Magdelanye’s Reviews > Poets and Pahlevans: A Journey into the Heart of Iran > Status Update

A traveler remembers what he wants. p189

Attention spans for tragedy are short. p159

There were no roads, just twisted passageways that wormed through the village and disappeared around corners. No space was wasted; the roofs of the lower buildings were the walkways for the level above. It was ramshackle, pieced together with bits and scraps, but ingenious and elegant at the same time. p135

One German tourist bemoaned the modernity of Iranian cities. "Iran is too developed, "he said. It took a special breed of Western arrogance to claim Iran was not poor enough to be interesting. p89

Scrawled on the wall of my room, in English, was the warning: "Beware of the peeping men." p77

Scrawled on the wall of my room, in English, was the warning: "Beware of the peeping men." p77

Today, people think that poetry is old- fashioned. If you give a man a poem he does not know whether to boil it or fry it. p18