Play Book Tag discussion

With the US and Iran's recent histories intertwined in a variety of ways and knowing a number of educated Iranian women, I was interested in reading about the poet Forugh Farrokzhad in Jasmin Darznik's novelization of her life, Song of a Captive Bird. I am pleased to say that I did get more information about Iran's history in the 20th century and especially the lives of women during the mid-century period (1940-1960).

Forugh was an extremely gifted poet as the reader can see, by examples of her poetry throughout the book. I am sure that she was a complex character and from this book one can see that she lead a difficult and interesting life. The book is told in first person from Forugh's point of view and this is the major problem I had. The voice is at odds with the beautiful poetry in the book. While, I can understand that those who write such beautiful poetry may not always be model citizens, I do expect their prose to show a degree of grace and to be cautious that their voice characterizes them well. Often, Forugh seems spoiled, petulant and rebellious and I kept feeling that there should be more to her than that.

I don't want to have this criticism of mine to discourage others from reading Song of a Captive Bird because I think it is well worth the read.

As a child Forugh loved the garden which her mother had created and noticed how her mother came alive working in the garden. When Iran began to be westernized, her father, The Colonel, destroyed the garden and recreated what he thought of as a more western version. Forugh notes:
In the coming years, thousands of gardens would be destroyed in Tehran, but it was only much later that I’d discover our garden in Amiriyeh, with all its gorgeous wild blooming, had been among the first. The old Persian gardens were quickly disappearing into oblivion, but despite all the changes that would take place in the coming years, the old walls between houses remained, and we therefore never witnessed the destruction of one another’s gardens. We couldn’t yet imagine what we had lost would be lost again and again.

When she is given the chance to leave the country after some thought she decides:
When I walked in the streets, there was a memory at every turn, a rootedness I felt in my limbs and my heart. Whatever Iran wanted to be, I loved it. I’d found my life’s purpose here. Every poem I’d ever written was entangled with my country’s story. I loved its downtrodden, small-minded, generous people. I loved them; I belonged to them. They were my people, and I was theirs.

I found this story really compelling and I hope others take the opportunity to read it.

Good review. Thank you. There's another one for the list. I'd read more books if I spent less time reading reviews ! :)

Jgrace wrote: "Good review. Thank you. There's another one for the list. I'd read more books if I spent less time reading reviews ! :)"

I think you will like it. Forugh is such an interesting person. Although I don't often read poetry the examples in the book were beautiful .