En roman først forklædt som en novellesamling siden afsløret som en roman beskriver forskellige 1950'er-iranerinder i trøstesløse og fastlåste situationer og voldelig mandsvælde hvor udbrydelserne sker ved fantastiske optrin, der måske er udtryk for en verdensflugt som følge af umuliggjorte handlingsevner. ( )

Great little book following the lives of women in Iran as they face various male and societal pressures, all leaving and coming together in a garden, and experience their own rebirths in various ways. Plenty of plot interest alongside poetic writing, with a large enough dose of magical realism for the reader to pnder and lay their interpretation of events upon. Well worth the read. ( )

Parsipur was imprisoned for writing this book, which makes me want to give it five stars right off the bat, but I try to keep my ratings "honest" based on a combination of the writing itself and how it affects me. While Women Without Men is certain affecting and skillfully rendered, I can't help feeling that some of the nuances were lost on me, either by way of it being a translated work (no affront to the translator) or more likely, my lack of knowledge about Persian/Iranian culture. I'm certainly glad to have read it, though.

From the Author's Note (2011):

"Becoming a poet has become a common practice in Iran. People, without knowing anything about the rules of poetry, put words together abruptly and, using weird thoughts, believe they are creating poetry.

For example, 'Light's affection is running in electric wires,' or 'The scream coming to the surface of existence was violet in color,' or 'Earth's Red told the Blue of Presence: I don't like destiny.' And so on. Some of these poems are interesting, but they become ridiculous when, in order to cover their own illiteracy, some poets claim that the grammatical conventions in poetry are nonsense and have to be discarded altogether.

Is this desire to throw out the old the reason why millions of people poured into the streets and kicked the Shah out without understanding what could happen next? The new government turned on them and their loved ones, executing hundreds of thousands, even their own teenagers, who wanted to create a new government."

3.5 ( )

An exquisite novela by an Iranian woman which combines the magic of Arabian Nights with the stories of five women who temporarily escape the rigid control of men to live together in a garden.

Shahrnush Parsipur is an Iranian woman, now living in exile in the United States. Her books are banned in Iran. She returned to Iran after the revolution of 1979, and like other women, she was appalled when the new government required women to return to wearing the veil. In 1989 she was jailed for the publication of this book, in part because she raised sexual issues that leaders wanted to keep hidden.

Read more on my blog: me, you and books
http://mdbrady.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/women-without-men-by-shahrnush-parsipur/