I didn’t really understand this book, which might be a good thing. Full review here: https://www.100yearsofmultitude.com/post/the-blind-owl-1935

The writing amazing. But this book made me so anxious. Either the story of as man descending into madness or an opium induced trip. The introduction includes a note from the translator to listen to the notes after you read the book. I recommend reading it first. It helps to make sense of the stories. Not sure I would recommend this book to a friend (it’s my new Matrix between 2 or 3 stars)

Wow!Wow!Wow!.

This is not a review,just my initial thoughts.It’s random,so bear with me.I don’t think I am qualified to write a review for this masterpiece. My head is reeling as I write.I am one of those people who has always had vivid dreams and I have always been very fascinated with them.So this book is totally my cup of tea.

An opium addict’s fever dream,a nightmare to be precise.An old man with a spine chilling laugh , a beautiful young woman with whom the narrator is madly in love ,bruised morning glory,black horses and an urn of poisoned wine are the elements in the nightmare. We see the same image over and over again,featuring these things which play different roles,become different people,it is a vicious cycle,terrifying!.There is a great deal of symbolism too.

In the very first line Hedayat had me by the throat and effortlessly pulled me into this nightmare.The prose is breathtaking,literally.It is beautiful ,vivid and haunting.The execution is simply brilliant.The writing has a certain urgency to it,(not sure if it is just me)it is impossible to put it down.I remember taking a lot of deep breaths and sighing a great deal.
The despair and mental degradation of the narrator is oppressing to say the least.I found it very hard to keep up with the narrator’s urgency ,complexity of thoughts and frenzy.To put it simply,he drove me mad!.

I don’t think I need to talk about the story,one has to experience this dark oppressing nightmare on his/her own,go in blindly and you will know what I am talking about.
Is it enjoyable?,that is an irrelevant question,let’s not ask that.Instead let’s ask ,is it a masterpiece?,is it worth reading?.YES and YES.
It is mind-blowing what this guy was able to achieve in 78 pages!!. Take a bow ,Hedayat,you are a genius(opium or not!) and I take my hat off for you!.

Zeer zwart en donker maar briljant geschreven boek. Een alcohol- en drugsverslaafde man, zwaar getormenteerd sukkelt van waanvoorstellingen naar depressie naar waanvoorstellingen... Hij droomt van de ideale vrouw die voor hem onbereikbaar is, heeft kritiek op alles en iedereen, is zeer wantrouwend. Een nachtmerrie, maar wel een zeer fascinerende!

I honestly don’t even know how to rate this book. It was eerie, grotesque, and confusing but also hard to put down. I would not recommend this to someone struggling with their mental health, as it does an excellent job at putting you inside the mind of a truly disturbed individual. I’ve seen others compare it to Eraserhead, Poe, and Dostoevsky, and I am inclined to agree. Was it the ramblings of a mad man? Opium induced nightmares and hallucinations? Hell of his own making? Either way, I won’t soon forget this book.

This is an extremely important work of Iranian fiction, written in the 1930s. It was chosen by someone in one of the book clubs I participate in. According to the introduction, it is so shocking that there are rumors that it led to people dying by suicide.

The book tells two versions of the same story – both told from the main character’s perspective. He is an artist who is either solitary or lives with his wife (depending on the telling). One version is a bit more supernatural-feeling than the other, both heavily feature sadness, loneliness, and darkness.

I missed something in this book. I didn’t get it, and that is why I didn’t give it a ranking. I feel like it’s just not something I can wrap my head around, because I can’t wrap my head around the book. It obviously is full of symbolism that I don’t get because I don’t have the shared culture that might be necessary to truly pick up on the nuance of the storytelling. I’m not even entirely clear on the purpose of the book. Perhaps is an allegory of death? I don’t know.

The author’s style keeps me from really getting into the book – the writing is fine, but it’s also a translation to English, so it comes across as fairly plain and also repetitive. There is (according to Wikipedia, which I visited immediately upon completion) a reason for this, and an art to it, but again I think a whole lot has been lost in translation.

Mostly reading this book made me angry that I a) can’t read all the languages and b) don’t understand or even have a basic understanding of the vast majority of cultures in the world.

So yay for that?