Softcore

Tirdad Zolghadr

I found this a very difficult book to read. The characters are unsympathetic, the humour is bleak and a sense of futility dominates. Is this really the world of art today? But stick with it for a fascinating picture of life in modern Tehran and for the last third of the book which suddenly comes alive - and then has one of the most surprising endings I have ever read.

Extract

I came to Tehran for the first time just over a month ago. When questioned about motives for 'coming back', I refer to various lines of kinship, or my 'cherished mother tongue', and something about the light, the landscape, roots. The more I make myself sound like a palm tree, the more people are touched. It was of course Stella's idea that I move here in the first place.

Parallels