My father's notebook by Kader Abdolah ...

Having read a novel by Kader Abdolah a month ago I decided to buy all of his published books translated into English and thus opted to pick My Father's Notebook, his first published book, which I have just finished reading.
 

The novel depicts the rather troubling story of Iran (a country I intend to visit soon) as seen through the eyes of a deaf-mute tapestry mender from a remote province where despite the beauty of the Persian rugs and an ancient cave associated to a legend nothing else seems to be worth mentioning.

The cave with an ancient cuneiform inscription becomes a mystery throughout the whole book and the heart of the symbolism which both Shahs and Ayatollahs tend to take advantage of at different periods in the unfolding of the history of Iran.

A notebook written by the carpet mender in the same cuneiform script found in the cave ends up finding its way into the hands of his son who has been forced  to flee abroad and as it is gradually being deciphered we as readers are taken through a myriad of traditional Iranian folk tales, poems and mostly a journey of discovery on which a strong paternal bond, a sense of belonging and loss are highlighted.

There is something rather special in regards to the way Kader Abdolah writes as we are subtly embedded in the saga of the family and from a certain point onwards  feel the pain, the nostalgia and even the remorse of its characters as if they were our next of kin.



Of the many extracts I could have copied down two have had an impact on me, maybe because they are connected to loss and longing, two aspects which often make up the overall national Portuguese characteristics .



"Loss is an experience that eventually leads to a new road, to a new opportunity to think of things in a different way. Losing is not the end of everything, but merely the end of a particular way of thinking. if you fall in one place, get up again in another. That's a cardinal rule of life." 

"A nightingale once sat with a bright petal in its beak,
But this memento of its loved one merely made it weep.
Why bewail this token of your heart's desire? I cried.
It makes me long for her all the more, the song bird sighed."

"A stunning and ambitious novel by a singular literary talent - My Father's notebook is at once a mastered chronicle of a culture's troubled voyage into modernity and the poignant, timeless tale of a son's enduring love."

"My Father's notebook is a touching and evocative portrayal of individuals adrift in a harsh world. Its method of using a family saga to clothe the bare bones of history is by no means new but in Kader Abdolah's skilful hands the reader forgets the convention and focuses on the humanity."