Touba and the Meaning of Night
Touba and the Meaning of Night
Shahrnush Parsipur
An epic masterpiece by Iran's most celebrated living author.
Translated by Havva Houshmand and Kamran Talattof
Afterword by Houra Yavari
Other Contributors Persis M. Karim
Like Isabel Allende's The House of Spirits, this major literary epic by internationally renowned Iranian writer Shahrnush Parsipur follows the life of its eponymous heroine on her intrepid search for independence and intellectual and spiritual enlightenment.
"Houshmand and Talattof have rendered a moving translation of Shahrnush Parsipur’s masterpiece. The tale combines realism with flights of fantasy in a tale set against the backdrop of modern Iranian history." —Beth Baron, author of Egypt as a Woman: Nationalism, Gender, and Politics
"Parsipur's novel carries the reader on a mystical and emotional odyssey spanning eight decades of Iranian cultural, political, and religious history . . . replete with juxtapositions of mysticism and historical fact, Parsipur's novel is a rewarding and enlightening encapsulation of her country's recent past." —Booklist
"Shahrnush Parsipur's Touba and the Meaning of Night is considered on of the unsurpassed masterpieces of modern Persian literature." —Iranian.com
"With America and Iran engaged in a volatile stand-off, this now banned 1989 novel by one of Iran's most distinguished writers provides profound insights into the conflict between religion and modernity in modern Persia. . . . A feminist tour de force . . . among the classics of twentieth-century Middle Eastern Literature." —Tikkun magazine
"Shahrnush Parsipur makes a case against every kind of fundamentalism. But above all she narrates a great history book and a great story. Not only does she borrow the oriental coin of Sherherazade, but she also avails herself artfully of the narrative technique of Western masters from Umberto Ecco to Gabrielle García Marquez." —Die Zeit (Germany)
"A sweeping chronicle . . . [displaying] deft utilization of magic realism and Persian myths . . . rich and well-crafted. For all fiction collections." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Like Parsipur herself, her protagonists are women whose rebellions are not merely political but existential, against a system that denies them their individual dignity and stunts their potentials for growth." —Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran
