The Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat
“Is life not a ridiculous story and unbelievable fable from end to end?”
There are times when reading a novel isn’t about enjoyment or finding a something to gush to friends about. Sometimes it is a challenging but fulfilling experience of appreciating craft, considering complex questions and themes a text brings forth from our reading experience, and allowing ourselves to pose more questions we can ponder or discuss with ourselves and others.
We talk about our reading experience with Sadeq Hedayat’s Iranian classic, Blind Owl, on the podcast today and lean into our curiosity about what Hedayat might be saying with this twisty, dark, surrealist story. This was our first time reading this classic work in translation, and we had a lot to discuss from such a brief novella. In today’s episode, we share some important historical context on Hedayat’s life and his work, discuss the complex characters, and sing the praises of our Penguin Classics edition that laid out the plot so we felt grounded before diving in.
Download today’s episode wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to subscribe to Novel Pairings in your app so you never miss an episode.
After listening to today’s episode, be sure to check out these links for more on Sadeq Hedayat, his work, and Iranian literature:
Shocking the Bourgeoisie with Iran’s Misunderstood Modernist (NY Times)
Reinterpreting a Classic Iranian Novel (Boston University)
THIS BOOK WILL END YOUR LIFE: THE GREATEST MODERN PERSIAN NOVEL EVER WRITTEN (The Rumpus)
A brief history of Iran's modern literature (British Council)
Sassan Tababai on Blind Owl (Spouter Inn)
On Patreon
In case you missed our latest bonus episode, last week we reflected on our autumn reading and shared what is working in our reading lives, what isn’t, and some thoughts on books we’ve recently read. If you want to hear more of our readerly chats, make sure to sign up on Patreon for additional content from your local internet English teachers. We release a bonus episode every week, and we’d love to have you join our community. Subscriptions start at $5 a month, with a yearly discount available at sign up.
We’ll be discussing Blind Owl tomorrow night, 10/25 at 7 pm ET for Literature Scholars. Take note of our November events coming up, below:
Final Words
We cannot wait to discuss Blind Owl with readers and see what stood out to our fellow bookworms. Reading along with us? We’d love to hear what you thought of this month’s classic in the comments below.
We’ll be back soon with more delightfully nerdy content. Until then, we declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book.
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