Customer Reviews

A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited

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(A Persian Odyssey ),Iran Revisited, by Rami Yelda Gave as much information about Iranian history, the different dynasties, religions of our homeland, and the different places of interest during his short visit to Iran.

As per my interpretation, he did not intend to go into detail on every subject mentioned. In covering a vast amount of information, Dr. Yelda provides a wonderful overview to appeal to a wide audience with hopes to promote better understanding of Persian culture.

In addition, the book provides a valuable resource for second generation Iranians who wish to learn about our country. My three sons have not traveled to Iran so it was a pleasure to give each of them a copy as a gift on the New Year. All three of them enjoyed it.

I was born into a Moslem family in Tehran. In addition, I have witnessed numerous discriminations that we imposed upon the Iranians of different religious minorities, from different cities and provinces with different dialects and accents. I AM NOW ASHAMED OF IT.

If Dr. Yelda takes the time to explain some of these different ethnicities in this book, I applaud him for doing so. Lets be honest about it, in this day and age and especially in the wake of current events, why not promote an honorable attempt toward understanding instead of spending our energy ridiculing each other for it?

For years, I have gone to bookstores in search of books on Iranian culture to share with my children only to return empty handed and disappointed. Every other culture has been represented except Iran. After reading Dr. Yelda's book I was not only excited but also hoped hat it would encouraged many more books to be written on the subject of our culture.

From depth of my heart I am now congratulating Dr. Yelda on the outstanding job toward promoting the Iranian culture. He deserve many stars for his endeavor.

Barry Sadegi, MD.

How Refreshing!! A book about Iran without a catchy name or a pretty girl on the cover! An informative and passionate account of going back to a home that in your heart you never left. Just like the carpet on the cover, this book is written with careful attention to details and with much love. A woven tapestry of observations, information and personal remembrances to take the reader along in a journey to a country that like its landscape has many extremes.

Rami Yelda who left Iran as a young man, returns after 40 years with a mature and a keen eye. He travels across the country and his account of places, history, architecture and the people he meets, gives readers an insight to a complex nation and its people.
This is a highly recommend book for anyone who is interested in understanding Iran and its people. A country that is as fine and colorful as its carpets and blue domes, and black as its oil.
Simin H. Rasmussen

The author brings a successful physician's mature and well-traveled focus to bear on the land of his birth. An Assyrian with a strong sense of identity with Persian heritage and its wealth of art and history, Yelda returns in 2002 despite the momentous changes in 1979 that threw modern Iran into a strange spin away from a path leading toward modernity and toward its own peculiar form of fanatical Islamic society. Using dialogue with Iranians of many ethnic and regional backgrounds, as well as a good grounding in Iran's history, Yelda makes the culture of Iran available to the newcomer to the subject while at the same time interesting and useful to those familiar with Iran. The graceful turn of phrase and the beautiful prose style, both spare and detailed, help move the reader from the Tehran airport in its shabby officiousness to the streets of Urmie, the west Azarbaijan capital that until 1918 was home to Iran's largest Assyrian, neo-Aramaic speaking, and successful Christian population. Having lost many members of the generations of his family alive before 1918 to the barbarism that occurred then, Yelda cannot but help see this as the painful part of Iran's past that it is.

The author's eye for the beauty of Iran's momuments, its gardens, its shrines and far flung desert oases towns like Kerman and Yazd rounds out the writing of a man torn between his attachment to the Iran that was and his discomfort with the Iran that has come to be under a capricious and manipulative, but still powerful regime termed by his friends as a government of peasants with guns. He is sensitive to the ways in which women are treated under law, the way that non-Muslims survive, and the ever-present insecurity.

This is a lovely book written by a sensitive author. The best travel and history combination about Iran to come along in many years. If you liked Azar Naficy's READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN but want to visit outside Tehran too, this is the book to read.

Eden Naby Frye

I have concluded my reading of the book 'A Persian Odyssey.' I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition to it being a vivid travelogue it also captured the essence of the varying cultures, religions and customs of its people. The book is a must read for all persons of Iranian descent. A real contribution is made to those of us who are Christian Assyrians that will in all probability never see Iran. Dr. Yelda was able to separate the architectural, and historical aspects of the country from the poverty and corruption that surrounds the every day lives of its citizens. It helped the separation when he injected, what I have come to know as, his usual dry sense of humor to a number of depressing situations he came in contact with. My heart goes out to the children and women that have to suffer, day in day out, at the hands of what appear to be very corrupt Mullahs (sp). At the conclusion of the book I became saddened by the fact that I will never be able to see the exact place where my parents and grandparents were born and lived.

This timely book is a masterful evocation of today's Iran. The author, an orthopedic surgeon born and raised in Iran, writes smoothly and gracefully. He takes us to temples, shrines, restaurants, museums, bazaars, baths, forts and, often with dialogue, gets us inside the thoughts and feelings of average, everyday Iranians, such as his taxi drivers, people he meets on the street, on the bus, at meals. He is particularly helpful in describing the place of religion in everyday life and in politics. Moving seamlessly from present to past, the author traces religious and secular customs back to their origins deep within Iranian history, revealing one fascinating fact after another. This is a book that should be required reading for those in government who are responsible for dealing with Iran and for everyone interested in learning more about our current adversary. It provides a remarkable pathway into the Iranian psyche, right down to the arrows on the hotel ceilings pointing the way to Mecca.

I was impressed with this book from the beginning. As an American with slightly more than an average understanding of Iran, this book has been amazingly enlightening. The conversations that Dr. Yelda has with average Iranians were a wonderful treat. Additionally, amidst the anecdotes and history lessons are powerful insights into this mysterious country. If you are interested in the culture, history, and people of Persia, it would be hard to find a better place to start than this book.

I have just finished reading a Persian Odyssey. This author explores Iran thoroughly and infuses his extensive historical knowledge to the sites he visits. I was amazed by the breath of his knowledge.

Rami Yelda's book, "A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited", is a brilliant literary composition that imparts not only Dr. Yelda's valuable experiences upon returning after forty years to a drastically changed fatherland but his generosity of heart in sharing a wealth of knowledge about Iran's fascinating people and their lives, culture, art, religions, infrastructure, and history.

The author adroitly paints a portrait of Iranian's lives today while informing the reader of Iran's rich past. As the author carries us with him on his journey throughout today's Iran, he easily and interestingly explains the fruitful history and culture of the Persian people. The author instantly makes the reader feel as if he is casually sitting in one's living room and enlightening enchanted listeners about an ancient and respected eastern culture. It is, at times, a serious expose' disclosing the pitfalls of a post-revolutionary, previously seasoned society and, at times, a light-hearted and appreciative account of the author's daily interactions with the Iranian people. Also, at times, the authour lovingly and cleverly sprinkles his descriptions of Iran with much welcomed humor. It generously provides an abundance of history about Iran.

Rami Yelda's book about Iran is an essential reading experience. It is an excellent source that helps us learn about the opposite side of the world that today is challenging our lives and that of our children. I highly recommend Dr. Yelda's book for everyone.

Dr. Yelda is a phenomenally detailed, descriptive, entertaining and knowledgeable writer and this is a remarkably intellectually and emotionally satisfying book. A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited is an engrossing memoir providing cultural, historical and political insight into the world of Yelda's heritage. Yelda's work is written in sophisticated and articulate English and clearly and flawlessly conveys a great deal of information about Iran -- it's history, culture, religious practices and its people -- bringing it back to life. His many anecdotes are priceless and offer terrific insights on life in Iran before and after September 11, 2001.

Just one glance at the cover of Dr. Rami Yelda's book, A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited, and I immediately anticipated that its contents would be as rich, colorful and complex as the photo's exquisite carpet. I was correct.

In a Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited, Yelda accomplishes the nearly impossible: he literally takes the reader with him on his journey. You are there as he walks through crowded bazaars; talks to average Iranians; visits shrines, museums and temples; sits surrounded by beautiful gardens; shares meals with locals in restaurants; and explores remote towns and villages. You feel his inner struggle, as he recalls the country of his past in its present state. And the way that Yelda moves you from past to present---a feat for any author---is simply flawless. Equally impressive, perhaps, is the way he portrays every aspect of Iran as he found it upon his return after forty years: with the utmost of sensitivity. His depictions of present-day Iran are told with tenderness, sincerity, honesty, humor amidst sadness, and a generosity of spirit often lacking in literary works of this magnitude.

This is far more than a history of Iran. Like the book's cover, it is a richly woven portrait of Iran's people, culture, cuisine, religions, customs, geography, and art. I was there in Iran with Dr. Rami Yelda . . . without ever having left my living room. A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited is a must read for anyone who wants to learn about this distictive, intricate and complicated country.


-Francine Pappadis Friedman