| This book had no focus, was choppy, and really doesn't help you to understand Iran - if anything, it confuses you even more. The first half of the chapters is the story of Ali Hashemi, a young Iranian boy who studies at a madreseh and eventually becomes a prominent mullah in the town of Qom. Not fantastic, but that part's okay. What kills the book is the second half of the chapters: a sloppy, unfocused, confusing, rambling account of Iranian history. The book goes into such detail on some aspects of Iranian history (for example, providing detailed biographies of historical figures) that you can't grasp the overlying structure. This detail would be fine in a purely nonfiction book on the history of Iran, but coming in a book with such a jumbled format, a general synopsis would have been more appropriate. The history portion attempts to relate to the previous "fictional" portion of the chapter, but in doing so the history isn't presented in a clear chronological order, leaving you befuddled as to what's happening when. I had to read this book for a class and it was very painful. Don't read it if you don't have to - stay far away! |
The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran Books In Print, Audio Books.