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Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran
In our current climate of war and suspicion, Iran is depicted as the "next" rogue nation that America and the world must "deal with." But the rhetoric about nuclear weapons and jihad obscures the real an ancient nation and culture, both sophisticated and isolated, which still exists clandestinely in major cities as well as the country's remote mountains and deserts.
Jason Elliot has spent the last four years traveling in Iran, and in this remarkable book he reveals the many sides of the culture, art, architecture, and people that Westerners cannot see or conveniently ignore. Part close reading of symbols and images, part history, and part intimate interviews with Iranians of many different kinds--from wealthy aristocrats at forbidden parties to tribal horsemen in the most remote mountain villages, who have never seen a Westerner-- Mirrors of the Unseen is a beautiful and thought-provoking book by one of the world's most acclaimed adventurers and authors.
Jason Elliot has spent the last four years traveling in Iran, and in this remarkable book he reveals the many sides of the culture, art, architecture, and people that Westerners cannot see or conveniently ignore. Part close reading of symbols and images, part history, and part intimate interviews with Iranians of many different kinds--from wealthy aristocrats at forbidden parties to tribal horsemen in the most remote mountain villages, who have never seen a Westerner-- Mirrors of the Unseen is a beautiful and thought-provoking book by one of the world's most acclaimed adventurers and authors.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
June 16, 2020
It is unlikely we would have proper holidays this year, so I've decided to build on my fascination with Iran and read a book of travels in Iran. A few years ago, I've read Jason Elliot's book about Afghanistan and was impressed, so I've picked up this one. Jason speaks Farsi and travels widely insight the country. And I liked his way of describing his insights into Persian culture, traditions and history. He also talks with a lot of local people.
The book starts with almost two pages of "eclectic legacy" we inherited from 2.5 thousands years of Iranian history. I would not reproduce it here, but mention just a few things from his list: the banker's cheque, the first postal service (from which the Post of the US takes his motto: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night strays these couriers from swift completion of their appointed rounds."), the first astronomical observatory, algebra, astrolabe, the bullfight, the etymological origins of "paradise", "magic", and "scarlet", the dome and relevant architecture, Shiraz grape, Zoroaster, the three Magi (said to have set out from Persian city of Qom), Christmas tree; tennis and polo; Thousand and One Nights (the one of the first books translated into Arabic from Persian). And that is without mentioning all the poets and all the scientists from 11-14th centuries up to now.
The big part of the book is actually devoted to the cultural inheritance. I've learned a lot about the architecture and Islamic art. There is even an embedded essay about the meaning of the abstract Islamic art. Apart from the architecture which seems to be his main passion, Jason talks about the poetic tradition which wins the hearts of the Iranians even compared the religion. Apparently the poets were required to go through many years of proper education of the craft. One could not just sit down and compose. The poetry is closely related to Sufism. The book title is actually taken from the one of the poems. "Mirrors of the Unseen" is exactly the way of looking at a poem as a connection with the divine reality we are not able to contemplate while the verse is the slightly opaque mirror reflecting certain aspects of it.
Interestingly, it seems the translation might be the reason for the rise and the nature of the Western civilisation. In the Middle Ages, the major source of learning came from the books of hellenistic traditions, especially Aristotle. But people did not know the Greek in the Western Europe. So these texts were available in translation from Arabic (or less often from Greek) into Latin. That, as we can imagine, might create a big space for misinterpretation and ambiguity. Therefore, only relatively simpler ideas got stuck. I am very much simplifying the argument. But i like the idea. Jason expands much deeper and farther why, for example, the Western tradition pays so much attention the centrality of mind (rationality, science, technology) and where it has lead all of us. While the Eastern tradition is more skeptical that mind and mind alone could be the most trusted source of humanity and goodness.
The book has been published in 2006. Obviously, there is nothing on the affect of the war in Syria and other events after 2006. Besides Jason generally tries to avoid to go deep in politics. But he retells the political history of the 20th century including the coup organised by the British and Americans to get rid of Mohammad Mosaddegh. When he discusses this event with his friends - the secular middle class Iranians, they seems to be less infuriated by the role of the foreign government than he is. The one of his friends says that if not that, Mosaddegh would need to go eventually as he has started to lose the support. I was surprised by their lack of indignation. Generally, based upon Jason's conversations they seem to be wiser but more resigned that I would imagine. It was notable lack of observance of any religious traditions in 2006 at least. And the religion together with its representatives was very unpopular between the young. One of his corespondents noted though that after Islamic revolution Iran has become more democratic compared to the Shah's time. I found this thought almost counter-intuitive. There is no conversation about Iran-Iraq war in the book, Jason does not talk to the mullahs either. So if one is interested in the politics or religion she might look elsewhere.
However, if one is interested in the culture of this fascinating and diverse country, with the detailed insight into the architecture, it is not a bad place to start.
The book starts with almost two pages of "eclectic legacy" we inherited from 2.5 thousands years of Iranian history. I would not reproduce it here, but mention just a few things from his list: the banker's cheque, the first postal service (from which the Post of the US takes his motto: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night strays these couriers from swift completion of their appointed rounds."), the first astronomical observatory, algebra, astrolabe, the bullfight, the etymological origins of "paradise", "magic", and "scarlet", the dome and relevant architecture, Shiraz grape, Zoroaster, the three Magi (said to have set out from Persian city of Qom), Christmas tree; tennis and polo; Thousand and One Nights (the one of the first books translated into Arabic from Persian). And that is without mentioning all the poets and all the scientists from 11-14th centuries up to now.
The big part of the book is actually devoted to the cultural inheritance. I've learned a lot about the architecture and Islamic art. There is even an embedded essay about the meaning of the abstract Islamic art. Apart from the architecture which seems to be his main passion, Jason talks about the poetic tradition which wins the hearts of the Iranians even compared the religion. Apparently the poets were required to go through many years of proper education of the craft. One could not just sit down and compose. The poetry is closely related to Sufism. The book title is actually taken from the one of the poems. "Mirrors of the Unseen" is exactly the way of looking at a poem as a connection with the divine reality we are not able to contemplate while the verse is the slightly opaque mirror reflecting certain aspects of it.
Interestingly, it seems the translation might be the reason for the rise and the nature of the Western civilisation. In the Middle Ages, the major source of learning came from the books of hellenistic traditions, especially Aristotle. But people did not know the Greek in the Western Europe. So these texts were available in translation from Arabic (or less often from Greek) into Latin. That, as we can imagine, might create a big space for misinterpretation and ambiguity. Therefore, only relatively simpler ideas got stuck. I am very much simplifying the argument. But i like the idea. Jason expands much deeper and farther why, for example, the Western tradition pays so much attention the centrality of mind (rationality, science, technology) and where it has lead all of us. While the Eastern tradition is more skeptical that mind and mind alone could be the most trusted source of humanity and goodness.
The book has been published in 2006. Obviously, there is nothing on the affect of the war in Syria and other events after 2006. Besides Jason generally tries to avoid to go deep in politics. But he retells the political history of the 20th century including the coup organised by the British and Americans to get rid of Mohammad Mosaddegh. When he discusses this event with his friends - the secular middle class Iranians, they seems to be less infuriated by the role of the foreign government than he is. The one of his friends says that if not that, Mosaddegh would need to go eventually as he has started to lose the support. I was surprised by their lack of indignation. Generally, based upon Jason's conversations they seem to be wiser but more resigned that I would imagine. It was notable lack of observance of any religious traditions in 2006 at least. And the religion together with its representatives was very unpopular between the young. One of his corespondents noted though that after Islamic revolution Iran has become more democratic compared to the Shah's time. I found this thought almost counter-intuitive. There is no conversation about Iran-Iraq war in the book, Jason does not talk to the mullahs either. So if one is interested in the politics or religion she might look elsewhere.
However, if one is interested in the culture of this fascinating and diverse country, with the detailed insight into the architecture, it is not a bad place to start.
April 20, 2014
A traveler's tale of his journey thru Iran in 2006. His observations and stories of encounters with Iranians were what I enjoyed most. Although his descriptions of geography are interesting, I was bored with his very detailed descriptions of the complexity of mosque architecture.
I was reminded of Persian's love for gardens and poetry.
I was reminded of Persian's love for gardens and poetry.
December 27, 2012
Highly memorable description of the lives of ordinary people in 21st century Iran. I have a memory like a sieve so it says a great deal about this book that I remember so much even though I read it 5 or so years ago. It left a huge impression on me. Every time I hear or read about Iran, I remember that ordinary people are trying to live ordinary lives there, e.g. I had never considered Iranians going skiing at weekends, or sharing pirate Western DVDs. There are a lot of funny moments in this book interspersed with much that is worrying but it's the funny moments that remind me that we shouldn't condemn an entire country because of the power of its fundamentalists.
October 7, 2021
Much more engrossing than "Alone in Teheran". Is it because of the pigeons? He speaks the language & has a knowledgeable background in architecture. It's the kind of cross-country travelogue that delivers both wide-eyed wonder (interrupted by the everything that is wrong with my hotel room monologue) & a guide's historical context, while taking a critical look at previous tales from the 19th to mid 20th century... Mostly Byron (1940s).
March 4, 2021
The Iran we see portrayed on the TV is very different from the country and the people that inhabit it. They are a generous and warm people who are prepared to welcome visitors to their homeland and most importantly their homes to show generous hospitality to guests.
Elliot starts his journey in the back of a taxi leaving the airport that he had passed through with surprising efficiency. The driver asked him if he had been away long and was slightly surprised to find that this was Elliot’s first time in the country. He’d thought that he was Iranian…
As is the taxi drivers right, he is full of opinions of his city and how is was much better back in the day. A cigarette is passed forward, and he lights it while steering with his knees. Asked why he has come, he says that he is there to write a book. What is there to write about comes the question back, so he reels off a list of things that the Persian people have given humanity over time. The driver looks puzzled but shoves a tape into the slot on the dashboard. Listen he says and this wonderful, hypnotic music comes out of the speakers. He arrives at his hotel, pays the driver and tries to pass him the rest of the cigarettes, he refused to accept, until pressed a little more and then grudgingly accepts. The ritual of ta’arof has been performed once again. It is utterly different to Afghanistan, with no bullet holes in the buildings and he can just see a normal street from his modestly equipped room. It felt both surreal and yet normal.
It is a welcoming start to his travels in this most ancient of countries. He is there primarily to absorb the culture of the people and the places and has a particular fascination with the Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan and what he thinks is the glaring lack of alignment between the dome of the Sheikh Lutfullah Mosque and its entrance portal. This seeming lack of attention to detail that he had come to expect from the Persians piqued his curiosity and led him to a detailed investigation and trips back to the place to study it before it reveals its secrets to him.
The book is full of evocative scenes. When he is in the land of the Parthians and as the lamb kebabs are grilling over the open fire you can almost taste them yourself. He spends time with a young man called Zizou, who has taught himself about the history of the Iranian ancient sites, he refused to accept any money for the time spent, saying that the cost had been spent and shared with learning and knowledge. He spends time in the home of many people seeing just what they are like out of the glare of the religious police and spends many a night in some grubby hotel rooms, sharing the space with cockroaches and bathroom taps that spit like demented cobras. It didn’t matter if he was speaking to a plaster adding ornate touches to a domed ceiling or watching a tile-cutter teach his son the trade or sharing an opium pipe with an older man on a horse ranch.
The landscape pales, unfolding from the roadside in yellowing sheets which merge with the sky along a mirage-infused horizon. Moving against these desiccated expanses, one feels like a survivor, adrift without bearings.
His first book, An Unexpected Light about his travels in Afghanistan was so jaw-droppingly good that I had very high hopes for this one. And mostly this book didn’t disappoint. The way that he engages with the people that he encounters as he travels around the country is the best part of this book, he is sympathetic and tolerant of almost all, bar the one or two that see him, as a tourist and therefore a source of income. He has grown up too, there is not the wide-eyed joy that you got in the first book, rather he has taken the time and effort to find out about the places he is going to with the intention of bringing extra depth to the book. He has learnt the language so his passage through is easier he can bring those subtle nuances to life even more. It is a fascinating book about a wonderful country. The accompanying photos are excellent, in particular the one taken in Kurdestan. If you want to read more about Iran, I can also recommend Revolutionary Road by Lois Pryce for another amazing book.
Elliot starts his journey in the back of a taxi leaving the airport that he had passed through with surprising efficiency. The driver asked him if he had been away long and was slightly surprised to find that this was Elliot’s first time in the country. He’d thought that he was Iranian…
As is the taxi drivers right, he is full of opinions of his city and how is was much better back in the day. A cigarette is passed forward, and he lights it while steering with his knees. Asked why he has come, he says that he is there to write a book. What is there to write about comes the question back, so he reels off a list of things that the Persian people have given humanity over time. The driver looks puzzled but shoves a tape into the slot on the dashboard. Listen he says and this wonderful, hypnotic music comes out of the speakers. He arrives at his hotel, pays the driver and tries to pass him the rest of the cigarettes, he refused to accept, until pressed a little more and then grudgingly accepts. The ritual of ta’arof has been performed once again. It is utterly different to Afghanistan, with no bullet holes in the buildings and he can just see a normal street from his modestly equipped room. It felt both surreal and yet normal.
It is a welcoming start to his travels in this most ancient of countries. He is there primarily to absorb the culture of the people and the places and has a particular fascination with the Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan and what he thinks is the glaring lack of alignment between the dome of the Sheikh Lutfullah Mosque and its entrance portal. This seeming lack of attention to detail that he had come to expect from the Persians piqued his curiosity and led him to a detailed investigation and trips back to the place to study it before it reveals its secrets to him.
The book is full of evocative scenes. When he is in the land of the Parthians and as the lamb kebabs are grilling over the open fire you can almost taste them yourself. He spends time with a young man called Zizou, who has taught himself about the history of the Iranian ancient sites, he refused to accept any money for the time spent, saying that the cost had been spent and shared with learning and knowledge. He spends time in the home of many people seeing just what they are like out of the glare of the religious police and spends many a night in some grubby hotel rooms, sharing the space with cockroaches and bathroom taps that spit like demented cobras. It didn’t matter if he was speaking to a plaster adding ornate touches to a domed ceiling or watching a tile-cutter teach his son the trade or sharing an opium pipe with an older man on a horse ranch.
The landscape pales, unfolding from the roadside in yellowing sheets which merge with the sky along a mirage-infused horizon. Moving against these desiccated expanses, one feels like a survivor, adrift without bearings.
His first book, An Unexpected Light about his travels in Afghanistan was so jaw-droppingly good that I had very high hopes for this one. And mostly this book didn’t disappoint. The way that he engages with the people that he encounters as he travels around the country is the best part of this book, he is sympathetic and tolerant of almost all, bar the one or two that see him, as a tourist and therefore a source of income. He has grown up too, there is not the wide-eyed joy that you got in the first book, rather he has taken the time and effort to find out about the places he is going to with the intention of bringing extra depth to the book. He has learnt the language so his passage through is easier he can bring those subtle nuances to life even more. It is a fascinating book about a wonderful country. The accompanying photos are excellent, in particular the one taken in Kurdestan. If you want to read more about Iran, I can also recommend Revolutionary Road by Lois Pryce for another amazing book.
November 28, 2012
This travelogue about contemporary Iran reminds one of the fable of the elephant and the blind men. Six blind men (or men in complete darkness) grope about an elephant they cannot see--describing it, depending on the part they happen to touch, as resembling a tree (leg), wall (side), spear (tusk), rope (tail), snake (trunk) or fan (ear). So many different impressions, all from the same object! This fable originated in India and was also expressed in the poem "Elephant in a Dark Room" by the celebrated Iranian poet Rumi (1207-1273).
In this case, Iran is the elephant: which is its true image? International politics paint it as part of an "axis of evil," it has sponsored a meeting that declared the Nazi holocaust a hoax, and its extremists once invaded the American embassy and subjected its workers to humiliating imprisonment--extremists of whom one is now Iran's president. Is that the real Iran? Or is it a peaceful country whose citizens welcome the stranger and openly complain to him (since he understands Farsi) about their ruling theocracy, declaring "life was better under the shah"?
It is a theocracy ruled by Shi'a Islam whose people resent comparison to Shi'ite Iraqis--"we are Iranian, not Arabs." "Iranian" here may mean Persian from the south, Kurd from the west, Azeri from the north, Turkmen from the northeast or inhabitant of teeming Tehran, they all co-exist peacefully, proud of a joint identity. A Moslem nation where alcohol is widely consumed (even some opium), and where women walk unveiled and unescorted, and drive cars--even a few cabs. An ancient culture proud of its past, with particular attention to poetry, to the architecture of mosques, to decorative ceramics and to sumptuous gardens. Will the real Iran please identify itself?
One thing is clear: Jason Elliot loves Iran, loves its arts and knows both its history and culture. He can cite its classical poets (including Rumi) and few things please him more than hearing his host complete from memory a rhyme he has started. Indeed, all too often he is distracted to follow some interesting side-path to wherever it may lead him, waxing lyrical about the abstract intertwining of geometry, vegetation and calligraphy in Iranian decorative art, or about domes and squinches he has observed. "Squinch," now there is a word for you: a scooped-out cube corner, filled by a curved surface like quarter of a dome. Was this design copied from nature? Elliot visits and re-visits a bat-infested cave, just to check out this point.
Such side-trips will try the patience of some readers, and at one point, the author himself suggests skipping some 20 pages of musings on abstract Islamic art. But stay with him, there is more. What emerges resembles in some way the method used by mathematicians to map out solutions of problems much too complex for any general formula. Instead of seeking a formula, they find, by computer, solutions for a large selection of input variables. After a sufficient number of such random stabs is mapped, the pattern of the general solution may begin to emerge, and not surprisingly, this is known as the "Monte Carlo method".
Likewise, this travelogue is best seen as a collection of vignettes, stitched together by history, personality, geography and pure chance. It may seem random, but after a while, a pattern begins to emerge--the identity of the elephant, if you will. Bear with the author when he digresses about the faith of Mithra, god of the Parthians (themselves a mystery of Iranian antiquity), or describes the fierce onslaught of the Mongols, as they overran Iran, murdered citizens by the thousand, looted and destroyed--until the local culture assimilated them. In the end they settled down to give the country a most peaceful and enlightened period; originally Buddhists (many with Christian Nestorian wives), they ultimately embraced Shi'a Islam. Even so, throughout almost all of its history, Iran remained tolerant to all religions. In the company of Elliot, visit Louise Firouz, an English woman who married an Iranian aristocrat and ended raising purebred horses in the northeast of Iran, even rescuing from the brink of extinction a local breed of miniature horses.
Also meet artisans restoring ancient tile-work, and men banded together for athletic displays of brute strength, wildly swinging heavy cudgel pins in intricate patterns. Picnic in gardens with Iranian families, and travel the Iraq-Iran border, Kurdish territory where smuggling is a major industry. You wonder where you are, until your host points out a town at the foot of the mountains, in Iraq. See that? That is Halabja. That was where Saddam Hussein gassed 8000 Kurdish civilians during the Iraq-Iran war (which he started), because some time earlier, the Iranian army temporarily occupied Halabja, and Saddam felt the locals were too friendly to their occupiers.
And what about the bearded mullahs, the lack of political freedom, the official militancy? They exist too, and as Louise made clear, serving time in prison is a rite of passage for many Iranians. Yet the same Iranians also agree that the worst thing America (or any foreign power) could do would be to invade Iran. It would unite the nation against the invaders and help prop up a discredited regime, one whose hypocrisy is despised by the young. Change has to come from within, they say. They still remember how Britain in 1941 deposed the first Shah, a true reformer, and how Kermit Roosevelt (son of Teddy) engineered in 1953 the overthrow of popularly elected premier Mossadegh, in response to his nationalization of oil resources.
Will a gradual process work in today's fast changing world, or is time running out? Tough call. All one can say for sure is that here is a different view of the elephant, rewarding the reader with a better understanding of the country, of its people, its art, its rich history, its religion, culture, its diverse terrain and its place in today's world. An interesting place, indeed.
In this case, Iran is the elephant: which is its true image? International politics paint it as part of an "axis of evil," it has sponsored a meeting that declared the Nazi holocaust a hoax, and its extremists once invaded the American embassy and subjected its workers to humiliating imprisonment--extremists of whom one is now Iran's president. Is that the real Iran? Or is it a peaceful country whose citizens welcome the stranger and openly complain to him (since he understands Farsi) about their ruling theocracy, declaring "life was better under the shah"?
It is a theocracy ruled by Shi'a Islam whose people resent comparison to Shi'ite Iraqis--"we are Iranian, not Arabs." "Iranian" here may mean Persian from the south, Kurd from the west, Azeri from the north, Turkmen from the northeast or inhabitant of teeming Tehran, they all co-exist peacefully, proud of a joint identity. A Moslem nation where alcohol is widely consumed (even some opium), and where women walk unveiled and unescorted, and drive cars--even a few cabs. An ancient culture proud of its past, with particular attention to poetry, to the architecture of mosques, to decorative ceramics and to sumptuous gardens. Will the real Iran please identify itself?
One thing is clear: Jason Elliot loves Iran, loves its arts and knows both its history and culture. He can cite its classical poets (including Rumi) and few things please him more than hearing his host complete from memory a rhyme he has started. Indeed, all too often he is distracted to follow some interesting side-path to wherever it may lead him, waxing lyrical about the abstract intertwining of geometry, vegetation and calligraphy in Iranian decorative art, or about domes and squinches he has observed. "Squinch," now there is a word for you: a scooped-out cube corner, filled by a curved surface like quarter of a dome. Was this design copied from nature? Elliot visits and re-visits a bat-infested cave, just to check out this point.
Such side-trips will try the patience of some readers, and at one point, the author himself suggests skipping some 20 pages of musings on abstract Islamic art. But stay with him, there is more. What emerges resembles in some way the method used by mathematicians to map out solutions of problems much too complex for any general formula. Instead of seeking a formula, they find, by computer, solutions for a large selection of input variables. After a sufficient number of such random stabs is mapped, the pattern of the general solution may begin to emerge, and not surprisingly, this is known as the "Monte Carlo method".
Likewise, this travelogue is best seen as a collection of vignettes, stitched together by history, personality, geography and pure chance. It may seem random, but after a while, a pattern begins to emerge--the identity of the elephant, if you will. Bear with the author when he digresses about the faith of Mithra, god of the Parthians (themselves a mystery of Iranian antiquity), or describes the fierce onslaught of the Mongols, as they overran Iran, murdered citizens by the thousand, looted and destroyed--until the local culture assimilated them. In the end they settled down to give the country a most peaceful and enlightened period; originally Buddhists (many with Christian Nestorian wives), they ultimately embraced Shi'a Islam. Even so, throughout almost all of its history, Iran remained tolerant to all religions. In the company of Elliot, visit Louise Firouz, an English woman who married an Iranian aristocrat and ended raising purebred horses in the northeast of Iran, even rescuing from the brink of extinction a local breed of miniature horses.
Also meet artisans restoring ancient tile-work, and men banded together for athletic displays of brute strength, wildly swinging heavy cudgel pins in intricate patterns. Picnic in gardens with Iranian families, and travel the Iraq-Iran border, Kurdish territory where smuggling is a major industry. You wonder where you are, until your host points out a town at the foot of the mountains, in Iraq. See that? That is Halabja. That was where Saddam Hussein gassed 8000 Kurdish civilians during the Iraq-Iran war (which he started), because some time earlier, the Iranian army temporarily occupied Halabja, and Saddam felt the locals were too friendly to their occupiers.
And what about the bearded mullahs, the lack of political freedom, the official militancy? They exist too, and as Louise made clear, serving time in prison is a rite of passage for many Iranians. Yet the same Iranians also agree that the worst thing America (or any foreign power) could do would be to invade Iran. It would unite the nation against the invaders and help prop up a discredited regime, one whose hypocrisy is despised by the young. Change has to come from within, they say. They still remember how Britain in 1941 deposed the first Shah, a true reformer, and how Kermit Roosevelt (son of Teddy) engineered in 1953 the overthrow of popularly elected premier Mossadegh, in response to his nationalization of oil resources.
Will a gradual process work in today's fast changing world, or is time running out? Tough call. All one can say for sure is that here is a different view of the elephant, rewarding the reader with a better understanding of the country, of its people, its art, its rich history, its religion, culture, its diverse terrain and its place in today's world. An interesting place, indeed.
May 16, 2018
In the late nineties, before Afghanistan was rendered more chaotic and dangerous than usual, Jason Elliot visited the country and was moved by it. Building on the success of that trip, he looked over the border to Iran, a nation derided by the Afganis as full of sandwich-eating women, and decided to travel throughout it, as well. Mirrors of the Unseen collects the experiences of several trips made by Elliot throughout Iran, visiting it again and again as the seasons changed. What did not change was the ready willingness of Iranians to receive him -- and ply him a surprising amount of spirits. Elliot's interest in Iran is more cultural and historical than political, and as time passes he transforms from interviewing tourist to a man on pilgrimage, one with Iran's architectural wonders as its goal, working in historical recaps along the way, telling of the rise and fall of empires as he gazes at their ruins and proud reminders. He is particularly struck by the predominant role of gardens in Persian culture and art, one that predates views of Heaven as a paradisaical garden. (Not by accident is the German title of this book Persia: God's Forgotten Garden.) Elliot is sensitive about architecture in that it seems to affect him deeply, taking over his mind. Discussions with friends and discourses on Sassanian history fade into the background when Elliot takes in the fullness of a bazaar or mosque and begins to wax lyrical about plazas and windows. He is self-conscious about some of his obsessions -- several chapters see him poring over historic maps and making measurements to figure out why a particular building isn't lined up the way symmetry suggests it should -- to the point that he includes at least one disclaimer. Of more general interest are Elliot's many conversations with Iranians of various ethnic groups; he never fails to find a friendly host wherever he travels, and those who do not have concealed stocks of ardent spirits have opium pipes. (Similarly, no one Elliot meets observes the laws against foreign television stations, but it's possible that the people most eager to host an Englishman were the most dubious about the currently-reigning politics.) The Iranians featured here range from poor cab drivers to horse ranchers, and unless they're selling something they're extremely generous with their time and resources.
Although the aesthetic tangents might throw some readers off, I personally enjoyed this curious mix of travel memoir, history, and architectural commentary.
Although the aesthetic tangents might throw some readers off, I personally enjoyed this curious mix of travel memoir, history, and architectural commentary.
June 5, 2010
Much better, I thought, than Elliot's book about Afghanistan, Mirrors of the Unseen is a comprehensive look at a fascinating country that, sadly, suffers because of their government. My favorite parts were everything that dealt with the history and culture of ancient Persia, including this from poet Sa'di: "The sons of Adam are the members of a whole/ Each is created from a greater single soul/ Whenever fate to one of them brings pain/ No other can without distress remain/ You who for others' torment do not care/ Cannot the name of 'human' rightly bear."
July 28, 2022
History interwoven with a fascinating travelogue. I would not recommend this as a first book to a person that knew absolutely nothing about Iran beforehand; it would still be fascinating, but I think that having at least a small amount of prior knowledge of Iranian history serves to make the book a worthwhile experience. The writing is humorous at times, and Jason Elliot is great with metaphors and anologies. I found this book very exciting at first, but about half way through, I began to get bored with the detailed analysis of mosque architecture. I loved the writing about Iranian culture, history, and geography. The architecture was a bit much.
May 1, 2008
maybe I shouldn't include this, as I didn't finish it. I never give up on books! I read almost 300 pages of this one, and there were good things about it-the photos and analysis of architecture particularly. but the history was deadly boring-and, really now, how can that be?! mostly I got tremendously weary with the writer himself, bitching about the cost of taxis and hotels and being charged "tourist" price. hey man! you're from england, and you're in iran-you should pay at least triple! he also said some lousy things about women, and fell under the spell of female "modesty" (ie:repression and the chandor,) which is where I cut out.
March 15, 2015
Books like this make me sad, bored, and infuriated that there are such large portions of people within my own country which wish to "have a war" with Iran. Most of these have so little understanding of the Iranian national character, conflate the Iranians with other "ragheaded" nations such as Afghanistan and Iran, conflate the rule by a stagnant theocracy as 'the will of a governed people" and insist that despite all protestations to the contrary, Iran still wants a nuke so it can bomb the crap out of Israel and help turn the USA into another Islamic state. This book goes all over the country and finds there's actually very little anti-Americanism to be found in Iran outside of government propaganda. It finds a populace of younger Iranians impatient and absolutely unwilling to put up with the stupidity of the Imams' dogmas. It finds people who admire America for what we once represented and who have no real beef, not the way Americans go on and on about Iran. And makes me painfully aware that war in any even would be absolutely catastrophic to the preservation of the many architectural masterpieces which dot the landscape there. Innocent civilians will be the true victims in any case, and civilians are NOT the government, and anyone who invades anyone anywhere should expect absolute resistance if only by the nationalistic and patriotic. I get the impression it would be a very reluctant war the Iranians would rather not care to wage, themselves. But like Ambrose Bierce once said, "War is God's way of teaching Americans Geography" even if it teaches them absolutely zilch about culture. Iran has plenty of culture, and a nation which makes war on Iran would actually be making war on some of the best, oldest, most cultivated places on earth. It is this stupid jingoism that books like this help to show up as the ignorance it is, and how much bluster and idiotic pap the squeals of the warmongers always is.
March 3, 2016
Eliot is a gentle traveller with distinct interests and biases. His view of Iran is dominated by friends, encounters and monuments. He is interested in art and religion but not in politics. His perennial struggles to avoid being ripped off by taxi drivers and museum staff lighten the mood and the frustrations of life under theocratic rule are well drawn with a light touch. The obsessive attention to architecture can be tedious to those uninterested in the topic!
Read
August 18, 2016ένας δυτικός ανοίγει τρύπες στο πέπλο των δυτικών μίντια. μικρές. αλλά παίρνουμε μάτι.
November 6, 2017
I read this recently while visiting Iran for the first time in 21 years (having lived there for a number of years as a child). I found it on the whole an interesting, thoughtful and personal account from a scholarly but adventurous individual. Elliot seems to rather fancy himself as a less grumpy contemporary version of Robert Byron who visited Iran and Afghanistan in the early 20th century and wrote about Islamic art among other things in his Road to Oxiana. Following in Byron's footsteps is a source of delight for Elliot, who also dedicates significant attention to the art and architecture, particularly in Esfahan. I read about his theories of geometry and the design of Esfahan's spaces according to rules of geometry such as the golden ratio in the top bunk of a sleeper coach of a train headed from Esfahan to Tehran and found it fascinating. I also particularly enjoyed the musings about nature, i.e the centrality of nature in pre-Islamic cultures of Persia and the loss in some respects of this acknowledged centrality in contemporary Islamic (as well as Western philosophies). In my view, these thoughtful asides are one of the most enjoyable and interesting aspects of the book, though I enjoyed all of it (with the possible exception of his continued, if justified, ranting about taxi drivers, and his dislike of Tehran, which I feel he perhaps failed to appreciate due perhaps to his particular experiences of it). As with good travel writing there is some insight into the character of the traveler and how his character shaped his interactions and therefore view. It was enjoyable to go along on the journey with Elliot as he confronted his own views and those of others, and went on a journey to discover what it was that fascinated and inspired him in this country. There is almost a spiritual quest involved, exploring the 'mystical' and confronting is own learned beliefs of a divide between the analytical and the mystical/spiritual/intuitive and a delight (as well as confusion) in discovering that in another context (e.g. sufism) that such a divide vanishes in an easy comfort with and acceptance of both rational and intuitive, technical, logical and spiritual, mysterious. This is refreshing both to the writer and at least in my case to the reader. I felt at times there was both a sense of understanding (and wishing to understand), and appreciation of the culture(s) he was studying, as well as some self-reflection on the difficulty of doing so due to his own learned beliefs.
There is more to say but it's perhaps enough to recommend this book as one of a number that help to give a picture of Iran. I also recently read Revolutionary Ride which gives a lively and funny take on Iran from the perspective of a British woman on a motorcycle ten years later than Elliot. The latter is light on the kind of philosophical and artistic explorations that I feel are a strength in Elliot's book, but stronger on the humour aspect. And humour is an important part of the culture that Elliot, perhaps being a bit of a serious sort (and sometimes a little more like Byron than he'd like to admit) didn't pick up on quite so much.
There is more to say but it's perhaps enough to recommend this book as one of a number that help to give a picture of Iran. I also recently read Revolutionary Ride which gives a lively and funny take on Iran from the perspective of a British woman on a motorcycle ten years later than Elliot. The latter is light on the kind of philosophical and artistic explorations that I feel are a strength in Elliot's book, but stronger on the humour aspect. And humour is an important part of the culture that Elliot, perhaps being a bit of a serious sort (and sometimes a little more like Byron than he'd like to admit) didn't pick up on quite so much.
September 27, 2014
This is one of the better books I've read on Iran.
But
It drove me mad with all:
- the lists (actual, and cleverly disguised by stringing them together with commas / semi-colons). It's great to do research, but maybe he didn't need to put all of it in?
- the whining about cab drivers asking for money. See his list on pp370-1. These men are truly poor (they're not lying to him about this). They work to feed their families, in a high inflation economy, with petrol rationing. While the author gets to gallivant around on his book-writing-holiday.
- The end. Well, whatever happened at the end? The beginning and middle were unctuously detailed. But the end? A pretty standard first-time tourist trip through Iran. It's all very strange.
I'm sorry that he doesn't seem to have liked Iran much - except, of course, his time with a few middle-/upper-class mates.
I'm confused as to whether he feels comfortable in Persian.
I'm confused as to whether he has anything to say about Persian art.
I need to re-read his points about the maidan in Isfahan. It had that huge revamp / slim down in 1602. How do his ideas fit in with this? Does he even know about this?
His book on Afghanistan is SO much more perceptive, more loving, more inside.
What will the author write now?
But
It drove me mad with all:
- the lists (actual, and cleverly disguised by stringing them together with commas / semi-colons). It's great to do research, but maybe he didn't need to put all of it in?
- the whining about cab drivers asking for money. See his list on pp370-1. These men are truly poor (they're not lying to him about this). They work to feed their families, in a high inflation economy, with petrol rationing. While the author gets to gallivant around on his book-writing-holiday.
- The end. Well, whatever happened at the end? The beginning and middle were unctuously detailed. But the end? A pretty standard first-time tourist trip through Iran. It's all very strange.
I'm sorry that he doesn't seem to have liked Iran much - except, of course, his time with a few middle-/upper-class mates.
I'm confused as to whether he feels comfortable in Persian.
I'm confused as to whether he has anything to say about Persian art.
I need to re-read his points about the maidan in Isfahan. It had that huge revamp / slim down in 1602. How do his ideas fit in with this? Does he even know about this?
His book on Afghanistan is SO much more perceptive, more loving, more inside.
What will the author write now?
March 4, 2020
Rating: 3. This book left mixed feelings about it. On positive side: I learnt quite much new about history, cultural aspects, religion, geography, art, people. Stories entertained, new facts made me think. I really liked it. However, it is not an easy read: language is quite hard to grasp quickly, so much descriptions, too much attention to details. I was also disappointed with the last chapter: so good places I wanted to read about where just briefly written about, with sensible annoyance in author's description. Author was tired, it felt. In the end there was also a lot of negativity about the travel experience, which didn't feel nice to read.
May 13, 2019
"As mirrors of the invisible world, they conform to a rigorous order, in poetry achieved by metre, in music by mode, in calligraphy by proportion, and in architecture by geometry" (334). Sometimes the book was good fun -- erudite, thoughtful, even luminous. There were points when he makes a meaningful and moving connection with someone he meets. I skimmed through some sections that were just too much more of the same thing (so many taxi drivers), too hard to follow (architectural detail without illustrations), or just for your circle of friends (opium-induced dog dream).
January 19, 2017
I must admit that I enjoyed Elliot's An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan a lot more. While this book does relate some information about daily life and politics, it focuses a lot more on the art of Iran. Even though I normally enjoy art history, it did not work well in the book.
August 21, 2018
On the one hand, this is a very interesting and pleasant book. On the other hand, it could have used another round of editing.
For the most part, it isn't anything I didn't already know or suspect--the history Elliot introduces is pretty general, for the most part, though his interest in architectural history is by turns charming and a discouraging. I like architecture, too, but there does come a time when I'd rather another illustration or two instead of such a long description of a building. I also found myself wondering why he didn't seem to try to approach anyone who was an academic specialist in Iranian architecture to answer his questions or at least discuss them--surely there must have been at least a few willing to talk about it with him?
The book was billed as a travel memoir, essentially, and it is certainly at its most amusing when it behaves as such. As a history book, it's a little disjointed--but I don't think Elliot really intended it to be a history book. It's just not always clear that's the case.
For the most part, it isn't anything I didn't already know or suspect--the history Elliot introduces is pretty general, for the most part, though his interest in architectural history is by turns charming and a discouraging. I like architecture, too, but there does come a time when I'd rather another illustration or two instead of such a long description of a building. I also found myself wondering why he didn't seem to try to approach anyone who was an academic specialist in Iranian architecture to answer his questions or at least discuss them--surely there must have been at least a few willing to talk about it with him?
The book was billed as a travel memoir, essentially, and it is certainly at its most amusing when it behaves as such. As a history book, it's a little disjointed--but I don't think Elliot really intended it to be a history book. It's just not always clear that's the case.
January 9, 2020
4,5/5
May 18, 2018
Travel literature meets university lecture. And I do not write that unkindly, as Elliot has done a lot of research and he wants to be thorough. Unfortunately, from my perspective, it often bogged me down, even with some extremely beautifully written passages. I like the intellectual parts of my travel reading to hit my in lightning strikes, not large-scale ground offensives. I jest a little, cause I must say I could almost see the beautiful tile work and architectural delights he was trying to convey on the page, and the historical, art history, and religious asides could be quite interesting. But I liked best the travel and people, even if it seemed everyone was trying to get one over on him. I so much would love to see the country. It did seem that almost everywhere he went the structures were under repair and that everyone was working an angle. I wonder often if censors read these books and try to track down individuals reported as having illegal or anti-authoritarian views? Iran should be a world leader, but internal problems seem to halt them more than external. I keep hoping for a better generation of mullahs or return to civilian control, though that does not guarantee progress either. The many Iranians I have known are great people. One good thing from the book is it shows that there is much diversity of opinion and reality is much different than many think. I have always found Iranians extremely interested in the world and other cultures (at least the educated ones, and I suppose that goes for every country).
December 5, 2019
Most books about Iran written by Iranians fall into three categories. One, Since the revolution Iran is terrible. Two, Iran is not terrible as long as you work within the law. Three, Iran is beautiful but has a lot of problems. Mirrors falls into the third category. Elliot started, and admits he did, looking for the Iran of secret religious police and persecution. He found a country that has lost it's religiousoscity and is more worried about unemployment, inflation, lack of foreign exchange, and wanting to control it's own destiny. The people Elliot met during his travels talk about poetry, art, and they are conspiracy theorists. Iran today is NOT a very religious country. Oh people still go to the Mosque on Fri, but they are their to be counted and seen by the authorities. Elliot describes masses filling out of the Mosque and heading for their Fri picnics and family time. Families spending evenings on the town square picnicking and catching up on the day with friends, neighbors and family. He also found that the average Iranian does NOT want the U.S. to interfere with their affairs. The average Iranian wants an Iranian solution to their internal problems. They see the religious authorities as corrupt, but, the old folk, see them as less corrupt than the Sha. This political thought is traced through a journey that explores Iranian Art, landscape, and architecture. This book is worth the read to find Elliot's changing attitude about Iran and it's people, culture and politics.
March 19, 2008
No, I haven't finished Elliot's Unexpected Light yet, but it's not that I don't like his writing. And I picked this up from the New Book shelves at the Neilson Hays Library, so I only have two weeks to read it. Nothing like a time limit to get me reading.
19 March 2008
In this, his second book, his editor seems to have given him his head when he might have reined him in just a bit. As I mentioned in a
19 March 2008
In this, his second book, his editor seems to have given him his head when he might have reined him in just a bit. As I mentioned in a
August 23, 2009
A fine account of Elliot's journeys across Iran in 2004-2005. From a horse-breeding farm in the hills above the Caspian to clambering through the ruins of Persepolis to semi-clandestine cocktail parties in Tehran apartments, Elliot depicts a society exhausted by a generation of war, revolution, and corrupt theocracy, a society proud of its past and its religion, yet contemptuous of its clerical rulers and aware of its pariah status in the world. Elliot speaks Persian (though his appearance convinces strangers that he's Azeri and his accent leaves them puzzled about his Afghan pronunciaton) and has a deep sympathy for the people and country around him. He spends far too long trying to explain Islamic art--- which he admits he's never been trained in ---but manages to make the architecture and art of Iran deeply alluring. As with his earlier "An Unexpected Light", very much book worth reading.
February 26, 2018
Many people will want to skim the long and detailed (and frequent) commentaries on Islamic art and architecture. (I did, even though I normally consider myself to be interested in such things) I found the book worth it for the glimpses into the lives of ordinary people, even though the author himself acknowledges that he never got near the truly impoverished segments of society, but that okay I guess. Nor would most travellers.
May 10, 2013
There were parts of this book that just entranced me - I felt as if I were seeing what the author described. He has some beautiful descriptions of the art, the atmosphere, and the geography of Iran. There were too many areas, however, where I was bored...sometimes his descriptions were sappy or long-winded. As a travelogue, it was good. As an art book, it wasn't.
June 5, 2022
I really enjoyed the large majority of this book. Elliot set out to provide the reader with an image of Iran ‘beyond the headlines’ and I think he really achieved this. However, there were a few things which let me down about the book as a work of travel writing. I really enjoyed the ‘human’ side to the book, meaning Elliot’s interactions with Iranians and his observations travelling around the country. The sections about art were interesting but Elliot seemed to have used a thesaurus for every word in these sections. His vocabulary and descriptions were so dense it hindered my understanding of the point he was trying to get across at times. The other thing that disappointed me was a distinct sense of Britishness about Elliot’s voice. At times he bordered on crossing into Orientalism and on the whole he seemed to maintain a separation with his subject that appeared to be based on a sense of superiority at moments in the book. You never forgot that Elliot was a middle class, privileged British man throughout the whole text, which weakened its impact as a work on the Middle East as it seemed to just be adding another voice (from the modern day) to the cacophony of white, straight, male travel writing on Iran.
November 17, 2018
This is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. The prose is stunning: every page shimmers with exquisite and insightful descriptions of art, architecture, gardens, history and poetry. The book also features many wonderful anecdotes about encounters with ordinary people, sometimes amusing, sometimes unexpectedly tender. Though the author at times comes across as arrogant and presumptuous, it's clear that he has a genuine love of Iran and he goes to great lengths to explore the culture and represent all the many experiences and variations of life that he encounters.
I'm deducting a star for unnecessary exotification/sexualisation of Iranian women and one really sexist passage that angered me. Of course, being a male, the author was restricted mostly to interactions with other men. Which is fine. But now I want to read a companion book written by a female traveller because I feel like there's a whole world missing from this book. For me Iranian women were the true mirrors of the unseen in this book.
I'm deducting a star for unnecessary exotification/sexualisation of Iranian women and one really sexist passage that angered me. Of course, being a male, the author was restricted mostly to interactions with other men. Which is fine. But now I want to read a companion book written by a female traveller because I feel like there's a whole world missing from this book. For me Iranian women were the true mirrors of the unseen in this book.
March 15, 2024
"Before time was, a ray of your Beauty was breathed into existence. Love woke up and set the universe alight."
Jason Elliot interweaves the narration of his journey through the historic places, the history, the poetry, and the architectural marvels of Iran with his very uninhibited dealings with ordinary people of a country that we often hear little about. The overall effect is the most immersive travel writing one could hope for, that brings the seemingly exotic into the realm of ordinary life. This book is a pleasure to read, although a little architectural background will help. Anyone describing art will always fall short of capturing its majesty and Islamic architecture is no exception, but the author does a great service to the country of the Iran in helping to peel back the shrouds of mystery and political rhetoric, to get to the real heart of the country: the people, who and what history has preceded them, and what will follow.
Jason Elliot interweaves the narration of his journey through the historic places, the history, the poetry, and the architectural marvels of Iran with his very uninhibited dealings with ordinary people of a country that we often hear little about. The overall effect is the most immersive travel writing one could hope for, that brings the seemingly exotic into the realm of ordinary life. This book is a pleasure to read, although a little architectural background will help. Anyone describing art will always fall short of capturing its majesty and Islamic architecture is no exception, but the author does a great service to the country of the Iran in helping to peel back the shrouds of mystery and political rhetoric, to get to the real heart of the country: the people, who and what history has preceded them, and what will follow.
January 18, 2024
Another quality travelogue from Jason Elliot. I loved how faithfully he recorded the humour of his conversations, especially those with taxi drivers. He also generously includes his own mistaken prejudices and assumptions when meeting people, highlighting some incredible individuals who are doing remarkable things.
Above all, Elliot carefully records the sophistication of those he speaks to and, indeed, recites poetry with. I loved the linguistic and artistic notes he puts in, though sometimes long history sections detracted from his descriptions of contemporary Iran.
Above all, Elliot carefully records the sophistication of those he speaks to and, indeed, recites poetry with. I loved the linguistic and artistic notes he puts in, though sometimes long history sections detracted from his descriptions of contemporary Iran.
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