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The Patience Stone

by Atiq Rahimi, Khaled Hosseini (Introduction)

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 776 ratings · 154 reviews

“For far too long, Afghan women have been faceless and voiceless. Until now. With The Patience Stone, Atiq Rahimi gives face and voice to one unforgettable woman–and, one could argue, offers her as a proxy for the grievances of millions…it is a rich read, part allegory, part a tale of retribution, part an exploration of honor, love, sex, marriage, war. It is without doubt...more “For far too long, Afghan women have been faceless and voiceless. Until now. With The Patience Stone, Atiq Rahimi gives face and voice to one unforgettable woman–and, one could argue, offers her as a proxy for the grievances of millions…it is a rich read, part allegory, part a tale of retribution, part an exploration of honor, love, sex, marriage, war. It is without doubt an important and courageous book.” from the introduction by Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns

In Persian folklore, Syngue Sabour is the name of a magical black stone, a patience stone, which absorbs the plight of those who confide in it. It is believed that the day it explodes, after having received too much hardship and pain, will be the day of the Apocalypse. But here, the Syngue Sabour is not a stone but rather a man lying brain-dead with a bullet lodged in his neck. His wife is with him, sitting by his side. But she resents him for having sacrificed her to the war, for never being able to resist the call to arms, for wanting to be a hero, and in the end, after all was said and done, for being incapacitated in a small skirmish. Yet she cares, and she speaks to him. She even talks to him more and more, opening up her deepest desires, pains, and secrets. While in the streets rival factions clash and soldiers are looting and killing around her, she speaks of her life, never knowing if her husband really hears. And it is an extraordinary confession, without restraint, about sex and love and her anger against a man who never understood her, who mistreated her, who never showed her any respect or kindness. Her admission releases the weight of oppression of marital, social, and religious norms, and she leads her story up to the great secret that is unthinkable in a country such as Afghanistan. Winner of the Prix Goncourt, The Patience Stone captures with great courage and spare, poetic, prose the reality of everyday life for an intelligent woman under the oppressive weight of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.(less)

Hardcover, 160 pages

Published January 19th 2010 by Other Press (first published 2008)

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Mar 07, 2010 Friederike Knabe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an extraordinarily powerful novella, despite being compressed on some 120 pages. The story is both personal, even intimate, and wide-reaching in substance and relevance. At the centre of all comings and goings is one room where a woman attends to her wounded husband...

In a language that is at the same time simple, spare and compressed, yet often poetic, Rahimi evokes the atmosphere in the room and slowly, in sensitively conveyed step, the reader learns to understand the hard life of the...more

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Jan 24, 2010 Eileen Souza rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: afghanistan-pakistan, asia

I thought that this book would be great - it had a fascinating premise, as a living version of the sang e saboor. Unfortunately, the reality just didn't hit the mark.

It was too short, not deep enough, and unrelateable - I think because of the way it was written. It was almost like a very long poem that didn't rhyme or follow any rhythm, if that makes sense.

The story is told from a third party perspective, and the entire story takes place in a room - and you only read about what is said- which is...more

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Feb 15, 2011 Hiba Essa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Beautifully written but a lot of violence and crude words are not always necessary to make a point.

Winner of the prestigious Goncourt Prize in France, an Afghani writer with an introduction by Khalid Hosseini - I was thrilled to start reading and managed to finish it in one evening.

This short novel is incredibly deep in the psychological and social exploration of a "typical" afghani woman, whose husband, a Jihad warrior, has been injured. As he lays there in the coma she uses him as a sang-e-sab...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Quang Nhật rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-awards

Tác giả đã quá tuyệt khi làm mình muốn nổ tung theo nhân vật ở những trang cuối cùng, để rồi khi khép trang sách lại, ông ấy vẫn nhấn mình dìm sâu vào sự huyễn hoặc, sự hỗn loạn.

Phải chăng, kết thúc đó là sự giải thoát cho tất cả, là "một kết thúc tốt đẹp" mà các nhân vật vẫn mãi tìm kiếm cho riêng mình ?

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Feb 21, 2012 aPriL MEOWS often with scratching rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: brilliant-but-i-don-t-love-it, literary, unbearably-sad

The extremely wretched existence of being an Afghanistan woman along with a story exposing the sick and rotten life that Afghan men have created for everyone in that damned country is revealed by this surprising high art novella. All of the action occurs in a single room so this could easily be turned into a play. It is a frank, honest monologue which reveals a country that hides it's barnyard mentality and psychopathic cruelty behind twisted interpretations of an already illogical collection of...more The extremely wretched existence of being an Afghanistan woman along with a story exposing the sick and rotten life that Afghan men have created for everyone in that damned country is revealed by this surprising high art novella. All of the action occurs in a single room so this could easily be turned into a play. It is a frank, honest monologue which reveals a country that hides it's barnyard mentality and psychopathic cruelty behind twisted interpretations of an already illogical collection of religious instructions. As peculiar as the Torah, the Bible and the Koran can read to those who bother to study them, what the Afghans have done with transforming an eighth century book of third-hand, poorly translated stories of Babylonian folk tales and strange body function rituals that HAD to be created by someone with autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder is criminal. It is amazing such a sick and maimed society is often discussed as if in the interests of fairness we must pretend it is sane and legitimate, with normal governing principles grounding the daily lives of all the followers of extreme Islam. For God's sake, the average life expectancy there is around 40, women are basically treated like they are breeding dogs, children as disposable slaves and men are cowering mouth breathers. Perhaps in two decades Afghans will have returned to living in caves trying go remember how to make a fire. No one wants to say out loud how insane this country is. Everyone knows it, the same way we all knew how sick Cambodia, North Korea, Nazi Germany, Stalin's Russia, Idi Amin' s Uganda, and the current Somalia, is. It is similar to being respectful of a rabies infected bat attacking you. If only people would discuss more often and openly how much opium has infiltrated all aspects of Afghan society and by promoting the demonizing of women the men have turned to 'boy dancers' which is creating a future generation of sick, damaged men. The worst part is how Pakistan and Iran are cynically and malignantly 'helping' Afghanistan turn their people into Neanderthal primitives to keep their own populations distracted while using Afghans as political catspaws, and India and China quietly steal every valuable mineral resource Afghanistan possesses while screaming that their intervention is stopping the USA from doing so. It's all so disgusting. And hopeless. In my opinion, it has become an out of control forest fire that will burn until all of the land is destroyed. Since no one can help, we should leave them alone to their devolution (with nothing of value left) and keep books like this around as cautionary tales.(less)

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Oct 27, 2011 Ismail Elshareef rated it 5 of 5 stars

First off, this is one tight book. The translator, Polly McLean, pulled a Hemingway with this one. Every sentence is accounted for and ever word conveyed a specific mood, feeling and image. Kudos to a flawless prose!

Now to the story itself.

This short story (136 pages) is about a woman caring for her immobile, stricken husband as she recounts her dark thoughts and secrets to him. The entire story takes place in the room where the husband lies bed-bound, which makes it a great candidate for a pl...more First off, this is one tight book. The translator, Polly McLean, pulled a Hemingway with this one. Every sentence is accounted for and ever word conveyed a specific mood, feeling and image. Kudos to a flawless prose!

Now to the story itself.

This short story (136 pages) is about a woman caring for her immobile, stricken husband as she recounts her dark thoughts and secrets to him. The entire story takes place in the room where the husband lies bed-bound, which makes it a great candidate for a play production.

When the man's wife, who remains nameless throughout the story, visits him to change his soiled cloths and replenish his IV drip, she reveals a little bit about herself and her untold story to him, and to us the readers. The story builds quickly and crescendos with a shocking revelation and a chilling development that will leave you stunned and heartbroken.

The story is extremely allegorical, which is precisely why the woman was never given a name, which in turn would have given her an identity. She represents Afghanistan with all its anger, innocence, naïveté, perversion, sorrow and pain. At the heart of the story, though, was despair. The woman's palpable wretchedness mirrored the state of her country. The war that was raging outside her house was identical to the one tearing her apart from the inside.

And there is no end in sight.

The sick man aslo represents Afghanistan. He represents its hollowed, paralyzed and rigid consciousness that is unable to evolve or to respond to outside stimulants.

The "patience stone" in ancient Persian folklore is a magical black stone that absorbs the plight of all those that confide in it and explodes when nothing else remains to be said. The woman makes the man her very own patience stone. She confides all her dark secrets in him, hoping he'd explode when she's done laying it all out before him.

The story makes for a great read. It has tender moments, but it's mostly very intense and heavy. It makes sense that Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns) introduces it. The woman in this story could be one of the close relatives of either Mariam or Laila, the protagonists in A Thousand Splendid Suns. If you loved that book, you will love this one too.

If you're looking for a slice of life, albeit depressing, in Afghanistan, this makes a great, quick read. Highly recommended.(less)

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Aug 05, 2011 J. Luis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Novela corta, muy corta, que se lee casi de un tirón. Aunque creo que el autor lo ha hecho bastante bien, escribiendo desde la ventana de la habitación, manteniendo las distancias, y consiguiendo fundamentalmente crear una atmósfera adecuada, a mi, personalmente, la historia no me ha llegado. Y no porque no tenga todos los ingredientes para hacerlo, que seguramente los tiene porque lo que nos cuenta es muy crudo y muy duro, y está muy bien contado..., pero a mi me ha quedado como algo lejano.
Dec...more

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Oct 27, 2010 Denise rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Patience Stone, also called Syngue Sabour, is said to absorb the grief of people who confess to it. This concept is used as a strong metaphor in this brief but powerful story. A woman sits vigil over her comatose husband. He was injured in Afghanistan fighting in a jihad. As she waits, often hiding from marauding soldiers, seeking shelter from bombs, and vaguely caring for her young daughter, she talks to her husband.

This one-sided conversation is the heart of the book. She is at turns angr...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Maryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Atiq Rahimi cast a forceful spell with this extraordinary and powerful book and enchanted me for a day refusing to answer the phone until I breathed in the last page.
Rahimi, an Afghanistan refugee who fled to France in 1984, has poignantly taken the voiceless millions of Afghani woman and with spare and poetic prose written a deeply moving novella.
The scene is confined to a room with a nameless woman and her husband who has been shot and lies mute and paralysed while she cares for his every nee...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, asia, cultural-and-social-commentary, domestic-and-relationship-fiction, four-star-fiction

This is a short but powerful novel, well-deserving of the 2008 Prix Goncourt.
Through the revelations of one nameless woman's secrets, Atiq Rahimi speaks for Afghan women down through the ages, silenced and negated by religion and tribalism. As you read, you may be struck with wonder that the author is a man.

The legend of the patience stone, the sang-e saboor, says that if you bare your soul to this magical stone, it will eventually shatter. When it does, you will be released from your sufferin...more This is a short but powerful novel, well-deserving of the 2008 Prix Goncourt.
Through the revelations of one nameless woman's secrets, Atiq Rahimi speaks for Afghan women down through the ages, silenced and negated by religion and tribalism. As you read, you may be struck with wonder that the author is a man.

The legend of the patience stone, the sang-e saboor, says that if you bare your soul to this magical stone, it will eventually shatter. When it does, you will be released from your suffering.

The Afghan woman in this story uses her comatose husband as her patience stone. As she tends to his physical needs and prays for his recovery, she finds all the rage and hurt of a lifetime spilling out in one confession after another. In ten years of marriage, she has never been free to share anything of her deepest self with her husband. And so she finds him almost of more use to her in this inanimate state than he was when conscious and healthy.

The woman's revelations are often harsh, told in raw and brutal language which underscores her burning resentment at being so long denied the right to self-expression and self-determination. A malicious glee creeps into her confessions as she spills ever more shocking secrets. She seems to find great satisfaction in knowing that her husband would be humiliated and emasculated if he could hear what she was saying.

This little book may make you squirm, as well it should. It speaks to the things repressed women must do in secret to preserve their sanity and the tiniest bit of dignity. There is also the argument that it is not only women who are diminished by a male-dominated society. The men pay too, although they are generally blind to what they lose by not allowing women full personhood. Rahimi makes this point most simply and profoundly when the woman says to her husband:
"When it's hard to be a woman, it becomes hard to be a man, too."

The end of the book is a bit puzzling. It's hard to know if what is described is real or imagined. But the way it ends is not all that important. The meat, the essence, is in the woman's confessions and emotions, and what they say about the costs of marginalizing women in an environment of ongoing warfare. (less)

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Mar 26, 2013 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars

The idea of the book intrigued me, but I felt its execution fell a little short. There was a crudeness to the woman as she revealed her secrets; I didn't like that and felt it was unneeded. A liberated woman is not necessarily a crude woman who speaks about sex as fucking, etc. Perhaps that wouldn't have bothered me as much as it did, if we had gotten a more complex portrait of the woman. But, she seemed distant from all of the people in her life, including her children, the only exception perha...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Maxine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: asia, afghanistan

This was a fascinating read for so many reasons; a trapped woman reveals her secrets to a comatose husband who is her master/captor in death as he was in life. She's in a kind of afterlife; there was her life before her husband was shot in the neck, and there's her life afterwards. As she begins to crack under the stress of this new, post-shooting life she finds herself in, she starts to reveal herself to her husband, and as she does so, reveals secrets of Afghan women and society. She purposely...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Gloria Bernal rated it 2 of 5 stars

I expected more. The introduction by one of my fave authors, Khalid Hosseini, in his own eloquent style, was promising. I was excited to start it, and it kept my interest for the most part, but found the ending unsatisfactory for my taste. I have an advanced readers copy (ARC paperback size: 7-1/2" x 5"), provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes, not for re-sale, but if anyone wants to trade this, I would be interested in hearing from you.

mzglorybe@gmail.com

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Oct 09, 2012 Jim Elkins added it · review of another edition

Shelves: afghan

This is an appalling book. It's about a woman who nurses her husband, who is in a coma. He won't wake up, and that drives her to speak more and more candidly about her life. She reveals an entire dictionary of the mistreatment of women by Afghan men. In the course of the book she is also threatened with rape; she masturbates in front of him; she describes how she made her menstrual blood apear to be the blood from her hymen; she recounts the times she was beaten; she reveals he wouldn't let her...more This is an appalling book. It's about a woman who nurses her husband, who is in a coma. He won't wake up, and that drives her to speak more and more candidly about her life. She reveals an entire dictionary of the mistreatment of women by Afghan men. In the course of the book she is also threatened with rape; she masturbates in front of him; she describes how she made her menstrual blood apear to be the blood from her hymen; she recounts the times she was beaten; she reveals he wouldn't let her kiss him; and in the end she talks about his infertility. [return][return]The book isn't appalling because of any of that. It's awful because it uses literature to tell those stories. People apparently read Rahimi to know about the situation of Afghan women. One reviewer on the back cover says "we know so little about the day-to-day life of people in Afghanistan..." But this isn't what literature should be. What kind of reader feels she needs to get her news about Afghanistan from novels and plays? What sense of literature do such readers have? [return][return]Then there's the question of the literary form. "The Patience Stone" is written as a stage play: it calls out, on every page, to the potential director or playwright, giving instructions. Everything takes place in one room. All sorts of artifices are arranged so that the action never needs to leave the room. Footsteps are heard dying away and approaching. A gun barrel comes through a window. A tank, offstage, shatters a window. What does any of that stage machinery have to do with the situation of women in Afghanistan? One reviewer on Amazon says the author "keeps the props simple": they're minimal, but unremitting, and all of them are clich�s. The idea of the man who never moves, and the woman who soliloquizes, owes something to Beckett, but it owes nothing to any play written more recently than 1950. The staginess of "The Patience Stone" would be awkward and intrusive even if it didn't have to do with truths about Afghanistan. Staginess also explains some of the infelicities in the narration (this despite the fact that a number of reviewers think it is beautifully written). One reviewer on Amazon notes that "Rahimi uses a third-person point of view to keep us out of the protagonist's head and make her revelations to her husband more powerful (I think this was a smart decision). But in several passages, the narrator tries to intrude on her thoughts by interpreting her actions for the reader." That's a good example of the sort of artificial construction that Rahimi needed in order to sustain his implausible premise -- that the woman tells all her stories to the man, whom she thinks isn't listening. It's hard for me to imagine Rahimi's reasons for setting this entire novel as a one-scene play, especially given that he's working on a film adaptation. I can only think that he understands minimalist or absurdist theater as a kind of optimal expressive vehicle. But how could that be an adequate understanding of theater?[return][return]This book is an excellent example of the misuse of literature for the purpose of revealing truths about the world. There's hardly a worthier subject, or a less appropriate vehicle.(less)

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May 29, 2011 Mohd Nazmi Yaakub rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: afghanistan, novel, perancis, terjemahan, sastera

SAYA hampir pasti pengarang The Patience Stone, Atiq Rahimi pernah membaca Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan sebelum menulis novel keduanya itu. Watak wanita yang tak pernah diberikan namanya itu seolah-olah Jeha yang berbangsa Afghan yang terpaksa mengunyah derita selepas suami mereka ditimpa tragedi.

Hanya saja saya disedarkan tema yang diungkapkan Shahnon Ahmad dalam Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan adalah bersifat sejagat. Boleh berlaku di Banggul Derdap di kawasan pertanian, juga tak mustahil menjalar di kota di...more

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May 25, 2010 Tina Hayes rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The Patience Stone" by Atiq Rahimi is an impressive novel that gives us a peak into Afghani culture. The story is unique in that it's told from the viewpoint of the room around which all the action happens. The characters aren't named, only called the man and the woman, but yet the reader feels an affinity to them both.

In Afghanistan, a woman takes care of her patriot husband, who is wounded and unable to move. War is going on around them and everyone else she could depend on to help her has fl...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Sanaa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this today on and off since it is a quick read and I came to the conclusion this story was classed as 'powerful' due to the fact it is based upon a nameless Muslim woman who is tending to her husband who is in a coma. She uses this situation as a opportunity to confess all her feelings good and bad whilst he can't reprimand her. She takes to curses every other minute with the cursing being mainly sexual. Not the usual way Muslim women are portrayed in t.v or books which makes the storylin...more

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May 24, 2013 Mariana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: Αφγανιστάν

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Σύμφωνα με την περσική μυθολογία υπάρχει μια πέτρα που τη βάζεις μπροστά σου τις λες όλα σου τα βάσανα τους πόνους και τα παράπονα και όταν τελειώσεις εκείνη εκρήγνυται και εσύ λυτρώνεσαι και ξαναγεννιέσαι.Η πέτρα αυτή είναι μαγική και ονομάζεται Η Πέτρα της Υπομονής.Κάπου στο Αφγανιστάν ίσως στην πρωτεύουσα του στην Καμπούλ ή και αλλού σε ένα φτωχικό σπίτι ζει μια τριαντάχρονη γυναίκα μαζί με τις δυο κόρες της και τον άντρα της.Εκείνος έχει επιστρέψει εδώ και λίγο καιρό σπίτι από τον πόλεμο μόν...more Σύμφωνα με την περσική μυθολογία υπάρχει μια πέτρα που τη βάζεις μπροστά σου τις λες όλα σου τα βάσανα τους πόνους και τα παράπονα και όταν τελειώσεις εκείνη εκρήγνυται και εσύ λυτρώνεσαι και ξαναγεννιέσαι.Η πέτρα αυτή είναι μαγική και ονομάζεται Η Πέτρα της Υπομονής.Κάπου στο Αφγανιστάν ίσως στην πρωτεύουσα του στην Καμπούλ ή και αλλού σε ένα φτωχικό σπίτι ζει μια τριαντάχρονη γυναίκα μαζί με τις δυο κόρες της και τον άντρα της.Εκείνος έχει επιστρέψει εδώ και λίγο καιρό σπίτι από τον πόλεμο μόνο που δεν γύρισε όρθιος και υγιής.Είναι σοβαρά τραυματισμένος και βρίσκεται σε κώμα.Μέρα νύχτα η γυναίκα βρίσκεται στο πλάι του του δίνει τα φάρμακά του όπως ακριβώς τις έχουν πει οι γιατροί και προσεύχεται έτσι όπως της έχει δείξει ο μουλάς.Παρόλο όμως που κάνει όλα όσα τις έχουν υποδείξει οι ειδικοί ο άντρας παραμένει αναίσθητος βυθισμένος σε έναν ατελείωτο ύπνο ζωντανός νεκρός σε ένα στρώμα στη μέση ενός δωματίου.Έξω ο εμφύλιος ρημάζει τη χώρα και όλοι προσπαθούν να επιβιώσουν όπως μπορούν τηρώντας παράλληλα τους νόμους και τα θρησκευτικά τους καθήκοντα.Η γυναίκα εδώ και μέρες έχει κουραστεί από την σιωπή του άντρα της και τη μη βελτίωσή του και έτσι μια μέρα δεν αντέχει και ξεσπά.Λες και εκείνος μπορεί να την ακούσει αρχίζει να του φωνάζει να ξυπνήσει και να σηκωθεί γιατί αυτή έκανε ότι έπρεπε να κάνει.Δεν αντέχει άλλο να τον βλέπει έτσι δεν αντέχει άλλο να ζει έτσι.Αυτό που στην αρχή ξεκίνησε ως ένα απλό ξέσπασμα κατέληξε σε έναν ατελείωτο μονόλογο όταν η γυναίκα συνειδητοποίησε ότι για εκείνη το ακίνητο σώμα του άντρα της είναι η πέτρα της υπομονής.Εκείνη η πέτρα που σε ακούει υπομονετικά δεν σε κρίνει ρουφά μέσα της όλα σου τα προβλήματα και στο τέλος με την έκρηξή της σου χαρίζει τη λύτρωση.Και η γυναίκα έχει ανάγκη να πει κάπου όλα όσα τη βασανίζουν από τότε που γεννήθηκε.Έτσι αρχίζει το μονόλογο της ο οποίος άλλες φορές περιέχει θυμό κατηγορίες και ειρωνείες και άλλες φορές είναι γεμάτος λύπη και αγάπη.Ο άντρας δεν αντιδρά εκείνη όμως αρχίζει να νιώθει καλύτερα.Παράλληλα με αυτό έρχεται κοντά από ένα δικό της ψέμα με ένα νεαρό αγόρι αμάθητο στον έρωτα.Και μια μέρα η γυναίκα τελειώνει το μονόλογο και η πέτρα σκάει..η λύτρωση ήρθε για τη νεαρή Αφγανή???

Το βιβλίο αυτό ήταν το δώρο της μητέρας μου για τα εικοστά μου γενέθλια το χειμώνα που μας πέρασε.Η μητέρα μου γνωρίζει την αγάπη μου για τη λογοτεχνία και το διάβασμα και πάντα όταν μου κάνει δώρα σε γιορτές ή γενέθλια φροντίζει αυτά να είναι βιβλία.Ξέρει ότι είτε βρω την ιστορία τους καλή ή κακή θα χαρώ με αυτή της την χειρονομία.Σε αυτά τα γενέθλια επέλεξε να μου δώσει ένα βιβλίο με μια ιστορία διαφορετική από αυτές που διαβάζω.Ένα βιβλίο που όταν το ξεκινάς θεωρείς ότι μιλά για τα μουσουλμανικά κράτη και τα όσα βιώνουν οι άνθρωποι εκεί αλλά τελικά όταν το τελειώνεις βλέπεις πως αναφέρεται σε όλες τις χώρες του κόσμου γιατί αυτά που περιγράφει μπορεί να συμβούν σε οποιαδήποτε χώρα της γης φτωχή ή πλούσια.Ένα βιβλίο που μόνη μου δεν θα το αγόραζα όχι γιατί έχω αρνητικά συναισθήματα για τους μουσουλμανικούς λαούς αλλά επειδή είναι τόσο σκληρές οι περισσότερες ιστορίες και βγαλμένες απ΄τη ζωή που μου είναι δύσκολο να τις διαβάσω.Μπορώ πολύ πιο εύκολα να διαχειριστώ φανταστικές ιστορίες όσο τρομαχτικές κι αν είναι αλλά αληθινές ιστορίες ή βιβλία που παρουσιάζουν τη σκληρότητα των ανθρώπων και το πως υποφέρουν λαοί που βρίσκονται δίπλα μας τα αποφεύγω. Μέχρι τώρα γύριζα την πλάτη σε όλες αυτές τις ιστορίες αλλά νομίζω ότι φτάνει πια με αυτόν τον φόβο.Ήρθε ή ώρα να τον αντιμετωπίσω και να ανοίξω τα μάτια σε μια πραγματικότητα αρκετά σκληρή και απάνθρωπη.Τρεις μήνες έμεινε στη βιβλιοθήκη μου η Πέτρα της Υπομονής τρεις μήνες με περίμενε και τελικά ήρθε η ώρα να τη διαβάσω και δεν σας κρύβω ότι μαζί με την ηρωίδα απελευθερώθηκα και εγώ από τους φόβους μου...

Η ιστορία διαδραματίζεται στο Αφγανιστάν ή σε οποιοδήποτε άλλο κράτος.Αυτό λέει ο συγγραφέας στην αρχή.Ο Rahimi είναι Αφγανός αλλά δυστυχώς έφυγε από τη χώρα του και μετά από μια σειρά περιπετειών κατέληξε στη Γαλλία ως πολιτικός πρόσφυγας και από τότε γράφει βιβλία προσπαθώντας να παρουσιάσει στον πολιτισμένο δυτικό κόσμο το δράμα του δικού του λαού αλλά και όλων των χωρών της περιοχής του.Προσπαθεί μέσα από τα έργα να αφυπνίσει συνειδήσεις και να δείξει τι επικρατεί σε αυτές τις χώρες και πόσο σκληρή είναι η ζωή εκεί.Και παράλληλα μας κλείνει το μάτι αφού τέτοια φαινόμενα έστω και μεμονωμένα συμβαίνουν και στις θεωρητικά πολιτισμένες χώρες αυτού του κόσμου. Η Πέτρα της υπομονής είναι μια νουβέλα μόλις 214 σελίδων αλλά παρά το μικρό της μέγεθός κρύβει μέσα της ένα σωρό μηνύματα και νοήματα που θα πρέπει να είσαι αναίσθητος για να μην σε αγγίξουν και να μην σε προβληματίσουν.Ο συγγραφέας αφιερώνει το βιβλίο στη νεκρή φίλη του συγγραφέα που δολοφονήθηκε άγρια απ΄τον σύντροφό της και είμαι σχεδόν σίγουρη ότι το τέλος της νουβέλας είναι απόλυτα συνδεδεμένο με αυτό το γεγονός.Ο συγγραφέας συνδυάζει την περσική μυθολογία με τον εμφύλιο που ρημάζει τη χώρα του και μας δίνει αυτό το εξαιρετικό βιβλίο όπου περιγράφει τον τρόπο ζωή των συμπατριωτών του και τις δυσκολίες αντρών και γυναικών σε μια τέτοια περίοδο..

Η πρωταγωνίστρια δεν έχει όνομα όπως όνομα δεν έχει ούτε ο άντρας της ούτε τα παιδιά της.Δεν χρειάζεται να έχουν ονόματα βασικά γιατί αυτοί οι χαρακτήρες αντιπροσωπεύουν όλους τους Αφγανούς και όχι μόνο πολίτες.Θα μπορούσε να είναι ο καθένας. Ιστορίες σαν αυτή της γυναίκας είναι συχνό φαινόμενο πια.Η πρωταγωνίστρια εδώ είναι παντρεμένη δέκα χρόνια τρία χρόνια ήταν αρραβωνιασμένη με έναν άντρα που δεν είχε δει ποτέ στη ζωή της!! πώς να τον δει? εκείνος πολεμούσε για το κράτος..και μετά την τέταρτη χρονιά τον παντρεύτηκε αλλά και τότε τη μέρα του γάμου της εκείνος δεν ήταν δίπλα της!! πολεμούσε ακόμα δεν μπορούσε να επιστρέψει στη θέση του βρίσκονταν ένα χαντζάρι. Και μια μέρα επέστρεψε έτσι απλά και κοιμήθηκε μαζί της.Έτσι απλά.Χωρίς να μιλήσουν να γνωριστούν χωρίς να ερωτευθούν! Και μετά τα χρόνια πέρασαν εκείνος ξαναέφυγε γιατί ξέσπασε ο εμφύλιος και εκείνη ζούσε με τα πεθερικά της με μια πεθερά που την έβριζε από το πρωί μέχρι το βράδυ και την κατηγορούσε ότι ήταν στείρα.Μόνο ο πεθερός της ήταν καλός και τη φρόντιζε χωρίς να έχει άσχημους σκοπούς.Δεν ήταν σαν εκείνον της θείας της που τη βίαζε!! ..Και τα άσχημα πράγματα στη ζωή αυτής της γυναίκας δεν σταματούν εκεί.Όλες οι πληροφορίες που δίνει στο μονόλογο της είναι συγκλονιστικές και σοκαριστικές. Από μικρό παιδί υπέφερε.Δεν γνώρισε αγάπη και στοργή ήταν ένα κομμάτι κρέας πού πουλήθηκε μια μέρα σε μια άλλη οικογένεια και περίμεναν από αυτή να κάνει παιδιά!!..Το ένα σοκ έρχεται μετά το άλλο διαβάζοντας τα όσα της συνέβησαν σε αυτά τα 30 χρόνια και δεν ξέρεις για πιο απ'όλα τα γεγονότα πρέπει να τη λυπηθείς περισσότερο.Γονείς που την πέταξαν σαν σκυλί σε μια πεθερά που την έβλεπε ως μέσο να αποκτήσει εγγόνια,ένας σύζυγος απών που όταν επέστρεφε από τον πόλεμο τη βίαζε όποτε εκείνος ήθελε και τη χτυπούσε με το παραμικρό και φυσικά ποτέ του δεν την αγάπησε κι αν το έκανε δεν της το έδειξε ούτε ένα λεπτό ,μια γυναίκα που έμαθε μόνη της την τέχνη του έρωτα και που έριχναν πάνω της το βάρος της μη εγκυμοσύνης λέγοντας ότι εκείνη φταίει ότι εκείνη είναι η στείρα ενώ ο στείρος ήταν ο άντρας της.Και εκείνη αναγκάστηκε να κοιμηθεί με άλλον κρυφά απ όλους τους συγγενείς της για να μείνει έγκυος και να σταματήσουν πλέον να τη βρίζουν και να την κατηγορούν.Μια γυναίκα που είπε στον στρατιώτη ότι είναι πόρνη γιατί ήξερε πως μόνο έτσι δεν θα τη βίαζε γιατί η πόρνη δεν είναι γυναίκα για τους άντρες.Δεν είναι καθαρή πουλά το κορμί της για τα λεφτά την πόρνη δεν μπορείς να την εξουσιάσεις ενώ μια γυναίκα απλή καθημερινή αν τη βιάσεις αν κυριαρχήσεις και εξουσιάσεις το κορμί της που δεν το δίνει στον οποιοδήποτε και όποτε εκείνη θέλει τότε αυτό εσένα σε κάνει ανώτερο σε κάνει αρχηγό.Μια ζωή γεμάτη βάσανα δυσκολίες πόνους στιγμές που οι περισσότερες γυναίκες τις βλέπουν σε απλές ταινίες και τρομάζουν και τις θεωρούν εφιαλτικές. Και για την ηρωίδα του βιβλίου αυτή είναι η καθημερινότητά της.Έχει μάθει να ζει και να ταπεινώνεται καθημερινά!!! Βέβαια δεν είναι όλοι οι άντρες σε αυτές τις χώρες έτσι.Υπάρχουν και αυτοί που αγαπούν πραγματικά τις γυναίκες και φέρονται με θαυμασμό και εκτίμηση.Αλλά κακά τα ψέματα πολλοί τις βλέπουν ως ένα κομμάτι κρέας ως κάτι που πρέπει να εξουσιάσουν για να νιώσουν αυτοί καλύτερα..Φταίει και το μεγάλο ποσοστό αμάθειας που υπάρχει φταίει και ο τρόπος που οι γονείς μεγαλώνουν τα παιδιά δηλαδή τι να σου κάνει και ένα αγόρι που από μικρό έχει μάθει ότι οι άντρες είναι οι κυρίαρχοι.Τι να σου κάνει και ένα κορίτσι που από μικρό μαθαίνει να υπηρετεί και θεωρεί πως ο βιασμός ακόμα κι από τον πατέρα είναι κάτι σωστό!! Είναι μια κατάσταση εξωφρενική μου σηκώνεται η τρίχα και μόνο να σκέφτομαι το τι περνούν κάποιες γυναίκες καθημερινά και ευγνωμονώ την τύχη μου και το Θεό που δεν γεννήθηκα σε μια τέτοια οικογένεια..Ξαναλέω ότι δεν θεωρώ όλες τις οικογένειες στο Αφγανιστάν σαν αυτή της ηρωίδας εδώ και φυσικά και στη Δύση υπάρχουν τέτοιες οικογένειες. Απλώς χαίρομαι που δεν είμαι μέρος κάτι τέτοιου χαίρομαι που οι γονείς μου δεν με εκμεταλλεύτηκαν χαίρομαι που δεν είμαι αμόρφωτη που δεν με βλέπουν ως ένα κομμάτι κρέας και δεν με πούλησαν στα δεκαεπτά μου...

Αυτό που μου άρεσε αρκετά είναι πως ο συγγραφέας δεν μιλά μόνο γιατί τις δυσκολίες των γυναικών.Μιλά και για εκείνες των αντρών. Ο άντρας της γυναίκας κρύβει και αυτός μια τραγική ιστορία.Και αυτός μεγάλωσε μαθαίνοντας ότι έχει κάποιες ευθύνες στη ζωή του και ότι πρέπει να τις εκπληρώσει και αυτός μεγάλωσε μέσα σε μια αυστηρή οικογένεια και έβλεπε να συμβαίνουν πράγματα που δεν ήταν καλά για την αθώα ψυχή ενός παιδιού.,Φυσικά και δεν δικαιολογώ την έλλειψη αγάπης και φροντίδας στη γυναίκα του ούτε το ξύλο που της έριχνε ή που τη βίαζε όποτε είχε όρεξη απλώς και εκείνος πίσω του έχει μια ιστορία τραγική .Και εκείνος ως ένα βαθμό είναι θύμα της δικής του οικογένειας και του τρόπου που τον μεγάλωσαν.Η εκμετάλλευση βέβαια των αντρών παρουσιάζεται ακόμα καλύτερα με τον νεαρό έφηβο στρατιώτη που έρχεται στη γυναίκα δίνοντας της λεφτά και ζητώντας της να κοιμηθεί μαζί της.Αυτός είναι θύμα εκμετάλλευσης ενός άλλου στρατιώτη πολύ μεγαλύτερου του και πιο δυνατού που τον βρήκε μικρό μόνο στο δρόμο τον μάζεψε και από τότε τον βάζει να ικανοποιεί τις άρρωστες επιθυμίες του!! Τί να πεις τώρα για αυτό? Τι να σκεφτείς? είναι σοκαρίστηκα και αποτρόπαια αλλά δυστυχώς συμβαίνουν και δυστυχώς αφορούν όλες τις χώρες του κόσμου.Αρρωστημένα μυαλά υπάρχουν παντού...

Λίγο στην αρχή με δυσκόλεψε ο μονόλογος.Ομολογώ πως αποφεύγω να διαβάζω βιβλία που στηρίζονται αποκλειστικά και μόνο σε έναν χαρακτήρα ή να βλέπω μονολόγους στο θέατρο.Κάπως με κουράζει όλο αυτό με εξαντλεί η μη ύπαρξη διαλόγου.Έτσι δεν μπήκα αμέσως στο κλίμα του βιβλίου μέχρι την σελίδα 50 ένιωθα παράξενα αλλά είναι τόσο καθηλωτικά τα όσα λέει η γυναίκα είναι τόσο έντονη η παρουσία της και η δυναμική της προσωπικότητα που δεν μπορείς παρά να συνεχίσεις το διάβασμα.Αυτό έκανα και σιγά σιγά η αίσθηση του μη οικείου έφυγε.Το ταλέντο του συγγραφέα είναι μεγάλο και δικαίως το βιβλίο του κέρδισε το γαλλικό βραβείο Goncourt το 2008.

Γλώσσα απλή καθημερινή χωρίς φοβερές και μακροσκελείς περιγραφές αλλά γεμάτη κρυμμένα μηνύματα και νοήματα.Γλώσσα που τσακίζει κόκαλα και σε ξυπνά από το λήθαργο.Γλώσσα που σε συγκλονίζει που σου δημιουργεί συναισθήματα πόνου θλίψης αγανάκτησης και θυμού. Γλώσσα που σου δημιουργεί εικόνες που περνούν από μπροστά σου και νομίζεις ότι βλέπεις ταινία. Μόνο που τίποτα δεν είναι φανταστικό τίποτα δεν ανήκει σε ένα μέλλον μακρινό όλα είναι αληθινά και όλα συμβαίνουν τώρα και μάλιστα κοντά μας.Σε οποιαδήποτε χώρα του κόσμου..Η κακοποίηση των γυναικών η βία η αντιμετώπιση αντρών και γυναικών ως ένα κομμάτι κρέας και ως μέσο για να βγάλεις λεφτά ή για να ικανοποιήσεις αρρωστημένες ορέξεις η αμάθεια όλα αυτά δεν ανήκουν στη σφαίρα της φαντασίας.Συμβαίνουν και συμβαίνουν καθημερινά γύρω μας...Μια νουβέλα σκληρή γροθιά στο στομάχι αλλά αληθινή.Αξίζει να διαβαστεί από όλους και όλες..

Το βιβλίο μεταφέρθηκε στο κινηματογράφο..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU0qwx...

Ο Atiq Rahimi διαβάζει απόσπασμα του βιβλίου του
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAVRVI...

Atiq Rahimi:ο συγγραφέας
Βραβείο: Goncourt (Συγγραφείς) - 2008 Ο Ατίκ Ραχίμι είναι Αφγανός. Γεννήθηκε το 1962 στην Καμπούλ, τελείωσε το γαλλοαφγανικό λύκειο Εστικλάλ και σπούδασε λογοτεχνία στο πανεπιστήμιο. Το 1984, ο πόλεμος τον ανάγκασε να εγκαταλείψει την πατρίδα του και να καταφύγει στο Πακιστάν. Στη συνέχεια πήγε στη Γαλλία, όπου ζήτησε πολιτικό άσυλο. Εκεί, στο πανεπιστήμιο της Σορβόνης, έκανε το διδακτορικό του στην οπτικοακουστική επικοινωνία. Σήμερα ζει στο Παρίσι και σκηνοθετεί ντοκιμαντέρ. Το πρώτο βιβλίο του συγγραφέα "Στάχτες και χώμα" έγινε δεκτό με θερμές κριτικές στη Γαλλία, αμέσως μόλις κυκλοφόρησε. Τα δικαιώματά του έχουν πουληθεί σε 23 χώρες. Το 2004 διασκευάστηκε και γυρίστηκε κινηματογραφική ταινία, η οποία βραβεύτηκε στο Φεστιβάλ Καννών. Το δεύτερο βιβλίο του, "Η πέτρα της υπομονής", που έχει χαρακτηριστεί ένα μικρό αριστούργημα της τέχνης, τιμήθηκε το 2008 με το Goncourt, το σημαντικότερο λογοτεχνικό βραβείο της Γαλλίας. (less)

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Jun 01, 2011 Nadine Millar rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own-it, books-that-halt-time

I wasn't overly fond of the style - it read a little bit like a screenplay; very descriptive, impersonal. We're reliant entirely on our interpretation of what is seen and overheard (the woman speaks to her husband as he lies in a coma). I also struggled at times with the authenticity of the woman's character - would she really have used such harsh words in describing sexual acts? And that's not to say I was affronted by those passages - I think the honesty was beautiful albeit painful; but I had...more I wasn't overly fond of the style - it read a little bit like a screenplay; very descriptive, impersonal. We're reliant entirely on our interpretation of what is seen and overheard (the woman speaks to her husband as he lies in a coma). I also struggled at times with the authenticity of the woman's character - would she really have used such harsh words in describing sexual acts? And that's not to say I was affronted by those passages - I think the honesty was beautiful albeit painful; but I had reason to doubt it could really have occurred in the way it was described.

Having cleared up my reservations, I still took away much from this small book. In fact, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it, and that is a very good sign. Without wanting to give away too much, let me just say that I interpreted the story one way - that the man was in a coma as his wife disclosed to him her life's discontent - but upon reflection I had reason to wonder whether in fact I had it all wrong. You could question whether he was in a coma at all. But by the same token you could question whether the climatic final pages ever took place either. You could question any number of other assumptions you had thought to be true. Add to that the fact that much of the story is suffused with dreams, with a fairly pivotal 'story within a story' woven throughout it - what "really happened in the end" remains shrouded in mystery.

The ability to conclude a book without concluding the story is something I treasure in a novel. This is something that The Patience Stone achieves so well, particularly because it is done so subtly. Books that tie up every loose end and expose every mystery, or alternatively hit you over the head with a blunt instrument trying to send you a message, are ultimately pretty boring. If you can put aside your fussiness about wanting the woman to represent the Afghani "Everywoman" and just enjoy the plot - the very idea of this story - then I think you will enjoy it as much I did.

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Nov 07, 2010 Pbwritr rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dramatic-fiction, foreign

A very slender book. The book jacket pretty well foreshadows what the ending will be, so it was a bit anticlimactic. Nevertheless, a woman is viewed as taking care of her wounded Taliban husband (or a soldier, maybe fought against the war, but I think he was Taliban). Everything takes place in the room. He's in a vegetative state and she begins confessing all sorts of things, ending with that their daughters were not his because he was infertile and her mother-in-law forced her to have sex with...more

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Feb 24, 2010 Robin rated it 4 of 5 stars

*very strong language in many places; contains sex and violence*

I would not recommend this book to anyone unless I knew them well. There are some things that many would find offensive. They did go a little too far for my comfort, but I found myself asking how much could be taken out and still have the story told properly.

It is a heavy story.

I enjoyed the way the story was told. I think the pace and tone represented well the experience of the abused. The author writes much without emotion -- abus...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Tim Meneely rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the best book I have seen in a very long time.

You rarely see a book like this, particularly in the modal literature about Afghanistan. War is but the chorus to this tragedy. Revenge and possession are deployed as redemptive powers. Rahimi takes a Persian myth – the Sang-e Saboor – and uses its ‘vessel’ component to invert a gender power hierarchy with such violent simplicity that the themes weave themselves.

Briefly: a woman in war-torn Afghanistan finds herself alone with her unresponsiv...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Theresa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This very short book would have been a definite four star read if the ending had not been so mystical. I found it in the course of searching for any new writing by the author of The Kite Runner. (He wrote the introduction to this selection.) It is the story of a Muslim woman, probably in Afghanistan, who is tending her comatose husband who is suffering from a bullet wound received as a jihad fighter. She is in their home in a deserted village and surrounded by fighting. Even though there is neve...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Jeniwren rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This is a short novella set in Afghanistan narrated by a nameless woman who
is nursing her injured husband who is in a coma after being shot. The
fighting continues around her whilst she struggles to also care for her two
young daughters. The narrative device confines the dialogue to the one room
and at times different people come and go whilst giving a unique perspective
of the strains of war on this woman. Soon she is praying less and speaking
more to her husband telling him what is in her heart , h...more

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Jan 26, 2010 Wanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction-and-literature

A good book; but, a hard read. This book is the well-written tale of a young woman (in a warn-torn area - maybe Afghanistan) who administers the day-to-day care to her mortally wounded husband. How he survives his wound (bullet to the neck) is beyond me; but, survive he does. Eventually, because this poor young woman has no one to provide emotional and/or mental support to her, she slowly cracks and it is under this intense emotional pressure that her story comes through to us.

In the end, this...more

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May 20, 2012 Alain added it · review of another edition

Un livre court construit sur le mode du huis-clos ?touffant. Une femme afghane doit prendre en charge seule son mari, un taliban, qui a ?t? bless? et est dans un ?tat v?g?tatif. Elle utilise cette situation pour lui dire tout ce qu?elle a sur le c?ur, ce qu?est sa vie, faite de douleurs, de frustrations, de non-dits, sans aucune libert? de choix et sans espoir.

Le style est tr?s efficace pour faire ressortir le d?sespoir de cette femme. C?est un r?cit court, sans dialogue, original dans sa const...more

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May 30, 2011 LaDawn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is difficult to say how much or how little I liked (or didn't) this book. I still feel very conflicted about my rating and would hesitate to recommend this to anyone.

But the book has stuck with me. This might be because I am not entirely sure what the book is about. I have read and reread the ending and I'm still not sure what happened. My book group discussed the ending repeatedly and we came up with several different scenarios none of them very plausible.

All possibilities were equally horr...more

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Dec 25, 2010 Ryan Mishap rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel

The presentation of this story feels like reading a play--a room in an unnamed town in Afghanistan is the stage setting, a woman and a man the main characters. The man has been wounded in a macho fight (ironic, here, as he has been a freedom fighter for most of his adult life) and now lays in a coma, his wife attending. She cares for him and her children while fighting disrupts the life of the town around them. She begins to talk, to tell him things she never could when he was aware. She reveals...more

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Jul 23, 2010 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read a lot of books about Afghanistan and this is one of the most haunting. It took me a couple hours to digest the last few pages. I found his style of writing difficult, but in a way it beautifully captured the choppy nature of a difficult conversation which is essentially what the book is. I heard about it after a reading where Rahimi spoke about the book and read passages from it - the story of how this book came about is heart-wrenching and made each of the pages that much more real. I...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Syringa Smyrna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-east-literature

«Cette pierre que tu poses devant toi... devant laquelle tu te lamentes sur tous tes malheurs, toutes tes misères... à qui tu confies tout ce que tu as sur le cœur et que tu n'oses pas révéler aux autres... Tu lui parles, tu lui parles. Et la pierre t'écoute, éponge tous tes mots, tes secrets, jusqu'à ce qu'un beau jour elle éclate. Elle tombe en miettes. Et ce jour-là, tu es délivré de toutes tes souffrances, de toutes tes peines... Comment appelle-t-on cette pierre ?»

Syngue Sabour: pierre de p...more

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About Atiq Rahimi

عتيق رحيمي

Atiq Rahimi est un romancier et réalisateur de double nationalité française et afghane, réfugié de la guerre d'Afghanistan.

Atiq Rahimi is a writer and director of French and Afghan multiple citizenship, refugee from the war in Afghanistan.

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Books by Atiq Rahimi

Three by Atiq Rahimi: Earth and Ashes, A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear, The Patience Stone

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Quotes from The Patience Stone

“Ma fille, malheureusement, ou heureusement, tout le monde ne peut pas accéder au bonheur, que ce soit dans la vie ou dans une histoire. Le bonheur des uns engendre du malheur chez les autres. C'est triste, mais c'est ainsi...” — 2 people liked it

“Oh, ma syngué sabour, quand c'est dur d'êre femme, ça devient dur d'être homme!” — 1 person liked it

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