The Persian Bride

by James Buchan

Book Overview

At once a great love story, a riveting political thriller, and a profound analysis of modern Iran, THE PERSIAN BRIDE is unflinching in its vision of twentieth-century chaos. In 1974, the young Englishman John Pitt follows the hippie trail to Isfahan, where he encounters the enchanting Shirin Farameh. These two young people fall desperately in love and marry, despite their cultural differences and the political upheaval surrounding them. When they...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618219234
• ISBN13: 9780618219230
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Graceful, luminous page-turner

The conservative British magazine The Spectator described this novel as "A book of astonishing intellectual grandeur and integrity... Airy, graceful, and big with truth, it feels like a major statement of confidence, not just by an English novelist but by the English novel... There is really no word for it but 'masterpiece.'" Exactly. The story follows John Pitt, an 18-year-old drifter who is teaching in Isfahan, Iran, in 1974. He falls in love with Shirin, a 16-year-old girl, whose father happens to be an ambitious general in the Shah's air force. After they elope -- with the help of an opium-addicted Russian diplomat -- they spend a luminous year together in the Russian's walled villa on the sea. When they attempt to escape Iran, they are separated by vicious drug smugglers. The last half of the book follows John as he survives years and torture in revolutionary prisons, fights Iraq alongside boys and old men as an Iranian soldier, travels to Kashmir and Afghanistan, all searching for Shirin and his daughter. That plot evidently makes it a "thriller" for some of the British press reviewers, but most Americans will agree that James Buchan's writing makes it something other. This book is rather a layered, graceful puzzle. The first part of the book, John and Shirin's love story, is dreamlike. John at one point acknowleges that he's risking their lives by not getting them back to Europe. His judgment is that of an immature 18-year-old lovestruck dreamer -- which is what he is. Here they are fleeing to the villa: "In my arms, she fluttered with exciement and fear. Then she vanished. I stared miserably into the darkness. On the road, eighteen-wheelers roared and hooted. The moon rose to my right. My head jangled with the day. Her face and lips, the way she carried the can and tipped the water in the radiator, the trailing of her chador, lost their clarity, became mangled, rough and indecent. I smelled her scent, of salt and roses and some quintessential herness, on my chest and fingers. I felt drenched in femininity. Certain words -- 'pushidegi' covering, and by extension the mental attitudes in girls that are the effects or counterparts of veiling, such as ambiguity, inversion, concealment, intrigue or deceit; 'eish' meaning the delights of this worldly existence; 'kamrani,' the attainment of a young man's desire -- made maddening calligraphic shapes in my mind. I was depressed by missed opportunities: that we could have slept together one more time and still have reached here in the night. I thought: If we make it to the house, I am not going to stir from her bed for a year." Perhaps a year later, here is Shirin: "You do not think very much, John. I suppose it is not necessary for an Englishman to think, any more than it is necessary for an Englishman to pray. For that reason, your servant must think and pray not just for her poor self, but for the entire family. Our life in this garden cannot go on forever. We will be separated, or some

Unforgettable

I am still affected by the harsh beauty and exquisite tragedy of the "Persian Bride." James Buchan's writing is wonderfully elegiac and moving. As a story, "The Persian Bride" comprises a bittersweet tale of a hastily contracted cross-cultural "marriage" made under the tensions of imminent revolution. Happy go-lucky John Pitt, a sweet unfocused Englishman bums his way through Isfahan as an English language teacher of dubious merit during the 70's. When he meets Shirin, an Iranian schoolgirl from Isfahan's ruling elite, he appears to meet his destiny. He is a romantic, unreasonable eighteen year old and an orphan. As such, he is not prepared to take on a Persian bride of royal blood. He is also far too young to realize it. "Pitt" takes Shirin away from her attenuated family, hoping to leave the country. This proves difficult since not only is the Persian Bride's father a calculating Iranian general aiming to fill the imminent power vacuum, but other loftier persons are keeping a discreet eye on the couple. Pitt's persistence and high-flying naivete drive the opening plot of "The Persian Bride" with an especial sweetness, winning the heart of Shirin. John Pitt and Shirin Farameh begin to live as amn and wife at an apex of time that can only grow more dangerous. The character of Shirin Farameh, the self-same bride is a complicated, rich character. She shows us the unique mettle of Iranian women who adhere to custom while embracing the inevitabilities of modern life. After the elopement, there is inevitable separation wrought by revolution and the thin survival of wrenching upheaval. The amazing romantic undercurrent signified by John and Shirin makes this story palpate. "The Persian Bride" also offers a painful look at the great unloosening of Iranian society as the ancient regime totters and mullahs take power. "Pitt" maintains his western orientation to the point of peril but he also develops strong sympathies for Persian language and culture. His study of Iranian poetry as a means to apprehend his enigmatic wife is an especially artful aspect of the book. Buchan's prose is nuanced and mature, not in the least sensationalistic. While the "Persian Bride" is not a thriller per se, the story occurs in what rapidly becomes an excruciating place for Europeans. "Pitt" spends some truly frightening moments in Evin Prison during the hostage crisis (and beyond) where he is interrogated as a spy. It is here that we glimpse the heart-rending beauty of Persian mores and manners, as he coexists with doomed immates who are the scapegoats of the revolutionary regime. Pitt obtains release from prison by volunteering for the Iraqi war front in a desperate attempt to leave prison and search for his family. Despite heartbreaking setbacks, John Pitt never gives up. The haunting emotional context of John and Shirin's romance is the strength of this book. I highly, highly recommend this book. I hope to see more writing by the author.

A Brilliant Tale Of Iranian Politics & Persian Romance

This is one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time. I found myself marking passages in the prose, so I could return to them later and savor them at leisure, without a rapidly moving plot to deter me. It is also a difficult book to read. As with much good literature, it is necessary to concentrate and read every word. This is not a novel that can be skimmed, or speed read. It is definitely not a light read. Filled with symbolism, and allusions to Iranian culture, the Farsi language, ancient poets and older cities, it is the love story of one couple, and the story of a nation in political, cultural and social upheaval. If you read carefully, with patience, the story will unfold for you like a beautiful Isfahani rose.A young Englishman goes to Iran in the mid-1970s. Many young American and European "hippies" passed through that country, beginning in the late 1960s and continuing through until before the revolution in 1979. Iran was on the way to India, the destination point of many young westerners. The Beatles and other pop stars had made India a mecca for the young with its gurus, cheap drugs, native music, mysticism, etc.. And Persia was a romantic place stop on the way - with its exquisite, impressive countryside, hospitable people, and romantic, gracious and exotic culture. So, John Pitt finds himself in Isfahan, a fairytale of a city. There he meets the enchanting Shrin Farameh. They love. They run away and marry. They struggle to combine cultures and language and to make a world for themselves amidst the chaos and political nightmare that is pre-revolution Iran. Their marriage also carries with it tremendous political & personal consequences. But I won't go there now and spoil one of the more enticing aspects of the plot. Suffice it to say, that the couple is violently & tragically separated. Following the separation, comes suffering that could read like a chapter out of Job. But John is never deterred from his mission to reunite with his wife and the daughter he barely had time to know.I lived in Iran from 1965 until 1968, and "The Persian Bride" brought so much of my experience back to me. It is a jewel of a novel - a masterpiece!

A Minor Masterpiece

I can't believe that no-one has reviewed this novel. Set at the time of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, it is both a sweeping and dramatic work of literature and a refreshingly different tender love story.James Buchan is a descendant of John Buchan author of "The 39 Steps", and a former arts writer for the Financial Times. The book received excellent and extensive professional reviews when released in the UK and deserved every one of them.

A real treat to read

Mr. Buchan's knowledge of Persian culture and literature shines through "word by word, meaning by meaning," in this enchanting novel. This is by no means an easy book to read, neither in terms of the writing style, nor in terms of its content. The writing style is beautifully complex and poetic, mysterious. One has to really savor the passages. I wanted to read some of the sections over and over again because they are written so beautifully.In terms of the story, although it is fiction, the context is very real and conceivable. The trials that John Pitt goes through to become reunited with his wife, are not far from the truth of what real people have gone through in that corner of the world. Sections of the story can be sad, but still this book is a real pleasure to read; a tender love story to remember for a long time, with a refreshing writing style, definitely outside of the ordinary!