In one word Amazing!
|
Although all facts may not be true to the time. This a very good read and very captivating. The author has portrayed an amazing image of the time and stuggles in Iran.
I can't believe I read it so quick I did not want it to end.
|
|
Good, but not a great read
|
The Blood of Flowers is the story of a young girl (never named) in 17C Persia whose father dies unexpectedly and left destitute. She and her mother are forced to seek shelter from her uncle, a wealthy rug maker in the city of Isfahan. Despite their status in the household as nothing better than servants the girl shows a talent for rug making and design and with no male heir of his own to succeed in his craft her uncle takes the girl under his tutelage. Enough of the reviews recap the story sufficiently that I don't need to rehash it again, but suffice it to say that a series of bad choices made by the girl lead her and her mother into extreme poverty and to the brink of making the most difficult choice of all.
Apparently the author spent nine years researching and writing this book and those details do show throughout the book, and it's always nice to get an inside look at a lesser known country and it's culture and customs, and most especially the art of rug-making. I really did enjoy this book and had a hard time putting it down whilst reading it, but I felt that the ending was too rushed; another 50-100 pages carrying it to a more successful conclusion would have really rounded it out much better. I also didn't care for the little "short stories" that the author inserted to shed additional light on her story. Frankly, I ended up skipping them and I don't feel I missed anything in doing so. And last, but not least, the behavior of the main character and the selfish choices she made really didn't endear her to me, nor did any other character in the book - I just flat out didn't like anyone but the mother. I'm glad I read it, but it's not a book and characters that are going to stick with me long after I've finished it. Three stars.
|
|
"First there wasn't and then there was. Before God no one was".
|
THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS is a beautiful novel about a young woman living in 16th century Iran. At the beginning of the book, she describes how a comet launches itself across the sky in the year that she has reached marriagebale age. The comet is taken as a portent of bad luck, and this is certainly what she seems to have received. Not long after, her father dies and so herslef and her grief stricken mother are forced to move to Isfahan - a fabled city. There, they both become servants in the house of her uncle. But she soon displays a talent for carpet making, and so her life changed.
That is a vry brief synopsis. What Amirrezvani has managed to create is much like the beautiful carpets of her heroine - you can see all the strands and threads of stoyr which are woven together to make up a magnificent story. Although we never learn the name of the main female who narrates THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS, because of the journey that we witness her on means that you are able to see her mature from a young, innocent young girl into a skilled, artful young woman who has seen her own fair share of love, desire, betrayal and pain.
This is a great story - recommended for long summer nights.
|
|
|
Gently paced and quite exquisite
|
|
I loved this book. It may not be for all tastes, because it unfolds slowly and asks that you enter into a different rhythm, a different world. It is a rhythm which reflects the narrator's work of carpet-weaving; but it is an invitation to travel: to another time, another place, another world, another life and culture - as so many good books may be. Anita Amirrezvani weaves a tale as richly as the beautiful Isphahan carpets which are her focus, and it movingly captures the almost invisible life of the young girl who is our narrator. Don't read it if you're in a hurry; but do, when you can give it proper time. It is beautifully told.
|
|
|
The Blood of Flowers
|
This is the best book I have ever read, and I read a lot. I bought it for a holiday read and I couldn't put it down. The author decribes 17th century Iran so well you feel as if you are there, you can smell and taste it! Although I know Persian history quite well I still found this book very informative. I just wish this author would write some more.
Try this book for yourself and you will be transported to a very magical Iran.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada