House of the Mosque [Paperback]

Kader Abdolah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2010

In the house of the mosque, the family of Aqa Jaan has lived for eight centuries. Now it is occupied by three cousins: Aqa Jaan, a merchant and head of the city's bazaar; Alsaberi, the imam of the mosque and Aqa Shoja, the mosque's muezzin. The house itself teems with life, as each of their families grows up with their own triumphs and tragedies. Sadiq is waiting for a suitor to knock at the door to ask for her hand, while her two grandmothers sweep the floors each morning dreaming of travelling to Mecca. Meanwhile Shahbal longs only to get hold of a television to watch the first moon landing. All these daily dramas are played out under the watchful eyes of the storks that nest on the minarets above. But this family will experience upheaval unknown to previous generations. For in Iran, political unrest is brewing. The shah is losing his hold on power; the ayatollah incites rebellion from his exile in France; and one day the ayatollah returns. The consequences will be felt in every corner of Aqa Jaan's family.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Beguiling and utterly original. It is that rare thing: a deeply political novel that informs, thrills, and moves in equal measure."  —Tahmima Anam, author, A Golden Age

"The history of Iran in the 20th century glints through . . . moving and illuminating."  —Publishers Weekly on My Father's Notebook

"An intimate portrait . . . Abdolah’s prose . . . is clean and lyrical . . . A sweeping novel that chronicles the tumultuous modern history of [Iran]."  —Kirkus Reviews on My Father's Notebook

"A lovely novel, has the cadence of a fairy tale and the clarity of truth ."  —Wall Street Journal on My Father's Notebook

"Myth and unlovely reality meet and mingle . . . Conveys the heartache of an exile who cannot help but feel a traitor."  —Christian Science Monitor on My Father's Notebook

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Kader Abdolah (a pen name created in memoriam to friends who died under the persecution of the current Iranian regime) was born in Iran in 1954. While a student of physics in Tehran, he joined a secret leftist party that fought against the dictatorship of the shah and the subsequent dictatorship of the ayatollahs, writing for an illegal journal and clandestinely publishing two books in Iran. In 1988, at the invitation of the UN, he arrived in the Netherlands as a political refugee. He now writes in Dutch and is the author of My Father's Notebook. In 2008 he was honored with Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Embassy in the Hague.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Canongate Books (January 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847678122
• ISBN-13: 978-1847678126
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive!, July 21, 2010

By 

VBS "VBS" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House of the Mosque (Paperback)

As an Iranian, who is raised in a modern family in Tehran, I am really impressed!
Part of book is not my story, but the story of old fashioned family in a small religious town. Very easy to follow (at least for me as an Iranian girl) and many of the things that happens in the book, has happened in Iran. I, myself think it was somhow a true story! I can imagine myself in the place.
It shows how religion is being paled since Islamic revolousion in Iran.
It shows why people like me moved from country and why I am so against any religion!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars `There was once a house, an old house which was known as the house of the mosque.', March 25, 2010

By 

J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The House of the Mosque (Paperback)

In the house of the mosque, located in Senejan, Iran, the family of Aqa Jaan has lived for eight centuries. The house is currently occupied by the families of Aqa Jaan, a merchant who is the head of the city's bazaar; Alsaberi; the imam of the mosque and Aqa Shoja, the mosque's muezzin. The carpets woven by the family firm are renowned for their beauty, their patterns are drawn from the plumage of birds Aqa Jaan's wife traps on the roof of the house. This is the order of things in Senejan, in 1969: a rich past continuing into the future. The grandmothers sweep the floors each morning, and dream of travelling to Mecca. Sadiq is waiting for a suitor to knock on the door to seek her hand in marriage. In the first half of this novel, the worlds of Aqa Jaan and his family members are neatly ordered.

Except, things start changing. Aqa Jaan's nephew Shahbal, with permission, smuggles a television into the house so that Aqa Jaan and the imam can watch the moon landing. The nephew argues that the imam needs to keep in touch with the world, even if those landing on the moon are the Americans, and a television is part of the suspect civilization that the Shah is imposing on his people.

In the second half of the novel, the consequences of political unrest in Iran, both before and after the revolution of 1978-79 are being felt. Small changes at first, but then the fall of the Shah and the return of the Ayatollah destroy the established order of the house of the mosque. The world turns upside down: Shahbal backs the Islamic revolution, while Aqa Jaan's other nephew, Nosrat, a westernised film-maker, becomes a member of Khomeini's inner circle. Nothing seems predictable.

This is a complex novel, but not difficult to read. Kader Abdolah creates a multi-layered world: filled with interesting characters living, and sometimes losing, their lives in the turmoil of revolutionary change. And Aqa Jaan himself, and the house of the mosque, are not unchanged. What does the future hold?

`Our story is over, but the crow still hasn't reached its nest.'

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good story, January 19, 2012

By 

Calixthe - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House of the Mosque (Paperback)

This eerily true to life story is well written. I applaud the author for the depth of his imaginative mind, which is revealing in this story. He drew the reader into the story from the opening chapter all the way to the end.The descriptions are very vivid and gives the reader a sense of the setting that is almost real.Its depiction of religion in the way some people apply it in the every day lives of man is very reveal, bringing to mind a description I read in The Union Muzhik. The author did a great job at characterization. The compelling plot added further credibility to the quality of the story and the pacing made it a page-turner. Coming from reading Triple Agent Double Cross, I have deep respect from authors who take us to unfamiliar settings and implant us to the point that we relate to the story and its characters as if we were there. This is a story that will strike a chord with a broad readership.