Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran: Amazon.ca: Shahrnush Parsipur, Shirin Neshat, Faridoun Farrokh: Books

Formats

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle Edition

CDN $9.99

Hardcover

Paperback

CDN $12.78

Book Description

Publication Date: Jan 10 2012

"Using the techniques of both the fabulist and the polemicist, Parsipur continues her protest against traditional Persian gender relations in this charming, powerful novella."—Publishers Weekly

A modern literary masterpiece, Women Without Men creates an evocative and powerfully drawn allegory of life in contemporary Iran. Internationally acclaimed writer Shahrnush Parsipur follows the interwoven destinies of five women—including a prostitute, a wealthy middle-aged housewife, and a schoolteacher—as they arrive by different paths to live together in a garden in Tehran.

Shortly after the 1989 publication of Women Without Men in her native Iran, Parsipur was arrested and jailed for her frank and defiant portrayal of women's sexuality.

This volume is the first author-approved translation of Women Without Men.

Sharhnush Parsipur is the author of Touba and the Meaning of Night, among many books. Born in Iran in 1946, she began her career as a fiction writer and a producer of Iranian National Television and Radio. She now lives in exile in California.

Shirin Neshat is an internationally acclaimed visual artist from Iran who adapted Women Without Men into a feature film.

Faridoun Farrokh is a professor of English at Texas A&M International University.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; }

"Using the techniques of both the fabulist and the polemicist, Parsipur continues her protest against traditional Persian gender relations in this charming, powerful novella."—Publishers Weekly

Shortly after the 1989 publication of Women Without Men in her native Iran, Parsipur was arrested and jailed for her frank and defiant portrayal of women's sexuality.

This volume is the first author-approved translation of Women Without Men.

Shirin Neshat is an internationally acclaimed visual artist from Iran who adapted Women Without Men into a feature film.

Faridoun Farrokh is a professor of English at Texas A&M International University.

Frequently Bought Together

Product Details

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY; Second Edition edition (Jan 10 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1558617531
ISBN-13: 978-1558617537
Product Dimensions: 13.9 x 0.8 x 22 cm
Shipping Weight: 159 g

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #262,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Using the techniques of both the fabulist and the polemicist, Paripur (Prison Memoirs) continues her protest against traditional Persian gender relations in this charming yet powerful novella. Imprisoned once for her dissident views, Paripur, a native of Iran, offers her five characters the opportunity to escape the relationships and mores that constrain them. All of the characters are led to the same metaphorical magic garden, a transcendent, timeless place where they are free to decide their fates. In most instances, this amounts to a rejection of men and marriage. Like Ovid's Daphne, Mahdokht transforms herself into a tree in order to prevent the shameful loss of her virginity. Munis, a 38-year-old virgin, is attacked and killed by her brother for refusing to obey him. She rises from the dead a psychic, heads for the garden and is raped along the way. Farrokhlaqa, a wealthy matron, accidentally kills her oppressive husband of 32 years. She then buys the magical garden where the women congregate. Only Zarrinkolah, the prostitute, discovers wedded bliss when she marries the "good gardener." The voices of the five separate narrators--delicately connected by plot and circumstance--give us variations on the theme of the mistreatment of women in contemporary Iran.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Parsipur here synthesizes the voices of five women in contemporary Iran. Women without men?a prostitute, two unmarried women, a housewife, and a teacher?they all face serious oppression largely because of gender discrimination, cultural traditions, and notions of virginity and women's sexuality. They also seek and find freedom and some solace in the same garden. This garden, located in Karaj, near Tehran, becomes their utopia; the teacher Mahdokht becomes so distraught that she decides to plant herself like a tree in the garden and thus escape reality. Not Parsipur's first work of fiction on women in Iranian society, this novel often reads like a fairy tale, but it launches a strong statement about gender relations in Parsipur's home country. Parsipur currently lives in the United States. Recommended for fiction collections.?Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of Oregon Libs., Eugene
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

5 star

4 star

3 star

2 star

1 star

5.0 out of 5 stars

6 reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A little gem!!! May 8 2001

By mishalew

Format:Hardcover

Though I stumbled upon the novel by accident, I must admit this book was well worth finding. The stories were simply written but were almost deceivingly fully loaded-- full of conflicting values, political ideology and agendas, and societal turmoil. The compilation of separate women's lives, so different from one another, but joined together by a common thread, hearkens back to a similar style of tale-telling found in many other cultures, such as Amy Tan's novel 'The Joy Luck Club' and the popular film 'How to Make an American Quilt'. Rather than choosing to write a politicized essay or thesis which reaches only a certain segment of the educated and politically literate population, Parsipur chooses to write fiction, laced with raw truths and posessing a clear agenda.

Such tales are typical of the kind that are passed down from generation to generation in order to educate the young about their society's morals or possible pitfalls that may entrap those who stray from the accepted norm. This is not dissimilar from urban legends that adults in American society pass amongst themselves or the fairy tales laced with truths that young children are told before bedtime.

Sometimes the most volitile information is passed down and understood by the most simple or innocuous means, and I think that is a conscious choice that Parsipur has made with this book. She chooses to uncover the double standard that both male and female society is guilty of upholding, the notion of virginity (and the understanding of what it is and what it means), and socially-sanctioned ideas of morality, mortality, violence, and inter-gender relationships through stories that allow the reader to look at how different women deal with the society that they live in.

Because Parsipur does not clearly lay out a list of evils that Iranian society proportedly commits, nor does she specifically glorify other elements of her society, her writing raises many more questions for the reader to ponder. By making the problems personal for each woman, some of the issues that a reader would initally consider black and white suddenly turn grey, which in turn, leads to a greater depth of meaning in her work.

In sum, I was very impressed by the book's simplicity, and appreciative for the brief glimpse through the window to Iranian society that it offered.

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

5.0 out of 5 stars delightful read Jun 7 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I am an avid reader of literature of the Middle East and I found Dr. Talattof and Jocelyn Sharlet's translation of Parsipur's Women Without Men to be a delightful read. I have suggested it to all my friends in Princeton and beyond. It is one of those books that reads quickly, but stays on the mind a long time. Parsipur touches upon issues that are of interest to men and women, 'Easterners' and 'Westerners' alike.

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

5.0 out of 5 stars delightful read Jun 7 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I am a casual reader of literature from the Middle East and I have found a particular delight in this translation by Dr. Talattof's of Sharnush Parsipur's book, Women Without Men. I have suggested it to all my friends in Princeton and beyond.

Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran [Paperback]

Formats

Book Description

Frequently Bought Together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

From Library Journal

Customer Reviews

Listmania!

Look for similar items by category

Feedback