Daneshvar's Playhouse

by Simin Daneshvar, Maryam Mafi (Translator)

Overview

A collection of stories that not only portray, with incomparable perception, humor, and compassion, women from the various strata of Iranian society, but they also capture the essence of a traditional culture undergoing change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933823195
Publisher:	Mage Publishers
Publication date:	10/31/2007
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

Vakil Bazaar 9

The Accident 31

The Playhouse 53

Traitor's Intrigue 85

To Whom Can I Say Hello? 113

Loss of Jalal 133

A Letter from Simin Daneshvar 155

Translator's Afterword 173

Editorial Reviews

In five intriguing stories, the formal detachment of Daneshvar's prose reinforces her subtle revelation of repressive features in Iranian society. The author, one of the few well-known women writers in Iran, is a feminist opposed to both political tyranny and religious fanaticism, themes obliquely indicated here. These seemingly simple stories disclose a rich culture in a time of ferment and change, of women in chadors , held in contempt by the men who control their lives. ``Vakil Bazaar'' seems innocent enough, an everyday tale of an upper-class child let loose in the bazaar while her nanny flirts with a shopkeeper. By the end, with the little girl lost and the nanny passively peering around, the reader is sure that the child will never be found, and nobody will care. In ``To Whom Can I Say Hello?,'' a woman alternates between mourning the loss of her lover and her job and worrying over her daughter, whose brutish husband has denied his mother-in-law access to his house. The moving ``Loss of Jalal'' is a nonfiction account of the death of the author's husband, a noted writer. This volume is a valuable addition to our knowledge of Persian culture and the political complexities of modern Iran. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly