The Age of Orphans

Mar 13, 2009

Heather rated it

Reza Khourdi is a typical Kurdish boy: traipsing among the rooftops of his hometown, wishing he were following in the footsteps of the older men of the tribe and longing for the comfort of his mother. All that changes when Reza joins the elder men on a trip out to the far desert for his circumcision. The procedure is normal for boys of his age, and Reza feels the typical conflicting emotions about it. What happens next in the boy's life is not so typical. Traveling back towards home in the dark,...moreReza Khourdi is a typical Kurdish boy: traipsing among the rooftops of his hometown, wishing he were following in the footsteps of the older men of the tribe and longing for the comfort of his mother. All that changes when Reza joins the elder men on a trip out to the far desert for his circumcision. The procedure is normal for boys of his age, and Reza feels the typical conflicting emotions about it. What happens next in the boy's life is not so typical. Traveling back towards home in the dark, his people are attacked and killed by the Shah's men, leaving Reza to be captured and conscripted into the Shah's army. Reza must now be taught to fight against his own people and tribes, pushing them into submission and taking over their land and crops. As the boy becomes a man, his emotions and inhibitions begin to die, turning him into the perfect soldier: a man who is dead to his feelings and reactions, who willingly and almost fawningly strives to do the bidding of his commanders. As Reza catapults into higher and higher ranks, his loyalties to his army and to his former people are constantly in opposition to each other. He must forget everything about himself to push forward and destroy the Kurd enemy, an enemy that was once himself. After many years of the soldier's life, it is suggested to Reza that he take a Tehrani wife, which he does just as obediently as he can. Reza and his new bride struggle in more ways than one. Her hatred for his Kurdish roots and his silence are only some of the things that begin to cause problems. Soon Reza is promoted to Captain, and although his rank keeps advancing, his status in his household and among his men begins to plummet. He begins to find pockets of resistance within himself that he cannot expose, so he must try to alleviate the unhappiness and emotional clash in other ways. Reza's story is both disturbing and dark, a story of Iran that many have not yet heard, in a voice as trembling and horrifying as the events that surround his life.

This book was almost too much for me. The graphic violence was portrayed with such a dearth of emotion and such coarseness that I felt my spirit plummet every few pages. There were some instances of horrible child abuse in the book, such as the terrible way the soldiers treated young Reza when he was captured. It was almost terrifying to think about what a child's mind would do under those circumstances, and indeed those reactions manifested themselves all over the page in Reza's reactions. I also had a hard time with Reza's relationship with his mother before she died. I thought it was odd that a child of 7 or 8 was still so focused on suckling from his mother. I agree that different cultures have different timetables for most things, but his intense and insatiable desire for her milk seemed strange and a bit malevolent.

In addition there were many instances of vulgar imagery. The human body and all its sexual functions seemed almost completely devoid of taboo, which was strange, seeing as though other areas of the book were so reserved and cautious. On the other hand, once I got past the shocking aspects of the plot, I thought the book was very well written. At times the writing had a touch of stream of consciousness, and at times it arranged itself like good poetry, full of arresting and intricate imagery. The imagery was especially well done because it evoked a great sense of place. You could feel the aridness and brightness that surrounded the characters, and could see the barrenness of the desert in which they lived.

Another thing I liked was the way that various chapters were told from differing viewpoints. Though each narrator was only heard from once, this technique allowed a fuller picture of the story to be revealed and for more of a wholeness and fullness to exist in the narrative. I especially enjoyed the chapters from the women's point of view, because this remained mostly a masculine story, and these chapters exposed more of what the other side of the population was experiencing at the time. Reza himself as a character was a little hard to get used to. He didn't showcase any internal monologue, and it was only by outward factors that I could decipher just was must have been going on in his head. This wasn't really a problem in the beginning of the book, for as a child he was much more prone to display some types of behaviors and reactions, but when I reached the second half of the book, Reza's adulthood, it became very hard to know why he did most things and what his thoughts were surrounding the greater issues of his life. I can only think of one time in the latter half of the book when it was clear to me why Reza was behaving the way that he was. There is no denying that this was Reza's book; the other narrators and characters only really existed to showcase other aspects of his life and his military service. I also felt that the second half of the book was slightly superior to the first half. Maybe it was the fact that I had been holding the book at arm's length in the beginning due to it's graphic nature, or maybe I just engaged more with the more mature Reza's character. Whatever the reason, I felt that the first half of the book was slightly less well-shaped and polished than the latter half, though it didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the story.

Although there were some eyebrow raising moments in the book, I did ultimately enjoy the story that was told and very much appreciated the craftsmanship of the writing. I think that before reading this book, it may be important to some readers to know that the story is sometimes explicit and disquieting because it may hamper the enjoyment of some to come to these scenes unaware. By no means does this book delve into the disgusting or atrocious, but some may find the ideas inside a bit perverse. I admit, there were times when the book became disquieting, but I also freely admit that I think the author wasn't just pushing the envelope to be avant garde. I think that this story, in this form, needed to be told. I think the point of it all was not to make us squirm in discomfort, but to make us aware of the lives that may be lead on the other side of the world, and perhaps it was an attempt to explain the plight of those nameless Kurdish orphans who are so wholly sucked into the circumstances that envelop them. An interesting and thought provoking read, recommended.
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Jul 22, 2011

Colleen Clark rated it

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Shelves: fiction, history

Fascinating, beautifully written (in English, not translated), timely and timeless.

I don't remember exactly where or when I picked this up, probably in one of my local bookstores. But I have no doubt why. Having lived in a mostly Kurdish area of Turkey when I was a PC Volunteer English teacher in the 1960's I have maintained an interest in the whole Middle East, and especially in the Kurdish people who live, as the novel says, in the mountainous area where Turkey, Iraq, and Iran come t...moreFascinating, beautifully written (in English, not translated), timely and timeless.

I don't remember exactly where or when I picked this up, probably in one of my local bookstores. But I have no doubt why. Having lived in a mostly Kurdish area of Turkey when I was a PC Volunteer English teacher in the 1960's I have maintained an interest in the whole Middle East, and especially in the Kurdish people who live, as the novel says, in the mountainous area where Turkey, Iraq, and Iran come together. There are also Kurds in Syria. And as the novel also says, the Kurds are the largest ethnic/language group in the world without their own country. There are probably between 30 and 40 million of them. (see the Wikipedia article, probably as good a quick source of information as any.)

I read this partly as a political novel - the politics of the Kurds especially in the three countries where the bulk of them live - Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. In Iraq there are two semi-autonomous states in the north. In Turkey the Kurds are almost completely politically suppressed, sometimes their very existence being officially denied and the right to use Kurdish in public, much less to print books prohibited. This has led to an ongoing violent separatist movement - the PKK - which has wreaked havoc in the extreme southeast and has had an on and off war with the Turkish army. The leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, has been imprisoned since 1999 but has not been executed, contrary to the expectation of many. (There is a separate Wikipedia article on Iranian Kurdistan).

I'm mentioning all this because it's useful background for understanding this novel in its context that also includes the history of the Pahlavi family, Reza Shah and his son, eventually replaced by Khomenei and all that has come after. I don't think there have been any bright spots for the Kurds.

The whole story is brutal - from "the boy's" life in his village to his being taken with the men, now that he has been circumcised, on a useless and ultimately suicidal raid against the Iranian army. The soldiers that adopt him show him no tenderness or mercy. He's a useful conscript without family or connections.

The novel is suffused with Reza's unrequited and only partly acknowledged longing to return to his childhood and his village. He cannot connect with his Tehrani Iranian wife nor she with him, though initially they appear to long for it.

A sad and brutal tale like much of both ancient and modern history.

I will keep my eyes peeled for the next book in the trilogy. Khadivi is tender and insightful. I imagine she too longs for her Iranian home.

"Now he is fifteen...not his fifteen years...they are pen and ink years....It is an orphan age, as declared by the spurious newlyweds Baba Shah and Maman Iran. It is their fifteen years. For this specious upbringing he should loathe and fear them, these false fathers and artificial brethren, but it is too late; the fontanel is nearly formed, ossified into a solid, stiff knot at the base of the neck, where boys are soft with memory and possibility and men are hard with hate and fear." (pp 114-5)(less)

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Nov 01, 2010

Trishnyc rated it

This is a bit of a hard book to review. There were times while reading it that I nearly stopped because it got a bit hard to swallow. But I persevered and I believe the effort was worth it.

Reza Pejman Khourdi is a Kurdish young boy who is violently conscripted into the Iranian army after his father and other male relatives are brutally slain in battle. For two years he drifts in a haze of service to his village's murderers, carrying out their every whim. He is the plaything of the so...moreThis is a bit of a hard book to review. There were times while reading it that I nearly stopped because it got a bit hard to swallow. But I persevered and I believe the effort was worth it.

Reza Pejman Khourdi is a Kurdish young boy who is violently conscripted into the Iranian army after his father and other male relatives are brutally slain in battle. For two years he drifts in a haze of service to his village's murderers, carrying out their every whim. He is the plaything of the soldiers who use him in every manner imaginable. Through it all he longs for his mother with whom he shared a close if strange bond. But his past life is now dead and buried and he must forge a new existence out of the life he is given. A brotherhood begins to form amongst the young soldiers who are all weapons in training for the shah. They share their loneliness and need to make sense of this new life alongside their hopes for the future. But that brotherhood quickly evaporates with one visit from the shah who extols the willing enlistees (usually boys from Tehran) over the conscripts(usually Kurds). The boys go from being allies to being competitors and adversaries.

Reza realizes the status quo very quickly and distinguishes himself as hardworking, brutal and willing to do anything to climb the military ladder. He disavows his Kurdish self, in one instance very violently, and does everything to show his superiors that he regards the Kurds with even more contempt than they could muster. His reward for this is his promotion to the rank of captain and being given charge of Kermanshah, a Kurdish region. He is tasked with controlling the people and bringing them firmly under the yoke of the shah. He gladly carries out the shah's vision of a new nation, Iran, built on veneration of the shah, centralization of the language and destruction of any dissenting voices. But in Reza's later years, there is a softening of his grip, it is as if he loses the struggle between his Kurdish and Iranian self and is lost from both identities.

There is so much violence, savagery and brutality in this book. Women are raped, children are killed and lives are destroyed. The language is many times very crass and that coupled with the aforementioned made me want to stop reading. But despite these facts there is something poetic in the way that the author uses language. You sometimes feel like you are reading a poem written in ancient times. The story is sad and speaks to a loss of identity in the face of a dominant culture. What effect does forced assimilation have on a people? At some point after denying your true self for so long, does this destroy you? This is definitely not a book for everyone. Some will take to it and some will be repulsed by it. This book is apparently the first in a trilogy about three generations of Kurdish men.(less)

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May 13, 2009

Kleiner rated it

In 1921, Iran was a new nation. In the Zagros Mountains a Kurdish boy is conscripted into the shah's army after his tribe is slaughtered. The un-named boy is re-named Reza Pejman Khourdi (Reza after Iran's first shah; Pejman for heartbroken; and Khourdi as an ethnic Kurd). Ashamed of his tribal heritage and their effortless slaughter by the modern Iranian army, Reza suppresses all things Kurdish within him. He marries a modern Iranian woman, Meena, in the hopes of becoming more Iranian. As a suc...more

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Mar 03, 2010

Laura Cauley rated it

The first thing to say about this book is that the language is incredible. Khadivi writes so poetically, you'll find yourself repeating her phrases just to hear them roll off your tongue. This beautiful, lyrical style makes it a pretty quick read, I finished it in about a half a week and I have a pretty busy schedule. I also thought it was a very different perspective on Middle Eastern revolution and warfare. She took a very specific look at one person's experience and made it about an entire na...more

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Feb 03, 2011

Lissa rated it

Shelves: 2000s, fiction

The story that Laleh Khadivi tells with magically woven prose is devastating, brutal, and horrific. It should be required reading for everyone whose life is enjoyed at the cost of another person's suffering.

The boy who comes to be called Reza is a singular child: the only baby of a half-mad mother and a doting father in a culture that prizes large families, a running toddler who yearns for the flight of birds and perches on "the top spot that affords a glimpse of endless horizon, ...moreThe story that Laleh Khadivi tells with magically woven prose is devastating, brutal, and horrific. It should be required reading for everyone whose life is enjoyed at the cost of another person's suffering.

The boy who comes to be called Reza is a singular child: the only baby of a half-mad mother and a doting father in a culture that prizes large families, a running toddler who yearns for the flight of birds and perches on "the top spot that affords a glimpse of endless horizon, the fan of a more ardent wind" in order to see them, a child who wants the trappings of adulthood while recognizing that they are not quite worth the price exacted for them, a boy who strives to be brave while staring into the emptiness of an army, soldiers who are "intact, unfazed, already part man and part machine... trained in nothing but the aim and fire." Despite knowing what next happens in his story (from reading the book jacket), it is not possible to see in the soldiers, "perform[ing] with automatic efficiency: to aim and pull life out again and again", what will become of the bird boy, Reza. And yet, that is what he becomes.

Reza's story -- the only survivor of a bloody massacre, witness to his father's beheading -- "the Kurd orphan" consumed by the army, made pet and plaything of the soldiers, losing his memories in a mind-emptying search for love -- is, devastatingly, not so singular. With every page-turn from Book II onward, I realized that Reza's is this particular story, but he is far from alone. One soldier in the infinite army of Persia-turned-Iran, one spoil of tribal war conscripted to turn against what remains of his own people, one orphaned child keening for the love and comfort and honor of family while hiding in the body of a pristine adult -- Reza's is the story wiped away by war's victors, who rewrite history while basking in triumph.

Khadivi doesn't just tell this story; she forces her readers to live it along with her characters. She uses lyrical, expansive, poetic language to cloak a tale filled with cold, dark, and bitterness in an enveloping fog of sensation. She chooses sounds both beautiful and haunting to describe acts of depraved violence, a vandalism against the humanity in all of us, so that it's not until we've passed three sentences forward that the horror of described actions breaks through to the forefront of our brains. Later, she describes the passing of time and the effects of age and a failed quest, she weaves that cloak into a haze that surrounds and dulls the senses as the opium does to Reza himself. Tonal shifts between viewpoints of different characters are skillfully interwoven; though the voice may change, but the language spoken does not.

The Age of Orphans is a story so heartbreaking, and the telling of it so masterful. Khadivi is a force of talent and skill; I look forward to her next book, The Walking, to see what she delivers next.(less)

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Sep 24, 2009

Judith rated it

A Kurdish boy is orphaned at the age of ten after a battle between the Kurds and the Shah of Iran's military forces in the early 1900's. The policy at that time is to conscript the male orphans into the Shah's army, so our hero trades his old life and becomes Iranian, after witnessing the brutal death of all of his male relatives, including his father who is kicked to death in front of him. Though Reza is the main character, his life unfolds through a series of storytellers, each with their ow...more

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Aug 17, 2010

Nancy rated it

Shelves: historical-fiction, middle-east, war, 20th-century, first-reads-10

This is an extraordinary novel. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite like it. Khadivi weaves a tale that is horrifying, with poetic language that mesmerizes. I am shocked and enthralled at the same time as she tells the story of a young Kurdish boy in the 1920s who is captured and conscripted into the Shah’s army, and eventually transformed into the hated enemy. This story tugs at you with every page. Love doesn’t exist here—only the desire for it. I kept asking myself while reading, ...more

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Mar 09, 2009

Erika rated it

This is a book of loss: of land, of mother, and of identity. This is a book of forging ahead in order to construct one's manhood in the shadow of this new country that is also being constructed by the Shah. It's not often that a book makes you remember differently; Khadivi's images and yes, lyrical language transformed my memories of place, made me remember in a fresh way the sights and sounds and habits of my own people. I was engaged with the text, and moved enough to want to read it again and...more

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Mar 28, 2010

Suze rated it

Shelves: advance-copies

I wish I could give this book a few minus stars - one seems too much.
I tried really hard to find even one thing I liked about this book. It never happened, and yes I read the whole thing. Honestly, I see no purpose in this storyline, as the plot is buried in brutality, cruelty and sadness overall.

The characters are impossible to like except in the very beginning, when the lead character is a little boy. I know that Kurds have been fighting for independence for many generations...more

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Jan 01, 2011

Thomasin rated it

Shelves: fiction, novel

I found this novel listed on someone's "must reads" (maybe and NPR list?); I knew nothing about it other than someone somewhere said it was worthwhile.

I'm glad I gave it a shot.

This isn't a "warm fuzzies" book. We are introduced to the protagonist, a Kurdish boy, in 1921 and from there read about his transformation from an innocent to a hardened soldier to an aging man. The story makes you sick to your stomach and yet nevertheless was an engrossing read...more

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Sep 21, 2011

Melissa rated it

Shelves: 2010, historical-fiction

I really, really wanted to like this book, but I didn't care for the author's writing style. I've heard it called "poetic," and I'd agree with that assessment; however, I didn't find it to be very engaging. It was easy for me to set aside this book and not return to it. I really had to force myself to finish this book.

The story told in the pages is worthwhile and interesting. I've read very little about the Kurdish people, fiction or non-fiction alike, and this is a fasci...more

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Dec 27, 2010

Virginia Shea rated it

Hm.. this book will stay with me a while... I read it while listening to Infidel, so the two worlds were a little similar (both Middle East/African with a touch of the Islam flavor), making me feel more enveloped in it than I may have otherwise felt. I did like this book, and felt I did learn more about this area of the world and its history -- the actual events seemed somewhat false, but I was drawn into the characters and the story -- that of never really losing your roots -- was genuine.
...more

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Sep 04, 2010

Ellen rated it

· review of another edition

I debated on whether to give this three or four stars. The meaning of the star system doesn't seem to fit this book for me. I can't say that I liked it OR I really liked it. It's such a bleak story that I found it difficult to read. On the other hand, Laleh Khadivi's writing is lush and beautiful. It's poetic. It's just that often, that poetic language is describing overwhelming loneliness, unspeakable brutality, violent sexual encounters, humiliation, and inhumanity.

I'll defini...more

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Mar 19, 2010

Cat rated it

The Age of Orphans, by Laleh Khadivi grabs you by the soul and leads you through a land of beauty and pain, wisdom and arrogance, histories lost and created. Where a boy’s journey is measured by stolen love, memories forgotten, maps that circle upon themselves and back again. I was taken to unknown worlds and misunderstood cultures and could not catch my breath. This book delights the heart and then tests its resilience. I found myself as conflicted as the leading character and I could not put ...more

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Oct 03, 2009

Garryvivianne rated it

Story of a young (actually of many) Kurdish boys whom are taken by the Iranians into slavery that turns them into young soldiers. This story tells of one who never quite forgets where he is from, even when he has to be the one scolding, beating the Kurd families. He marries a girl from Teheran & has a family. As he grows older, he is stationed close by where he was raised & he knows the village knows he is one of them. He never really has the respect from the village nor the soldiers nor his ...more

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Oct 24, 2010

Alesa rated it

Imagine finding a book about Kurds in the Singapore Borders? This one was about Kurds in Iran under the first Shah. I loved following a young boy from his village in the mountains, into battle against the Shah, and then serving in the Shah's army himself, and returning later to the mountains. It describes the awful ambivalence of being a minority in a country totally lacking in tolerance. Plus, it showed how the Persians viewed the Kurds, which is not very well. Very interesting, and more t...more

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Jun 09, 2010

Joanne rated it

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I will start off by saying that the writing in this novel was just beautiful as it seemed to me to have almost a poetic prose to it. We are taken through the life of a Kurd from the time he is a young boy living in his village in Courdestan with his family to the time that he is an old man that has been brought full circle through a life of disappointment and changes.

I don't recall knowing what the young boy's name was at the beginning of the novel, but he is introduced as a young b...moreI will start off by saying that the writing in this novel was just beautiful as it seemed to me to have almost a poetic prose to it. We are taken through the life of a Kurd from the time he is a young boy living in his village in Courdestan with his family to the time that he is an old man that has been brought full circle through a life of disappointment and changes.

I don't recall knowing what the young boy's name was at the beginning of the novel, but he is introduced as a young boy yearning to be accepted as an adult by members of his village. When it is finally his turn to be taken on a journey with the men of the village to become a man he is thrilled beyond words. Although it wasn't clear to me exactly what age he was, it seemed that he was only about eight years old, but upon his return from the ceremony he would be considered a man by all.

He finds many benefits come with being a man-people look at you with respect, he gets to pick on the little boys in the village, and girls look at you with yearning eyes. He is quite distraught when he realizes that as a man he can no longer feed from his mother's breast. This I will admit is my main problem with the novel. That he has such a problem as a young man and even into adulthood dealing with the fact that he will no longer taste the milk that his mother has to offer.

When he is later captured by the Shah's army he loses all sense of tradition and worth that he learned in his Kurd village. He finds himself turning into a person that the people in his village have learned to fear and it seems to me that he was just an empty shell doing what he needed to do to survive. Before you know it he becomes a favorite amongst the Shah's army officials and he advances quickly within the ranks. As a young adult and a faithful servant of the Shah he is sent to restore order to a small Kurd village. It is in this small village when he starts to reminisce about the life he has lost and question the decisions that he has made along the way.

Besides the one problem that I had with this novel I really enjoyed it otherwise. I found the second half of the book was a much more enjoyable experience for me. With themes of traditions and belonging this made for a very interesting story. Even though I was not enjoying the story fully in the beginning I could not put it down because I found the writing so beautiful. I do believe that many book clubs would also enjoy this book as there are some great discussion topics within the pages, but be aware that a more 'reserved' group may be put off by some of the content.(less)

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Mar 01, 2010

Jamie rated it

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Shelves: first-reads, novel, crap

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. According to the back, this is part of a trilogy. After finishing this one, I have absolutely no intentions of reading the other two books. [return][return]The writing is a bit odd, but not bad. It didn't take long to get used to, but sometimes it came off as very dry. I won't bother summarizing the plot. The blurb on the back makes it sound interesting, but overall I found the book somewhat boring, relatively eventless, and the pacing slow. I wasn't really put off by the violence. I expected th...more

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Jan 08, 2009

eb rated it

This isn't my kind of book: it's humorless and (there's no other word) lyrical. Also, the first 50 pages reaaalllllly drag. But it's not every day you come across a story and a set of characters you haven't seen a zillion times before. Any writer who can take me opium-smoking in the caves of Iran deserves a few stars, right? You'll have to force-march yourself through this one if your taste is anything like mine, but the prize is a couple of indelible images, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

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Jun 27, 2009

Mowry rated it

I wasn't crazy about this book. I just never found the writing/explanation of the boy's life believable and since that was the bedrock for the novel I just didn't buy it. It didn't really seem like a the real motivations for a boy to do things, but rather the motivations that an adult woman might ascribe to a boy performing the same actions. Subtle difference, I guess, but enough to break the spell the novel is supposed to cast on you.

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Jul 11, 2009

Shrinkme2 rated it

Beautiful writing to be admired for its power and voice. This book blew me away. Sentences to be read, over and over, appreciating the mastery of language, prose and voice required to write so well. I am thrilled this book is to be part of a trilogy. I learned about a culture I didn't know much about (Kurds) and though the story is brutal and disturbing, if you like to be moved, this is the book for you.

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Jul 11, 2010

Charity rated it

Shelves: not-finished

Well technically I probably shouldn't give it a review. The story sounded right up my alley, but the way it was written I just couldn't get through it without falling asleep.

The author writes it in almost a poetic way which sometimes made me get lost in the thought and I had to reread parts. I definitely had to shelve it and who knows maybe in the future when I can read without multitasking my life I may attempt to have a go at it again.

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Apr 19, 2010

Julie rated it

Definitely not for everyone. It was a very honest and graphic retelling of the conflict in Iran between the Kurds and the Shah. I found it very disturbing, YET the author was almost poetic in her choice of words and phrases. I am glad I read it - but the images will take a while to fade.

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May 03, 2011

Theresa rated it

I loved this book. A stunning debut novel. The prose pulled me in right away with its lyricism. I enjoyed the changing narration, and the picture it painted of Iran at the moment of its creation through the lifespan of one man.

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Aug 23, 2009

Mary rated it

This intended first in a trilogy presents a disquieting revelation of the brutalization of the Kurds by the Iranians. Even so, it is a lyrical and haunting reminder of the dark and the beauty of the human soul.

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May 01, 2011

Syzygous Zygote rated it

Shelves: favorites

What a gorgeous book. The prose is delicate and exquisite, and the intimate story of a Kurd boy orphaned and taken by the Shah is heartbreaking to the very end. I'm definitely a picky reader, but I can't recommend this book enough.

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Sep 10, 2010

Louise Silk rated it

Shelves: fiction

picked this up randomly in the library's new books section.- fascinating story about a Kurdish orphan’s life and his inability to reconcile the factions in Iran.

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Mar 19, 2010

Tbb113 marked it as gave-up-on

I read about 40 pages and decided its not for me. I didn't care for the writing at all (but that is just me...most of the reviewers loved the writing).

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Aug 16, 2011

Rachel rated it

Khadivi is said to be "reminiscent of Michael Ondaatje" for her lyrical writing - this is not a style of writing I enjoy. I didn't enjoy In the Skin of a Lion either.

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