk of the censored issues in his homeland. But the translation into English is superb and the poetic nature of this short book is fully maintained.
Time in the room is measured by repeated references to the drip of the sugar/salt drip that the Woman tends to for the Man, by the telling of the prayer beads and by the synchronised breathing of the husband and wife. Some may be irritated by this repetition, but I found it haunting, human and moving and the book is short enough for it not to become annoying.
Gradually the Woman opens up and confesses her thoughts and feelings to the Man, confronting the taboos of female oppression and sexuality. I have no doubt that this book took great courage to write, but it is far from being just "worthy" - it's a beautifully written tale with a shocking twist. Easily readable in one sitting, the story will stay with you for much longer.
The obvious literary link is with Khaled Hosseini, author of `The Kite Runner' and `A Thousand Splendid Suns'. Obvious in that, like Hosseini's works, this is set in Afghanistan and deals with the censorship of women there. Indeed, Hosseini provides a brief, thoughtful introduction to this English translation which has been beautifully translated from the French in which it was written by Polly McLean. But it's less melodramatic than Hosseini's books in my view.
The Patience Stone is set almost entirely in one room - the bedroom of the husband and just about the only character who talks is the wife (they are referred to as `'Man'` and `'Woman'` throughout). We are not even told on which side the Man was fighting or who he was fighting (although it appears to be a civil war rather than Western aggressors). This gives the book a strong focus that makes it feel that you are truly in the mind of the Woman throughout.
Perhaps only by writing in French himself, is Rahimi able to talk of the censored issues in his homeland. But the translation into English is superb and the poetic nature of this short book is fully maintained.
Time in the room is measured by repeated references to the drip of the sugar/salt drip that the Woman tends to for the Man, by the telling of the prayer beads and by the synchronised breathing of the husband and wife. Some may be irritated by this repetition, but I found it haunting, human and moving and the book is short enough for it not to become annoying.
Gradually the Woman opens up and confesses her thoughts and feelings to the Man, confronting the taboos of female oppression and sexuality. I have no doubt that this book took great courage to write, but it is far from being just "worthy" - it's a beautifully written tale with a shocking twist. Easily readable in one sitting, the story will stay with you for much longer.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This simple epigram sets the stage for this very unusual and powerful story: it is both personal, even intimate, and wide-reaching in substance and relevance. At the centre of all comings and goings is one room where a woman attends to her wounded husband. A photo of him on the wall identifies him as a combatant for one of the fighting factions in an ongoing war. The sounds of gunfire, of tanks near-by smashing house walls and of men shouting -far or close by - regularly break into the room's silence where the woman is also deep in thought and prayer. The woman goes about her nursing routines, leaves the room to speak to her young daughters somewhere down the passage, comes back, refreshes the feeding tube, washes her husband's motionless body and, settling back beside him, continues counting her prayer beads while reciting one of the ninety-nine names of God. If it were not for his quiet regular breathing, one would think the man had died already...
In a language that is at the same time simple, spare and compressed, yet often poetic, Rahimi evokes the atmosphere in the room that is both calm and serene and, nonetheless, held in suspense by tensions lingering below the surface. As readers we feel like intimate observers of a domestic tragedy, yet at the same time, through the special lens that the room provides we can perceive the desolation and brutality of the outside world. Slowly, in sensitively conveyed step, the reader learns to understand the hard life of the woman, her family and background and also the intricacies of a society torn apart by tradition and power struggles. The woman opens her heart, expressing her deepest held thoughts to her man who cannot answer but might well hear her. She discovers a new strength in herself as she applies the symbolism of the black stone, "sang-e-sabour", the patience stone, to her situation: the stone that absorbs all the confessions of the believers... Encouraged by this new understanding, she makes her man such a silent listener, her very personal patience stone. The more she shares her thoughts aloud, the more she spells out all the sufferings, pain, anger, and suppressed wishes that women in her society have been experiencing. The reader empathizes with her as she gains in strength and confidence, finally revealing the deepest secrets of her life. She feels a burden lifting from her heart, freed from all the strains that held her down. Where does the story lead to? A conclusion that is both shocking and consistent.
Much of what is conveyed in this novella is expressed as the woman's monologue, a tragic story, exquisitely and forcefully imagined by the author. Rahimi does not give the woman nor any other character a name to underline his intent of demonstrating general validity of his character's story. It is an indictment to women's suppression anywhere. Nevertheless, the story is very personable and as a reader we can relate to the woman's individuality and predicament. The events in the room and beyond are so vividly portrayed that one can visualize the scenes and easily imagine a film.
Written originally in French, Polly McLean's translation is fluid and perceptive. Khaled Hosseini's introduction to the slender volume is a very good resource for context and importance of this book. With this novel, film producer and writer, Atiq Rahima deservedly won the renowned (French) Prix Gouncourt in 2008. Rahimi is Afghani, and having fled his home country during the Taliban regime, settled in France, He returned to Afghanistan in 2002, where he currently works on the film version of THE PATIENCE STONE. [Friederike Knabe]
In a language that is at the same time simple, spare and compressed, yet often poetic, Rahimi evokes the atmosphere in the room that is both calm and serene and, nonetheless, held in suspense by tensions lingering below the surface. As readers we feel like intimate observers of a domestic tragedy, yet at the same time, through the special lens that the room provides we can perceive the desolation and brutality of the outside world. Slowly, in sensitively conveyed step, the reader learns to understand the hard life of the woman, her family and background and also the intricacies of a society torn apart by tradition and power struggles. The woman opens her heart, expressing her deepest held thoughts to her man who cannot answer but might well hear her. She discovers a new strength in herself as she applies the symbolism of the black stone, "sang-e-sabour", the patience stone, to her situation: the stone that absorbs all the confessions of the believers... Encouraged by this new understanding, she makes her man such a silent listener, her very personal patience stone. The more she shares her thoughts aloud, the more she spells out all the sufferings, pain, anger, and suppressed wishes that women in her society have been experiencing. The reader empathizes with her as she gains in strength and confidence, finally revealing the deepest secrets of her life. She feels a burden lifting from her heart, freed from all the strains that held her down. Where does the story lead to? A conclusion that is both shocking and consistent.
Much of what is conveyed in this novella is expressed as the woman's monologue, a tragic story, exquisitely and forcefully imagined by the author. Rahimi does not give the woman nor any other character a name to underline his intent of demonstrating general validity of his character's story. It is an indictment to women's suppression anywhere. Nevertheless, the story is very personable and as a reader we can relate to the woman's individuality and predicament. The events in the room and beyond are so vividly portrayed that one can visualize the scenes and easily imagine a film.
Written originally in French, Polly McLean's translation is fluid and perceptive. Khaled Hosseini's introduction to the slender volume is a very good resource for context and importance of this book. With this novel, film producer and writer, Atiq Rahima deservedly won the renowned (French) Prix Gouncourt in 2008. Rahimi is Afghani, and having fled his home country during the Taliban regime, settled in France, He returned to Afghanistan in 2002, where he currently works on the film version of THE PATIENCE STONE. [Friederike Knabe]
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Atiq Rahimi was awarded the Prix Goncourt, the French equivalent of The Booker in 2008 for his Afghanistan based novella The Patience Stone. The novella joins the ranks of The Bookseller Of Kabul and The Kite Runner of literature telling the stories of a country and its people often shrouded from the West hitherto the outbreak of war in 2001.
This story is the story of a couple who I have only just realised remain nameless throughout the novel as do all other characters...I think perhaps this anonymity seeks to reflect the idea of "Somewhere, A Couple" the depersonalisation seeking to amplify the potential of the universality of experience.
A young mother nurses her husband as he hovers between life and death on a mattress in one of the rooms of their house. The Afghan war rages around their neighbourhood. As the frustration and despair at her situation begins to build, the woman makes a series of personal revelations to her dying husband.
What did I think of it? Well, the point is clear. Rahimi takes the "nameless, voiceless, veiled, Afghani woman" and voices her giving her a chance to vent her frustrations at her unhappiness at her station in life. But, whilst it is true that such women exist within the culture, these women have also become something of a Western, particularly American, media cliche. Whilst it is of the imperative that such voices be heard, this, we must remember is a fictionalised voice.
The revelations that the woman makes to her husband involve the use and the breaking of many things truly seen as taboo within Islam, I had to wonder whether this was an act of artistic necessity or a deliberate in-your-face attempt to court controversy and notice. I would imagine that there are many devout Muslims, male and female who would find aspects of this book and therefore possibly the book as a whole deeply, deeply offensive.
As a reader, I felt that Rahimi succeeded in evoking a suffocating, claustrophobic atmosphere. You can almost smell the rotten stench in the mans sick room. But, sympathy for the womens plight is eroded by her whiny, erratic repetitiveness and behaviour I would classify as not only vindictive but a little unrealistically absurd.
I didn't really enjoy reading this on any level. Sometimes even though a book is difficult, you gain something in the reading of it and that in itself is pleasurable, but this was no such experience for me. It makes me remember how I similarly did not enjoy the highly praised Kite Runner for its highly graphic depiction of child sexual abuse and found it unpleasant as a reading experience regardless of its worthiness.
I wouldn't say read this book, not unless you are terribly interested in its story or conceit. To be blunt, it's depressing.
This story is the story of a couple who I have only just realised remain nameless throughout the novel as do all other characters...I think perhaps this anonymity seeks to reflect the idea of "Somewhere, A Couple" the depersonalisation seeking to amplify the potential of the universality of experience.
A young mother nurses her husband as he hovers between life and death on a mattress in one of the rooms of their house. The Afghan war rages around their neighbourhood. As the frustration and despair at her situation begins to build, the woman makes a series of personal revelations to her dying husband.
What did I think of it? Well, the point is clear. Rahimi takes the "nameless, voiceless, veiled, Afghani woman" and voices her giving her a chance to vent her frustrations at her unhappiness at her station in life. But, whilst it is true that such women exist within the culture, these women have also become something of a Western, particularly American, media cliche. Whilst it is of the imperative that such voices be heard, this, we must remember is a fictionalised voice.
The revelations that the woman makes to her husband involve the use and the breaking of many things truly seen as taboo within Islam, I had to wonder whether this was an act of artistic necessity or a deliberate in-your-face attempt to court controversy and notice. I would imagine that there are many devout Muslims, male and female who would find aspects of this book and therefore possibly the book as a whole deeply, deeply offensive.
As a reader, I felt that Rahimi succeeded in evoking a suffocating, claustrophobic atmosphere. You can almost smell the rotten stench in the mans sick room. But, sympathy for the womens plight is eroded by her whiny, erratic repetitiveness and behaviour I would classify as not only vindictive but a little unrealistically absurd.
I didn't really enjoy reading this on any level. Sometimes even though a book is difficult, you gain something in the reading of it and that in itself is pleasurable, but this was no such experience for me. It makes me remember how I similarly did not enjoy the highly praised Kite Runner for its highly graphic depiction of child sexual abuse and found it unpleasant as a reading experience regardless of its worthiness.
I wouldn't say read this book, not unless you are terribly interested in its story or conceit. To be blunt, it's depressing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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