Mehrdad Balali’s Houri opens up the world of pre-revolutionary Iran’s poor, but unfortunately it’s wrapped up in narrative so depressing and distasteful that I longed to be through with the book.
Based on Balali’s own experiences, Houri tells the story of Shahed, the oldest son of a worthless scoundrel. Shahed’s father Baba doesn’t work. Instead he supports his family by selling off his inheritance for pennies on the dollar, borrowing money from loan sharks that he never intends to pay back, and sometimes outright theft. Supposedly a charming man, he barely provides anything for the family and instead spends most of his days driving around a spiffy car and attempting to pick up women.
It’s a depressing book. Every single character comes off as someone I’d hate. The father doesn’t appear to be very charming to me. Shahed is defined almost completely by how badly his father treats him, but also somewhat by how badly he treats his American girlfriend in later years. Shahed’s mother, while supposedly smart and pretty, also appears solely as an object for Baba to disdain. Cousins, uncles, grandparents, all are spendthrifts, tightwads, junkies, or religious nuts. Worse, none of the characters are interesting. Everything is a litany of boring thieving and chasing women interspersed with arguments over who is more put upon.
Presuming it’s an accurate portrayal, the bits and pieces of life in Iran are the one redeeming quality. Things like religious feasts, weddings, and circumcision rites in other cultures are interesting to learn about. But I can’t help but think I’d be better off reading them in non-fiction or a better story.
Balali inserts commentary about Iran’s culture of grief in a few places. If highlighting Iranian’s dourness was his goal, he’s certainly succeeded.
Reading this over, it feels like I am not explaining myself very well. However, writing more would end up making this even more negative. I am just not in the mood. I want to think about enjoyable things at the moment, so this will have to do.
Title: Houri
Author: Mehrdad Balali
Cover creator: Lon Kirschner (designer)
Imprint / publisher: The Permanent Press
Format: ARC
Length: 304 p.
Publication date: December 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1-57962-177-3
Subject: Fathers and sons — Fiction
Subject: Iran — History — 20th century — Fiction
LC classification: PS3602.A59355 H68 2009
The Permanent Press provided a review copy of Houri free through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. In accordance with my review copy policy, I have donated the retail price of the book ($19.14 at Amazon) to the A.L.S.A.
