A Mansion in the Sky: And Other Short Stories

CMES Modern Middle East Literatures in Translation

by Goli Taraghi, گلی ترقی, Faridoun Farrokh (Translator)

Writing before and since the Iranian Revolution, Goli Taraghi publishes both in Iran and abroad. In this collection of stories, she poignantly describes her childhood in Tehran and portrays the experience of exile with her family. She was one of the first Iranian women to receive critical recognition as well as popularity for her short stories and novels.

Although Taraghi avoids sensational experimentation, her narratives sparkle with a freshness of style and sensitivity. Whether she writes of a child tip-toeing through a room of delicate Persian furnishings or of a grandmother remembering those treasured lost objects, the room becomes alive for the reader. Taraghi rejects a political stance in her writings, but, at the same time, she comments with understated humor and wisdom on the social and cultural value system of her characters.

After Taraghi left the patriarchal society of post-revolutionary Iran, she proceeded to make her work more autobiographical. Several of the stories in this collection deal with the acculturation process of moving after experiencing the heartbreak of uprooting and displacement. As a whole, these recent stories demonstrate a trend in which Taraghi views her creative self unflinchingly as feminine. Her work becomes richer and more complex as a result of this transformation.

Translator Faridoun Farrokh gives the stories context and critical insight in an excellent introduction. He presents an easy-reading translation without losing the delightful Persian flavor of Taraghi's words.

Genres: Iran, Short Stories

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Goli Taraghi (also transliterated as Goli Taraqqi or Gulī Taraqqī) was born in Tehran in 1939. She has been honored as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France, and her work has been widely anthologized, including in Reza Aslan’s Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East . She lives in Paris.

Reviews

[Natalia Mosashvili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous!!! Reading this is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language. Stumbling, Poetic!
Goli #Taraghi ♡

[ხატია ნებულიშვილი · Rating 4 out of 5]

"ყოველ ღამე, ძილის წინ, დედამ რომ ლოცვა მასწავლა, იმის ნაცვლად სამჯერ ვიმეორებ: "აზიზ აყას ავტობუსის გარდა, არც ერთში არ ავალ."

[murreeya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, nostalgic. Especially if you are a third culture kid, it reminds you a lot of growing up in a Muslim household.

[Kebrit !!!]

خاطره‌هايش مثل هزاران تصوير پراکنده در فضا، در اتاق‌هاي خانه ميچرخيدند و رد پا و جاي انگشتان کودکي‌اش روي سنگ فرش حياط وآجرهاي ديوار باقي بود. جز اين خانه جاي ديگري براي خودش نمي‌‌شناخت و مي‌ديد که ديگر صاحب «اين‌جا» نيست؛ صاحب هيچ‌جا نيست؛ زير پايش خالي است و معلق در هواست. دلش مي‌خواست مثل گربه‌ها وقت بيماري و مرگ، سرش را زير مي‌گرفت و مي‌رفت؛ ناپديد مي‌شد. اما مي‌ديد که سرحال و زنده است و آمادۀ مردن نيست. پيري‌اش را ديگران بر او تحميل کرده بودند. نگاه بي‌رحم و قضاوت نا منصفانه‌ي آن‌ها بود که سن و سالش را تعين مي‌کرد و گذشت ساليان را به رخش ميکشيد. تصويري جوان از خودش داشت؛ تصويري منعکس در آينه‌هاي قديم، در خاطره‌هاي خوش روزهاي پيشين. دلش مي‌تپيد و چشمش به دنبال چيزها مي‌دويد. منتظر آينده بود، منتظر آمدن بهار و تابستان. هزار اميد و آرزو داشت، براي خودش وبراي بچه‌هايش، براي نوه و نتيجه‌هايش. هفتادو چهار يا هفتاد و شش يا بيش‌تر؟ اين حساب‌ها را ديگران مي‌کردند و تاريخ ازدواج و تولدش را تخمين مي‌زدند؛ وگرنه، مهين‌بانو از مرز چهل‌سالگي نگذشته بود واين را تنها خودش مي‌‌دانست و حس مي‌کرد و باور داشت. و حالا، بي مقام و بدون جايگاه، نمي‌دانست روي کدامين لحظه از زمين افتاده است؛ کيست، کجاست و تکليفش چيست؟ چيزي اضافي شده بود، خارج از نظام کيهاني منظومه‌ها، مثل ستاره‌اي فرو افتاده، تبعيد شده به انزواي آشفته‌ي آسمان. دلش مي‌خواست نبود و نمي‌شد. مرگ با او فاصله داشت. پاهايش زمين را مي‌خواست. بدنش ذره‌هاي نور و گرما را مي‌بلعيد و فکرهايش، با هزار نخ نامريي به کنج و کنار شيرين زندگي گره خورده بود.

[Shannon Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous book - Taraghi writes with a quality resembling Hesse or Joyce in their bildungsroman. Her ability to transport the reader to the magical and tension-filled world of the child is amazing. Her stories take the reader from pre-revolution Iran through the revolution into the refugee experience in Europe and Canada. Her characters range from a young girl to older men and elderly women; through each lens we see love, pain and light. This book is a treasure.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the last two stories, you really feel the heartache and confusion of the refugee in exile.