Book #35: The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hadeyat
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The thing that surprised me the most about this book was that apparently it's banned in its country of origin, Iran.
I've seen that this book has been compared to Edgar Allen Poe, and reading it, I could see why. At the start, the book's narrator talks about how he finds a vent in his wardrobe, looks through and sees some sort of mysterious garden, and an alluring woman. When he returns though, the vent is closed, and he can't find any trace of the garden.
This storyline seemed to keep going in bizarre and unexpected directions, but then it switched to a memoir-style narrative, mostly about the character's marriage to his wife, who he constantly referred to as "that whore".
I did find this book very difficult to read, mostly because of its dense style, that also felt very non-linear. At times, the book was very descriptive, but I'd be hard pressed to say what it was really about, mostly because of the long paragraphs with very few breaks.
It's possible the bizarre nature of the events is connected to the narrator being addicted to opium, which was mentioned constantly, but overall this felt like a very experimental book. I think I would probably try and find something simpler in future.
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