Foreigner [Paperback]

Nahid Rachlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1999

"A rare, intimate look at Iranians. . . . I have read [this book] four times by now, and each time I have discovered new layers in it." —Anne Tyler, New York Times Book Review

"Nahid Rachlin has an intimate insider's knowledge of present-day everyday Iran — of people and places, houses, streets, and families — and she writes of them with a clarity of perception and style that makes them instantly recognizable and even homely and familiar to the reader." — Ruth Prawer Jhabvala "Rachlin's prose carefully understates and suggests her heroine's awakening to a pervasive atmosphere of menace and sensuality; residue of a culture she thinks she has abandoned, but which continues to claim her." — Bruce Allen, Chicago Tribune "Foreigner gently raises new as well as timeless questions about an unhappy woman's faith and freedom." — The New Yorker "Conveys the texture of extended family, the stress of modernization, the strain of Moslem rigidity as well as the harmony of nature, of dust and carpets, fruits, sweets, tea, fine rice and gossip. Always gossip." — Eden Lipson, "Special Edition," WNET/Thirteen

Editorial Reviews

Review

Conveys the texture of extended family, the stress of modernization, the strain of Moslem rigidity as well as the harmony of nature, of dust and carpets, fruits, sweets, tea, fine rice and gossip. Always gossip. -- Eden Lipson, "Special Edition," WNET/Thirteen

Nahid Rachlin has an intimate insider's knowledge of present-day everyday Iran --of people and places, houses, streets, and families --and she writes of them with a clarity of perception and style that makes them instantly recognizable and even homely and familiar to the reader. -- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Rachlin's prose carefully understates and suggests her heroine's awakening to a pervasive atmosphere of menace and sensuality; residue of a culture she thinks she has abandoned, but which continues to claim her. -- Bruce Allen, Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Nahid Rachlin was born in Iran and now lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393319083
• ISBN-13: 978-0393319088
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BRIEF BIO http://www.nahidrachlin.com

Nahid Rachlin attended Columbia University MFA program on a Doubleday-Columbia Fellowship and then went on to Stanford University MFA program on a Stegner Fellowship. Her publications include a memoir, PERSIAN GIRLS (Penguin), four novels, JUMPING OVER FIRE (City Lights), FOREIGNER (W.W. Norton), MARRIED TO A STRANGER (E.P.Dutton), THE HEART'S DESIRE (City Lights), and a collection of short stories, VEILS (City Lights). Her individual stories have appeared in about fifty magazines. One of her stories was produced by Symphony Space, "Selected Shorts" and was aired on NPR radio stations around the country.
Her work has received favorable reviews in major magazines and newspapers and translated into Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic, and Farsi. She has written reviews and essays for New York Times, Newsday, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. She received many awards, including the Bennet Cerf Award, PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant.
She has been interviewed in magazines such as Poets & Writers and AWP Writers Chronicle, and TV such as Channel 13, and on NPR's such as Fresh Air, Terry Gross, All Things Considered.
Read a recent review of PERSIAN GIRLS: http://www.brooklyntoday.info/features/465-persian-girls.html

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars culture shock;exile;uncertainty:formula for a great read, June 20, 1999

By 

lisatheratgirl "lisatheratgirl" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foreigner (Paperback)

I've been a fan of Nahid Rachlin and her portrayls of Iranian women for some time. Like another reviewer, I couldn't put this book down. In Foreigner, Rachlin explores culture shock (as Feri first feels it as an Iranian studying in the U.S., and then on her return years later to Iran, where it seems as though she is stepping back several centuries, both in people's way of life and way of thinking (e.g., the attitude toward women). When she becomes ill, she has to deal with the fear that medical facilities may be nothing like what is available in the States. In culture shock, she also re-experiences the difference in Eastern and Western ways of thinking. Rachlin makes very clear the unhappiness that comes with exile from one's own country, even if a person is forced to leave for the sake of his/her freedom or even life, and yet, on return to that country, it is never quite the same as remembered. Feri's uncertainty, feeling of being pulled in several directions, and reluctance to follow in her mother's footsteps are entirely understandable. What I find intruiging is this book was written (and takes place) right before the overthrow of the Shah and the Islamic revolution. Feri's decision to go or stay could make an interesting sequel for this book.

Nahid Rachlin's writing is exquisite; she lets you picture Iran in detail even if you have never been there. Her work ought to be publicized more, to give readers a better understanding of the culture and country that she came from.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You never quite leave home, January 27, 2002

By 

Ladyce West "Ladyce West" (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foreigner (Paperback)

More than about Iranians and their customs, or the constrasts between Feri's American and Iranian parameters, this book is about a complex psychological discovery -- the acceptance of self. I read it twice because the story haunted me, not unlike the way Iran haunts Feri. The bonus comes from a portrayal of Iran from the inside, a knowledge precious to me an arm chair traveller. This is a thoughtful, extremely concise and well written book, introspective and beautiful. A quiet adventure.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prayer calls from the Mosque echo as you turn these pages, December 14, 2003

By 

"hrd2expln" (Alaska, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foreigner (Paperback)

Foreigner is a remarkable story of a young Iranian woman who, as a child, is left with her father when her mother runs off with another man. Her name is Feri, and the beginning of her life urges her to see the western world, and its differences. She decides to study in America - where she ends up settling and becoming a biologist. She marries, buys a house identical with the ones next door- when she should feel complete, she feels emptier than ever. Feri realizes she needs to go back home to Iran.
While in Iran, she reconciles with her family, yet feels uncomfortable with her short hair and slacks among the women in the streets wearing chadors. Upon attempts to leave Iran, she needs a written consent form from her husband, calls and cannot reach him; and goes on a search for her long gone mother. She travels hundreds of miles to see her, and while there meets a doctor when she falls ill - and falls in love with the eastern man. When her husband comes to claim her, Feri must decide between two worlds, and two pieces of her heart.