Censoring an Iranian Love Story

Oct 15, 2012 Fahad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

قصة حب إيرانية تحت مقص الرقيب

كالعادة نؤجل الكتابة عن الكتب التي تعجبنا، بحثاً عن وقت أفضل، ولكن الوقت الأفضل لا يأتي، وتمر الأيام وتخبو الجذوة، ونتعلم الدرس للمرة الألف، أنه لا يمكن تأجيل الكتابة، لأنها تتقادم كوردة منزوعة الساق.

أول فكرة طرأت علي وأنا اقرأ هذا الكتاب هو علاقته الوثيقة بألف ليلة وليلة، بل المفارقة التي أقدر أنها مقصودة من الكاتب، هي أن القص هو الحيلة التي استخدمتها شهرزاد للفرار من سيف شهريار، حيث كانت تمد القصة في كل ليلة وتفرعها وتولد من بطنها قصص أخرى، كل هذا لجذب انتباه شهر...more قصة حب إيرانية تحت مقص الرقيب

كالعادة نؤجل الكتابة عن الكتب التي تعجبنا، بحثاً عن وقت أفضل، ولكن الوقت الأفضل لا يأتي، وتمر الأيام وتخبو الجذوة، ونتعلم الدرس للمرة الألف، أنه لا يمكن تأجيل الكتابة، لأنها تتقادم كوردة منزوعة الساق.

أول فكرة طرأت علي وأنا اقرأ هذا الكتاب هو علاقته الوثيقة بألف ليلة وليلة، بل المفارقة التي أقدر أنها مقصودة من الكاتب، هي أن القص هو الحيلة التي استخدمتها شهرزاد للفرار من سيف شهريار، حيث كانت تمد القصة في كل ليلة وتفرعها وتولد من بطنها قصص أخرى، كل هذا لجذب انتباه شهريار وتأجيل ضربة السيف، في هذه الرواية تنقلب الأحوال، فشهريار – اسم المؤلف – هو من يحاول الفرار بقصته من مقص الرقيب، لقد تطور العصر، لم يعد الناس يقصون تحت ظلال السيف، ولكنهم فقدوا قيمة الحكاية، لقد كانت شهرزاد حرة، أكثر حرية من شهريار العصر الحديث، كانت شهرزاد تنطلق في حكايتها بلا مقص، بل إن السيف كان يستحثها للمضي، ولتكثيف المتعة، بينما شهريار المعاصر فقد سيفه وسطوته، وصار يلعب دور شهرزاد ولكن على تخوف.

كل ما كان شهريارنا يحاول فعله هو القص، قصة حب تجمع دارا بسارا، شابان إيرانيان يحاولان عيش قصة حب في ظل الجمهورية الإسلامية، ولكن على عكس (ألف ليلة وليلة) حيث لا حدود للحب، بل ولا حتى للجنس، يواجه شهريار هنا مقص الرقيب (بيتروفيتش) – وهذا الاسم الرمزي استله المؤلف من رواية دستويفسكي الشهيرة (الجريمة والعقاب)، حيث كان بيتروفيتش هو المحقق في جريمة راسكولنيكوف -، ونلاحظ أن الاسم الذي منحه المؤلف للرقيب، يذكرنا بالحيل النفسية التي كان يمارسها بيتروفيتش لدفع راسكولنيكوف للاعتراف، الفارق هو أن راسكولنيكوف كان متهم بجريمة قتل، بينما شهريار متهم بجريمة كتابة قصة حب، هنا تبرز إحدى المفارقات الساخرة في الرواية، حيث يصل هوس الرقابة إلى هذه الحدود الغريبة التي تصبح فيها قصة الحب جريمة يتفرغ لها بيتروفيتش.

من طرائف – أو مآسي - الرقابة الإيرانية أيضاً التي كنت أظن أنها مزحة من المؤلف حتى قرأتها في كتاب آذار نفيسي، هي واقعة تعيين رقيب أعمى على الأفلام، مهمته تحديد الأفلام الصالحة للعرض، وحذف اللقطات التي لا تتناسب مع روح الثورة الإسلامية وقيمها، رقيب أعمى !!

قرأت هذه الرواية وأنا أظن أن بلدي هو الأول عالمياً في هوسه الرقابي، ولكني اكتشفت أننا وإن تشابهنا مع إيران، إلا أنها تواجه مأزقاً لا نواجهه، إن جل المعرفة المنتجة باللغة العربية، لا تنتج في بلدي، وإنما في بلدان عربية أخرى، سقف المسموح به مختلف تماماً عما هو لدينا، فلذا لا يعاني المؤلف في قضية مراجعة الكتب والسماح بطباعتها أو منعها، حيث تطبع في الخارج وتأتي جاهزة، فإما أن نتركها تمر أو أن نمنعها لتباع من تحت الطاولة، بينما إيران هي بلد اللغة الفارسية، وكل ما يكتب بهذه اللغة سيمر بجهاز الرقابة هناك ليجد طريقه إلى النشر، وفي حكومة يسيطر عليها آيات الله، سيصبح كل شيء ممنوعاً أو على الأقل يتخوف منه.

أقدر أن هذه الرواية بصفحاتها التي تجاوزت الخمسمائة، بدت طويلة للكثير من القراء، وربما مملة لأنها عالجت موضوعاً واحداً وهو موضوع الرقابة، وهو موضوع قد يبدو ثانوياً وغير مصيري لدى الكثيرين، بينما هو كذلك لدى الكتاب، وخاصة الكتاب الذين يعيشون ظروفاً مشابهة، حيث لا يمكنهم النشر إلا بعد المرور بين الفرجة الحادة للمقص الكبير.

هذا يذكرنا أيضاً بأن للمقص دلالة أخرى أشار لها المؤلف في أحد فصوله الأولى، وهي دلالة مرتبطة بالفحولة / والخصاء، حيث شهريار الذي كان فحلاً في (ألف ليلة وليلة)، يتزوج عذراء في كل ليلة، ومن ثم يقتلها في الصباح، يفقد في عصرنا فحولته، حيث جرده منها رمزياً مقص الرقيب.

من أوجه الحضور الأخرى التي نلاحظها في الرواية لألف ليلة وليلة، اسم خطيب سارا (سندباد)، والقزم الأحدب الذي يموت في الرواية ويتورط به شخوصها، كما حدث في (ألف ليلة وليلة) عندما تورط بالأحدب خياط، ويهودي ومباشر – ممون لقصر السلطان- ونصراني، الفارق هو أن الأحدب سيظل تائهاً في قصتنا، جثة لا تجد من يدفنها، مأساة متنقلة، بينما هو في (ألف ليلة وليلة)، عبرة أيقظت الضمير لدى كل من تورطوا به، ومفتاحاً ولد قصصاً متداخلة.
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Jun 24, 2012 ميّ أحمد rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: روايات

إن أردت أن تقرأ رواية بأسلوب مختلف ومبتكر فاقرأ لهذا الشهريار المجنون
لأول وهلة أعتقدت أنني سأقرأ قصة حب كأي القصص الدارجة
لم أكن أعتقد أن هذا الكاتب سيشدني لهذه الدرجة ولم تكن القصة هي السبب ولكن أسلوب الكاتب في السخرية والخروج عن المألوف لربما يصح هنا أن أعترف إنني لستُ من هواة الأدب الساخر ومع ذلك أجاد هذا الكاتب جري إلى منطقته الساخرة فكنت للحق أضحك من كل قلبي من طرافته ومن طريقة حواره مع القارىء فهذا الكاتب يحدثك أنت وبشكل مباشر ولا يوجد بينك وبينه أي حاجز كما وكأنني كنت أتخيل إنه يسمع ضحكا...more
إن أردت أن تقرأ رواية بأسلوب مختلف ومبتكر فاقرأ لهذا الشهريار المجنون
لأول وهلة أعتقدت أنني سأقرأ قصة حب كأي القصص الدارجة
لم أكن أعتقد أن هذا الكاتب سيشدني لهذه الدرجة ولم تكن القصة هي السبب ولكن أسلوب الكاتب في السخرية والخروج عن المألوف لربما يصح هنا أن أعترف إنني لستُ من هواة الأدب الساخر ومع ذلك أجاد هذا الكاتب جري إلى منطقته الساخرة فكنت للحق أضحك من كل قلبي من طرافته ومن طريقة حواره مع القارىء فهذا الكاتب يحدثك أنت وبشكل مباشر ولا يوجد بينك وبينه أي حاجز كما وكأنني كنت أتخيل إنه يسمع ضحكاتي فيعجبه الأمر فيزيد من جرعات السخرية
حسنا الرواية إن جاز لنا أن نسميها كذلك إتخذت مسارين المسار الأول هو قصة الحب التي جمعت بين سارا ودارا وكيف يود الكاتب أن يطرحها وعلى الجانب الآخر يكتب الكاتب القصة كما تريدها الرقابة كما يمكن أن تصح لكي يسمح لها بالمرور والحصول على إجازة النشر من وزارة الثقافة والإرشاد الإسلامي في إيران ، بل أن مقص الرقيب سيطال الكثير من السطور التي نرى فيها شهريار قد شطبها وفقا لما تقتضيه متطلبات النشر !

من خلال هذا الأسلوب الساخر الذي يبتدعه الكاتب نجد أنه لا يتوقف عن نقد الوضع الإجتماعي والسياسي في عهد ما قبل الثورة وحتى التحولات التي جاءت بها الثورة الخمينية وبما إن بطل الرواية عاشق للأدب وأول لقاء للحبيبين كان في مكتبة فلقد حفلت الرواية بالكثير من الإقتباسات والآراء والإستشهادات لكتاب شتى ليتضح لك مدى ثقافة الكاتب وعدم إنغلاقه على فكر أو ثقافة معينة ..
يمثل السيد بتروفتش مقص الرقيب ووجوده في الرواية يشير للتعقيدات التي يتعرض لها الكاتب الإيراني من أجل نشر كتاب وكيف تتدخل سلطة الدين وسلطة السياسة لحشر الفكر والأدب في زاوية ضيقة لا يمكن الخروج منها إلا بالإمتثال إن التحدي الذي يواجه الكاتب لم يكن متمثلا في الكتابة فقط بل إجتياز عقبة تبدو كتسلق جبل لذلك لا بد من المناورة واللف والدوران للوصول إلى القارىء وحقيقة لا يبدو الأمر سهلا !

وظف شهريار بعض الأساطير الإيرانية القديمة في لعبة السرد ويبدو أن القزم الأحدب الذي كان يظهر كآفة مخزية في الرواية له مغزى لم استطع التوصل له
كما إن ظهور أحد شخصياته الأهم في الرواية خارج المشهد الروائي معاتبا ومؤنبا للمؤلف في ظهور مسرحي كان خارجا عن المألوف
يبدو الكاتب متأثرا بهذا العتاب وكأنه فقد السيطرة على شخصياته هذا الأسلوب الرمزي يوحي بمدى الصعوبات والتحديات التي يواجها الكاتب تحت مقص الرقيب ولا أظن أن هناك أفضل من الأسلوب الساخر للوقوف على هذه القضية

رواية رائعة حقا (less)

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Jul 04, 2012 إبراهيم عادل rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to إبراهيم by: ميّ أحمد

لقد كانت رائعة فعلاً :)
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لم أكن أتخيل أن أقرأ رواية بهذا العنوان المستفز أصلاً!
ولكن طريقة الكاتب فعلاً جذابقة وأثيرة
ومن خلال تقنية كسر الإيهام المتتالية بأن وضع نفسه كمؤلف، ووضع الرقيب معه أيضًا، وعرض قصة الحب العابرة تلك استطاع أن يشد القارئ معه إلى أقصى درجة ..
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كانت ذروة الرواية فعلاً في الفصل الأخير المكتوب بحرفية عالية :)

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متاحة الكترونيًا
http://www.4shared.com/office/RZ-gT3a...

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Feb 09, 2013 Tareq Fares rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: روايات-عالمية, sharjah-2012

انهيت الرواية وانا اقول هكذا هي الكتابة الإبداعية وإلا فلا :)

لذلك اجد نفسي عاجزاً عن كتابة مراجعة؛ خاصة ان مراجعات كثيرة حول الرواية فسرت وحللت وأضافت الكثير.

ولكن أمر واحد أحسست به شخصياً وانا أقراء الرواية هو مدى جهلي ببلاد فارس (إيران) بشكل عام وبالأدب الفارسي بشكل خاص رغم أنها أقرب الامم إلينا من الناحية الجغرافية واللغوية والفكرية ولكننا اغلقنا عقولنا وأصبحنا نقيضين كأقطاب المغناطيس ما ان نتلاقى حتى ينفر كلانا من الأخر.
وددت لو أبحث أكثر وأزيل هذا الجهل من رأسي .

طبعاً الرواية بعيدة عن الت...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Hanan Dora rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

أول ما حملت الرواية افتكرتها رواية أدبية عادية لكن ..
لم أكن اتوقع أن تعطينى الرواية فى أسلوب روائى قصصى نبذة ليست بالقليلة عن التجربة الايرانية بعد الثورة .
بعد ما قرأتها عرفت ليه الناس فى مصر متخوفين من الاخوان المسلمين و يبرروا ده انهم خايفين يعملوا فينا زى ايران , بجد التجربة قاسية جدا وصعبة جدا .
حكر غريب وعجيب ع الفكر والابداع تحت عنوان " حتى لا تثير الشهوات " , يا اخواننا انتم كده بتلغوا الانسان , الانسان الحر ذو المبادىء بيتولد من احتكاكه بالواقع و بالصح والغلط وعليه الاختيار ,اذا اختار ال...more أول ما حملت الرواية افتكرتها رواية أدبية عادية لكن ..
لم أكن اتوقع أن تعطينى الرواية فى أسلوب روائى قصصى نبذة ليست بالقليلة عن التجربة الايرانية بعد الثورة .
بعد ما قرأتها عرفت ليه الناس فى مصر متخوفين من الاخوان المسلمين و يبرروا ده انهم خايفين يعملوا فينا زى ايران , بجد التجربة قاسية جدا وصعبة جدا .
حكر غريب وعجيب ع الفكر والابداع تحت عنوان " حتى لا تثير الشهوات " , يا اخواننا انتم كده بتلغوا الانسان , الانسان الحر ذو المبادىء بيتولد من احتكاكه بالواقع و بالصح والغلط وعليه الاختيار ,اذا اختار الصح وهو فى وسط الخطأ من هنا بس تقولوا عليه انسان كويس , مش تحطه فى قمقم وتعزله وتقولى انسان كويس وورع , انتم دماغكم دى معمولة من ايه ؟!
ده غير حجر الحريات والتظاهر وابداء الرأى اذا كان مخالفا , حاجة فى منتهى الاهانة للبشرية , تخلف ما بعده تخلف .
أعتقد ان السيد " بيتروفيش " بيمثل ألسنة المجتمعات الشرقية بصفة عامة بفكرها الجامد , حاجة كده زى اللى بينصبوا نفسهم حكم ع الناس , و عمرهم ما حاكموا نفسهم , ونهاية الرواية بتثبتلى ان " بيتروفيش " أكبر دليل على نفاق الناس اللى م النوع ده .
أكثر شخصية عجبتنى فى الرواية هى شخصية الشاعر اللى أعطى لسارا المخطوطة , بيمثل فى وجهة نظرى التحرر بالنسبة لها بيوضح قدامها الأمور , اذا كنتى مقتنعة بحجابك تخلعيه ليه علشان مخطوطة , صراع الهوى و المبادىء !!!!
سارا بتمثل كل الفتيات فى المجتمعات من هذا النوع , ما بين تحرر الفكر و قيود الأحكام الجائرة و المظهرية .
دارا معظم الرواية خاصة فى آخر فصول فيها حسيته ضعيف من أول ما بدأ لقاؤه المباشر بسارا وهو ضعيف , فى الأول وهو يراقبها فقط ويحتمى بغبار الكتب حسيته قويا جدا . ومع هذا عذرت ضعفه و احترمت مبادئه .
أكتر فصل أثر فى _ يمكن علشان آخر فصل _ هو فصل " الزفاف " , تقاليد بالية وعدم احترام للخصوصية والآدمية , حكم غبى على طهارة البنت وعفتها من قطرات دم , موتوا بهبلكم , وفكرة خاطئة تصور الفتى فى نظر الفتاة دائما بالوحش الانتهازى , على فكرة ده بينقص من قدر البنت وكرامتها .
الرواية بشكل عام أفادتنى جدا
فيها كلمات بذيئة للأسف مش حبيتها بس الكاتب برر وجودها بشكل عجبنى ومع هذا ما زلت معترضة عليها وبشدة .
أسلوب الرواية بقى رائع " حوار بين الكاتب و الشخصيات " , ويكأنه يفرد أوراقه أمامك و يوضح لك لماذا يكتب وماذا يمحو و نظام شطب الجمل ده والمقص اللى مش راضى يعتق أى شىء فى البلد رااااااااائع .
خمس نجمات إن لم يكن لشىء فليكن لأنها قدمت لى نظرة عابرة و مفيدة عن التجربة الايرانية .
" شهريار مندنى بور " على فكرة اسمك قالقنى :D :D (less)

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Oct 04, 2012 Iqbal Al-Zirqi rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I finished reading it in 1 month, meaning that I was reading little every day or two days. This means that this novel did not capture me the way a good novel does usually. I usually finish a good novel in less than 5 days if i feel so attracted. The novel is about a love story between a miserable Iranian dreamer young man and a delicate beautiful lovable Iranian girl in Iran after the revolution. Both of them are readers and live in their mini worlds in a way. This could make it a beautiful stor...more I finished reading it in 1 month, meaning that I was reading little every day or two days. This means that this novel did not capture me the way a good novel does usually. I usually finish a good novel in less than 5 days if i feel so attracted. The novel is about a love story between a miserable Iranian dreamer young man and a delicate beautiful lovable Iranian girl in Iran after the revolution. Both of them are readers and live in their mini worlds in a way. This could make it a beautiful story , just thinking about their poetic personalities both, living in such hostile environment as this religious state in Iran. However, the author wanted something else, making it as a story of his trials to write such stories with least damages escaping from the power of censorship in Iran. I understand the frustrations of authors and creative people in any land with censorship like Iran or KSA, but the author trial to make it as the main theme in this novel, had really damaged the whole novel in my opinion. All the time while u read, u find his voice disturbing u with his story and his trials, in very direct speech full of detailed description. The reader get exhausted trying to concentrate, while the author is working all the time against the readers concentration to understand and enjoy. Such description of the role of censorship in Iran could be described in a n article or a different book of social sciences, not in a novel. In addition, the author has so much flight of ideas, making us struggling to concentrate without benefit. In a way, I feel he sabotaged the love story with his selfishness, being busy describing to us how he writes!! Moreover, he crowded the novel with many small stories inside small stories!! Too much details, too many unnecessary talks, too much shit!! The events are not logical, and many characters are just inserted for no reason. What is the story of this dwarf man, appearing many times in the story, sometimes a live and sometimes dead? It really does not make a sense, and it shows in may places that the author does not know how to lead the reader into suspense or to the expected train of events. I simply felt I have to study this book in order to understand, and this was a big failure.
Some may think it is a translation problem, but I dont think so. It is obvious there is a problem in the main theme and style of writing. A good book should covey the message indirectly, and not directly like in this book. I got tired of the effects of clerics and religious police in Iran on every thing, and I know about it, but this should not be told in such way in this novel. The novel was just lost, and it got me lost as reader. This novel was not right for me and I did not enjoy it. (less)

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Nov 26, 2012 Andy Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very intriguing book. Written by an Iranian author now living in United States. The actual novel is in boldface and the parts that would be censored are crossed out. In between the novel is narrative from the author that fills in Iranian history, literature, politics and author's conversationwith Iranian censors who is reviewing the book,which I assume are based on actual censoring the author suffered when writing and living in Iran.

My favorite scene. Sara and Dara are together for one of the fe...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Dana Abraham rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

نادرًا ما أجد في رواية أن الكاتب والشخصيات والاطراف الاخرى من ناشرين ومراقبين للفضيلة يتحاورون!.. اصابتني هذه الرواية بالكثير من الإعياء لما تحتاجه من تركيز شديد، وفي ذات الوقت لم أستطع اهمالها وتركها، بها شيء كان يشدّني كل يوم!. ليست رائعة.. وليست سيئة، لا أدري .. رمزياتها أكثر مما تصورت في الأدب الإيراني حيث، كما تحمل على صفحاتها الكثير من الوصف الذي قد يقفز بك أحيانا الى الشعور برائحة الأشياء في أنفك.. ٢/٥

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Apr 25, 2013 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: about-religion-culture

I appreciate this kind of literature. It’s unusual, inventive and awakes interest and insight. The story centers around an author who is struggling to write a novel, and get around the censorship intrusions. The phrase "... For which the farsi language has no words" is occurring frequently. Since he lives in Iran there are many rules that can compromise his story, and he has to fight against and deceive the man in charge of censorship, Mr Petrovich, the authority Campaign Against Social Corrupti...more I appreciate this kind of literature. It’s unusual, inventive and awakes interest and insight. The story centers around an author who is struggling to write a novel, and get around the censorship intrusions. The phrase "... For which the farsi language has no words" is occurring frequently. Since he lives in Iran there are many rules that can compromise his story, and he has to fight against and deceive the man in charge of censorship, Mr Petrovich, the authority Campaign Against Social Corruption and even the self-censorship that has its roots in culture.

References to many great works of literature, like Kafka’s "The Trial" and Dostoevsky’s "Crime and Punishment" are mentioned. Dostoevsky’s own Mr Petrovich is playing a similar role in this story. Even ancient arabic masterpieces as "Khosrow and Shirin" and "Shahnameh" (The book of Kings) are frequently referred to. This is a beautiful approach and reminds the reader of the the "One thousand and one night"-ish beauty of the old Iran.

The difficulty to meet someone you love in a heavily gender segregated community is very well portrayed by Mandanipour. Both sexes have their shoulders loades with expectations from family members, and it’s not easy to make a decision for yourself when the family’s well living is depended on you.

The author in the story struggles with what he wants to write, what he has to write to receive a publishing permit, and what the characters themselves want to do. The most memorable part is perhaps when the author argues and even gets into a fight with one of his own main characters.
”You shouldn’t have written me like this. You shouldn’t have written me as browbeaten and pathetic. You wrote me as an earthworm. You wrote me so that no matter what they do to me, all I can do is squirm and bear the pain. You wrote me like this to pass your story through censorship. I don’t want to be written as an earthworm, so that even when they cut it in two it turns into two earthworms. You are my murderer too, for having written me as so utterly miserable. All the torment and misery there is you have written for me. You are no different to the torturer who would flog me so that I would concede there is a God. I want to write my own murder” - p. 229.

Even if many problems are described by Mandanipour, it is with a humorous touch, and a warm heart. There's no doubt he really loves his country and the biggest problem is not being able to show the world the real Iran, behind all the rules, in all its beauty. The censorship troubles him deeply, and prevented him from publishing during some years in the 90's. Anyway, the author feels that there's nowhere in the world where love stories are as beautiful and exciting as in such a place. He also thinks, with his mischivious wit, that it will be the censorship that will earn an Iranian author the Nobel price, ironically, since it forces the qualities of innovation and creativity within the author.

Mandanipour has a dialogue throughout the book. He talks to the reader and his characters in an exceptional way, which adds a shimmer of magical realism to the story. A story within a story. Books about books create a wonderful feeling inside a reader like me, a feeling of being united, a feeling of belonging, and the link to other readers of the world suddenly becomes visible. Mandanipour's writing is a spring of literary enjoyment and thoughtfulness.(less)

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Nov 13, 2012 Candice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Written by an esteemed Iranian author, Shahriar Mandanipour, Censoring an Iranian Love Story is a darkly comic and profoundly touching story that weaves an intricate tale of love between the constraints of contemporary Iranian government and the cultural relationships between men and women there. The story is told by a fictional narrator who is caught between the undeniable urge to write a love story and the story he is allowed to write in accordance with extreme censorship from the government....more

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Jun 11, 2012 Kiera rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a very interesting book. The author depicts himself writing a love story for the first time. He has to self-censor in order to get his book published due to the restrictions that the Iranian government puts on the books that will circulate to the people. The writer of course is the narrator of the story of Sara and Dara but he is also narrating his struggle in writing the story. He makes the reader a very integral part of his writing. I enjoyed this book because the author involves the...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Elaine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks

Highly originally construction! I was prepared to be engrossed and, yes, horrified at what it means to live in a society, not only with no freedom, but with everchanging criteria for being a good citizen. Also, what it means to love in Iran. Well, I was engrossed for more than half of the book, but then it got to me. Nobody, not the characters in the novel being written or the novelist trying to get a love story published has any grip on anything. What's permissible today is a capital offense to...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars

An informative introduction to a 1984 world where the restrictions on personal freedom are represented in two ways: a) the heavy-handed censorship of literary expression, and b) the inability of two people to fall in love in a world where it is illegal for an unrelated man and woman to be alone together. The "world" of the story happens to be modern-day Iran, though it could be almost anywhere - the Islamic Republic does not have a monopoly on censorship and oppression.

Any reader who has been re...more An informative introduction to a 1984 world where the restrictions on personal freedom are represented in two ways: a) the heavy-handed censorship of literary expression, and b) the inability of two people to fall in love in a world where it is illegal for an unrelated man and woman to be alone together. The "world" of the story happens to be modern-day Iran, though it could be almost anywhere - the Islamic Republic does not have a monopoly on censorship and oppression.

Any reader who has been reading the many books that have been published about the Islamic Republic since 1979 will not find much that's new in this book about the enforcement of puritanical codes of behavior affecting dress, grooming, entertainment, gender roles, and so on. No need for magical realism, the author tells us, even as pieces of dusty carpets fly overhead and ghosts from the past walk the streets of Tehran, the actual world is implausible enough. However, as a postmodern exploration of life in Iran for a Western audience, the book is often cleverly entertaining. The tireless efforts of the author to write his love story and the ongoing critique by his censor, Mr. Petrovich, is a journey into an Alice-in-Wonderland world, where everything - no matter how innocent - is cause for debate about the author's intentions or the potential affect on his audience.

The author accounts for how a centuries-old tradition of suggestive amorous imagery in Iranian poetry makes reviewing literature and film for "offensive" material a virtual minefield of potential problems. The over-active imagination of the censor can find political and moral offenses where they were never intended. An ellipsis in a story . . . can invite the lubricious imagination to run riot. College literature instructors would be gratified to find such close reading among their own students. On the other hand, we are witness to a university lecturer who insists that the homoerotic verse of an ancient Iranian poet is *really* about the poet's rapturous union with God.

Film-lovers will be amused by a scene in which a blind film censor decides what to cut from the Al Pacino film, "Scent of a Woman." In another film, the stroking of an injured sparrow becomes a stand-in for intimate touch between a male and female character. We learn how Hollywood films are "cleansed" for public viewing when actresses in them are over-exposed. The expurgation of instruments from TV broadcasts of musical performances is also explained.

Often fascinating in its details. Recommended for readers with an interest in 21st-century thought control. (less)

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Jan 21, 2011 Albert Berg rated it 5 of 5 stars

Within the pages of Censoring an Iranian Love Story you will find not one story, but two. The first is a simple tale of love between a Iranian man and woman desperately trying to find their way to each other in asocietywhere romance is taboo. The second follows the writer of the first story, a harried man trying to craft a meaningful tale without incurringthe wrath of totalitarian government censors. But as the book progresses the two tales mingle in such a way that the lines between them become...more Within the pages of Censoring an Iranian Love Story you will find not one story, but two. The first is a simple tale of love between a Iranian man and woman desperately trying to find their way to each other in a society where romance is taboo. The second follows the writer of the first story, a harried man trying to craft a meaningful tale without incurring the wrath of totalitarian government censors. But as the book progresses the two tales mingle in such a way that the lines between them become blurred into obscurity. The writer often enters the substory to push his characters in one direction or another, but as he delves further into his dark and twisted labyrinth of words he finds himself pursued by a dark figure which has taken form from the pages of the story and materialized in the real world. Gradually the story looses focus on what is real and what is fiction, leaving behind a patina of surreality that colors the narrative in ways both strange and wonderful.
The book plants itself firmly in the soil of postmodernism with entire sections of text presented with strikethroughs followed by the writer explaining at great length why he could not include that part of the story. Yet for all of its strangeness Censoring and Iranian Love Story somehow makes a connection that resonates with the deepest levels of the human soul.
The blossoming love between the romantic leads feels real and powerful, and their struggle to find a way to be with each other in spite of societal taboos closely mirrors the author’s struggle to tell their story without running afoul of the all-powerful censors. Its beauty grows out of its tragedy and struggle, and it paints a vivid picture of people trying to be human in an inhuman society.
Though the title of the book makes reference to a love story, this is nothing like your mother’s romance novels. Given the strange structure of the book you would think the romance might be swallowed up entirely. But even though the writer’s frequent interjections about Iranian society and the difficulties of dealing with censorship take up more than half the book, the romance blooming between the two young people still manages to seem touching and real, and as a result of the restraints of Iranian society there is a sense of suppressed passion throughout the book which often seems to be bursting to tear itself free from the dead pages and become something more than fiction.
In addition to all of its more lofty accomplishments Censoring an Iranian Love Story is a fascinating look into Muslim culture today. It manages to be deeply critical of the excesses of the oppression that exists in Iran without becoming an overbearing diatribe. In American society where too few people truly understand the mindset and culture of the people living in Muslim countries, this book offers as clear a window into their world as you might ever hope to find.
The final verdict? This book isn’t for everyone. If you’re allergic to so-called “gimmicks” then give this book a wide berth; there are gimmicks aplenty here. But if you’re looking for a book that stretches the bounds of fiction and tells a wonderful and moving story in the process then Censoring an Iranian Love Story is a book you need to check out. You may be confused, but you won’t be disappointed.(less)

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Jan 17, 2011 Jennyreadsexcessively rated it 4 of 5 stars

Here’s a good novel of an Iranian novelist whose careful writing of a love story must pass inspection from the powerful censor at the Ministry of culture and Islamic Guidance. This novel has an original, playful style. The author addresses his characters directly, but sometimes they have a will of their own. The love story-within-a-story doesn’t amount to much, but it’s clear from this novel’s viewpoint that how could it? Every possible scene of the man and woman trying to get to know each other...more

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Jul 22, 2010 ICPL Staff Picks added it · review of another edition

Shelves: kara, staff-picks-blog, audio, fiction

the book Censoring an Iranian Love Story is a testament to how precious intellectual freedom is. The author, Shahriar Mandanipour is “one of Iran’s most acclaimed and controversial contemporary authors” (from the book jacket) and this is his first book translated into English.

The novel is basically two stories. The first is the story of the author attempting to write a story that will be acceptable to the censor at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The second is the story Sara and Da...more

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Oct 04, 2009 Alyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

The premise of this book was enough to have me very interested from the outset despite my concerns that it would devolve either into dry exposition of the facts or overly emotional preaching for its international audience to 'do something'. Thankfully, 'Censoring an Iranian Love Story' largely avoids both these pitfalls.

As most other reviewers have noted the plot meanders between different layers of characters, with Shahriar obviously invoking images of Shaherazade in Arabian Nights. As the writ...more The premise of this book was enough to have me very interested from the outset despite my concerns that it would devolve either into dry exposition of the facts or overly emotional preaching for its international audience to 'do something'. Thankfully, 'Censoring an Iranian Love Story' largely avoids both these pitfalls.

As most other reviewers have noted the plot meanders between different layers of characters, with Shahriar obviously invoking images of Shaherazade in Arabian Nights. As the writing progresses Sara and Dara's roles as plot devices, being used to tell a specific story (and despite the title, it is not a love story), is drawn more and more obviously. The character of the author (although, the degree of autobiography featured is open to interpretation) is demonstrated through his own narrative as well as being reflected through Dara, Sara and the other characters of his creation. The result is an engaging and relatable character marred by a few concepts that seem to have been lost in translation.

My favourite aspect of the book, however, was its applicability. The title encourages pigeon-holing and allows the reader to think of the events as being reflective of the 'otherness' of the outside (i.e. non-Western) world, particularly the Middle East. As I read I constantly found myself considering how the events applied to my own life and situation in a wealthy, Western, democratic country. I consistantly found myself thinking 'things aren't so different after all'.

We are shown (and specifically informed of) a lot of explicit censorship thoughout the course of the novel but the more relevant (to Western society) and prevelant (in the course of the book) action is the implicit, self-conducted censorship. Mandanipour demonstrates this repeatedly through the use of the strike-out and the non-bold writing. He consistantly adjusts the text of the story in expectation of what the government censors might say. We are forced to consider the all important question "What does it matter, if the government/religion/etc controls what we can say or do if we censor ourselves to such a degree that their control becomes irrelevant?".

And that is a question just as relevant in the West as it is in Iran.(less)

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Aug 03, 2009 Leanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

The premise of the Shahriar Mandanipour’s novel Censoring an Iranian Love Story is intriguing. The narrator is an Iranian author, and the book alternates between the narrator’s thoughts, the story he is writing, and the story he wishes he could write. Everything the narrator thinks and writes is influenced by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which must approve (and will censor) the novel before it can be released for publication.

The narrator’s protagonists are Dara and Sara. Dara is...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, fiction-middle-east-islamic

If it were not for the fact that the great Joseph Heller didn’t die until just before the turn of the century, I would swear that he (or some portion of him) was reincarnated into Shariar Mandanipour, because his Censoring an Iranian Love Story was as weirdly enjoyable to me as was Catch-22. Mandanipour tells a story of a writer trying to craft a romance while having to deal with the oppressive censorship of a fundamentalist Islamic bureaucrat. The writing is witty, funny, critical, sarcastic, a...more

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Apr 13, 2010 Mulmens rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's insane the way the readers are led to believe tha this book is about a love story when it isn't. Then again, it is. Alternating between realist narratives and the perceived main narrative, Mandipour blurrs the lines between fact an fiction. Throughout the novel we're taken down many avenues of socio-political critique, but constantly reminded that this book is a novel. It is an attempt to do what cannot be done. The distinction between 'art for art's sake' and 'functional art' seems to be i...more

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Mar 20, 2010 Bart rated it 2 of 5 stars

This novel began with such authority and creativity that it was a great disappointment to come to the midway point and find a dull rendition of more postmodernist cleverness and special effects.

Much of the purpose of this narrative style, it seems, is to encourage a reader's empathy with how unpleasant it must be to live in Iran. Mission accomplished. But at some point, one has to ask: If it's a bleak existence that no sane person would choose, why would any reader wish to spend 12 hours empathi...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: magical-realism, read-in-saudi-arabia, iran

This is a really interesting novel. It tells a love story from the point of view of its writer, an Iranian writer, and besides the normal struggles a writer faces with story progression and writer's block, he also is faced with the many struggles of trying to publish a novel in Iran: chiefly, the vast amount of hurdles and road-blocks that come with strict censorship.

The reader can visibly see the writer's frustration as he constantly self-edits his words by scoring them out, knowing that they w...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Hind rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 60-book-2012

وانا اقرأه ضحكت كثيرا، واكثرها ضحكه بغصة...قصة الحب هنا كانت الوسيله لا الغايه ، فمنذ بدات قراءة الكتاب كنت اعلم ان قصة الحب هذه لن تكون .ربما لو لخصتها لكانت ٣٠صفحه اما ما تبقى من الكتاب فهو سخرية الكاتب من الوضع المأساوي ان صح لي التعبير لبلد يضعك امام اختبارات صعبه لتثبت للكل انك مسلم حق ، عدا نفسك بالطبع ، ان لا يكفل لك وطنك الخيار بأن تختار هويتك ويلزمك قسرا بهوية لا تريدها ولا تستطيع ان ترفضها فخيار الرفض غير متاح لأمثالك بالطبع.لم علينا ان نكون مثل قطيع بنفس الأفكار والمعتقدات ؟! وحتى لو...more

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May 23, 2011 Saman added it

اگر از من بپرسید کی هستم، می‌گویم: من یک نویسنده‌ی ایرانی هستم که از نوشتن داستان‌های تلخ وسیاه، داستان‌های ارواح با راویانِ مرده، با پایان‌های محتومِ مرگ‌آور خسته شده‌ام. به عبارت دیگر، من نویسنده‌ای هستم که در آستانه‌ی پنجاه سالگی، دریافته‌‌ام که دنیای به اصطلاح واقعیِ اطراف ما، به اندازه‌ی کافی مرگ و تباهی و اندوه دارد، و من حق نداشته‌ام که با داستان‌هایم شکست و ناامیدی‌های بیشتری به این دنیا اضافه کنم. در میان داستان‌ها و رمان‌های من مردهای هستند که آن‌ها را از بدن و شجاعت‌های نداشته‌ی عاشقا...more

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Jul 17, 2009 Leslie rated it 2 of 5 stars

I appreciated the creative risk Mandanipour takes in this novel. He writes about a writer writing a love story, so the narrative switches back and forth between his love story and his process in writing the story. Central to the novel is the fact that Iranian censors make it nearly impossible to write a real and affecting story of love, so the writer in the novel tries to trick the censors through using archaic Persian metaphors and vague stream-of-consciousness descriptions of less than proper...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Lorraine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Thomas King's fans

Shelves: z2012, middle-east

It's hard to pin down my thought on this book. I recognize I am very unfamiliar with real Iranian literature, so it's difficult to distinguish between cultural characteristics and the author's style.
It is a metanarrative, in which the narrator explains why certain choices are made in the love story (the internal story) and explains a lot of the Iranian culture as it relates to literature. This dialogue is really interesting (even though it gets tedious in the middle, it picks up again) to help...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Natella rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was hands down the best piece of metafiction I’ve ever read. Not only do you get into the head of the author, but the characters he creates are also complex and interesting. On top of that he tackles the problems of writing in Iran currently, in an interesting and witty manner. There’s a censorship character, Porfiry Petrovich[yeap, Dostoyevsky's], and we see the narrator anticipating what Petrovich would cross out, as he himself crosses sections and words out. The basic plot is the author...more

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Jan 26, 2010 maha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: iranian, romance, to-buy

القصص الايرانية، تشبه السعودية في أمر، هو أن أغلبها يميل للوصف الكئيب الممل عن الحب والعذاب،
ولكن القصة هذه منعشة، فقد كتبت بأسلوب كوميدي ساخر!

يحاول الكاتب أن يكتب قصة حب ايرانية، ويساوم موظف هيئة الرقابة الايرانية على تمرير كتاباته، ولكن هذا الموظف لا تفوته فائتة، فهو يدرك كل المعاني السيئة واللا اخلاقية بين الأسطر! يحكي الكاتب عن المقاطع المحذوفة في روايته،وتحذلقه في تمرير افكاره بين السطور

قصة الحب ليست المحور الاساسي في القصة بقدر ما هو وصف الفكر الايراني على مستوى اكبر في ظل رقابة الحكومة الا...more

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Jul 30, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sept-oct-2009

"Critics agree that Censoring is a tour de force -- for the right reader. The novel is not a traditional love story; rather, it is a postmodern metafiction that, with its convoluted narration and literary high jinks, reminded a few of Charlie Kaufman's film Adaptation (with nods to Barthes and Borges). Readers become privy to Mandanipour's crossed-out lines, which provide a sense of the country's strict edicts. But even without the additional lines, Censoring is powerful in its exploration of Is...more

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May 10, 2012 Sophia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, art, iran

Censoring an Iranian love story is an original novel-within-a-novel. The first person narrator is author Shariar Mandanipour's fictional alter ego attempting to write a story that will pass censorship by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The love story, told in bold with ~~strikethroughs~~ for self-censored phrases, centers on Sara and Dara, who initially pass each other coded messages in books to avoid government and parental disapproval alike. The writer explains why certain phrases a...more

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