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The Blind Owl
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The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat- Feb BOTM
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I have been mostly absent for 2+ years, but I am going to try to dip my feet in, and read this one.
I also ordered this from my library and will be reading it as soon as it arrives :) Haven't read a book by an Iranian author before.
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Kelly_Hunsaker_reads wrote: "I have been mostly absent for 2+ years, but I am going to try to dip my feet in, and read this one."I have missed you Kelly.
1. The Blind Owl is a shadow on the wall. The protagonist fancies that his shadow has the head of an owl. An owl can be a symbol for impending death but also a personification of wisdom, so seeing his head as being owl-like is confounding, like the work itself!2. The unnamed story-teller has been prescribed opium for his mental problems, but his hallucinations do not seem to improve his condition. Hedayat was living in India when he wrote and self-published this work, writing it out in longhand several times. Perhaps the opium influenced both his writing and his sharing.
3. Death is constantly discussed as being imminent throughout the work and is intertwined with the author's attitude towards women. Woman as the nurturing but simultaneously abhorrent character in the form of his nurse, or woman as whore, which is how he describes his wife. Whether she is actually promiscuous, or whether his description is a fantasy produced by his feverish brain is unclear. Either way he wishes both dead.
4. Incomprehensible. Is the weight on his body that of his dead wife? I really can't analyse this work because I had great difficulty in extracting meaning from what seemed to me to be the ravings of a madman.
5. How did I feel? Exhausted, perplexed and feeling rather soiled. It was not an enjoyable experience.
1. What does the blind owl represent?I can only guess. Owls are nocturnal, and maybe they are blind in the daytime, so the blind owl represents the narrator in a world in which he does not fit well? I thought the narrator was arrogant, considering the day-to-day world of women, butchers etc beneath him, and it was by his own choice that he did not fit.
2. What is Opium’s influence on the story? Apparently the author was addicted to opium while writing this story.
There is a lot of repetition as well as hallucogenic dreams. We don't know what is real and what is only happening in the mind. I imagine that is how it feels to be on opium.
3. Discuss how shame is central in this novel.
The narrator seems ashamed of virtually all aspects of his life at some times, but then not at others. For example he is ashamed of having a wife who does not love him, of still loving her, of being dependent on his old nurse, of being stuck in his room, of his illness, of resembling the old pedlar... etc. But at other times he seems arrogant and entitled.
4. Death is another character in this story discuss how.
The narrator sees death as the only alternative to the bedbound life he is currently living. So death stalks him and, through him, his wife. Death is sometimes a scary character and sometimes a guest to be welcomed.
5. What did you think of the ending?
Predictable (view spoiler)
6. How did you feel after finishing this novella?
I could admire the writing. I loved some of the imagery and appreciated the tortuous circles of narration that brought out the main character's agonies. But also, I kept thinking "wow, so incels are not new, and this is how they feel about the women they want who are not available to them." As a woman (even though more the nurse's age than the wife's) I found that quite scary. In fact the misogyny was way more horrific for me than whatever was happening to the narrator.
Gail wrote: "Kelly_Hunsaker_reads wrote: "I have been mostly absent for 2+ years, but I am going to try to dip my feet in, and read this one."I have missed you Kelly."
Thank you. I have been very active on Bookstagram, but not here. Are you over there too?
1. What does the blind owl represent?The protagonist sees his shadow, and thinks it has the head of an owl. I believe he sees himself as wise. However that is just a guess.
2. Opium's influence on the story?
The narrator was prescribed opium for his mental health. Unfortunately now he has hallucinations and the mental health problems.
3. Shame central to the story.
The narrator seems to be obsessed with death. And his attitudes towards women are tough to take. He constantly discusses women as whores, sluts and more. He wishes for the death of his wife and his nurse.
I am not sure where shame comes into it...
4. How death is a character...
Sorry, no clue. I found this character difficult to follow.
5. How did I feel?
Relieved. I wasn't a big fan of this book. For my emotional connection I would have given it only 2 stars. But the confusion felt purposeful and the writing was fairly timeless, so I gave it 3.
1. What does the blind owl represent?--
Like most people, I believe that it's the shadow on the wall. Of course the shadow is blind because it has no eyes. But why is it an owl? I thought maybe it's because owls are very still and unmoving, and they seem a little judgy and stern in the way that they just sit and stare at you. But yeah, it's a bit confusing, this owl metaphor, and it doesn't help that the author only mentions the word owl within the last 50 pages or so.
2. What is Opium’s influence on the story? Apparently the author was addicted to opium while writing this story.
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In my opinion, this story is drenched in addition. As I wrote in my review, I interpret the first vs. the second half of the novel to represent the addict's experience vs. reality. So in the first, quite surrealist part, the main character describes how he himself experiences the horrible thing that happens, while on opium. In the second half, it is described from a more sober perspective.
3. Discuss how shame is central in this novel.
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Shame is mentioned in a lot of weird places, so it seems like the main character is just simply... ashamed of himself? He has no pride whatsoever.
4. Death is another character in this story discuss how.
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I thought that maybe the old man with the carriage might represent death, especially because he picks up the main character together with his wife. And that's what he is thinking about in the second half; wanting to kill his wife and commit suicide at the same time.
5. What did you think of the ending?
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I felt like the book kind of fizzled out. Sure, the was a sort of climax, but I just didn't care anymore at that point.
6. How did you feel after finishing this novella?
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Accomplished in having read an Iranian classic. Underwhelmed by the experience. Disappointed that the rest of the book wasn't more like its first, pretty amazing, part.
1. What does the blind owl represent?
2. What is Opium’s influence on the story? Apparently the author was addicted to opium while writing this story.
3. Discuss how shame is central in this novel.
4. Death is another character in this story discuss how.
5. What did you think of the ending?
6. How did you feel after finishing this novella?