Customer Reviews

Saffron Sky: A Life Between Iran and America

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is a fast but amazingly beautiful read about an intriguing place (Iran) and about the very tough choice immigrants make when they leave their home for America. Is the author Iranian or American? That proves to be a fascinating and very powerful question that she is painfully sorting out. I learned about modern day Iran, about arriving suddenly in very different land (it's tough even in progressive Chapel Hill, North Carolina) and about what it must be like to return to a homeland that's very different from the one you left. A terrific book.

I read this book with gratitude. Though I am a Jewish woman, born in America, I, too, have grappled with my identity. Ms. Asayesh stirred feelings in me about my own assimilation from my childhood, when I lived with my orthodox Jewish grandparents and celebrated holidays and customs that, as time went on and the elders died or I moved away from them, lost their hold on me.

The author's descriptions of her loving family and the warmth and sweetness of past rituals and the land she had loved as a child were very touching. I was especially moved when she wrote that her aunt, visiting in Canada, had wept, noting that North America is so green, and Iran is so brown...and dry. It made me realize, not without a little shame, that I take my homeland for granted, and also that there are people who, though they may be less fortunate, love their parched homeland as much as I love my fertile one.

Although it was hard to hear about the dogmatic, sexist, religious practices and the anti-Americanism of many Iranians today, it is important to remember that America is not without its flaws in these and other areas. We, too, have an extreme, right-wing element that opposes women's rights and the rights of minorities. We have plundered others' lands in the name of Democracy when, in fact, it is economic interest that motivates us. We still have the death penalty here. Hate crimes abound. Children murder other children. Addiction to drugs and alcohol is rampant. Our politicians are corrupt, and we accept this with cynicism.

And yet I, too, love my homeland and forgive its many sins. At least I can still live here fairly comfortably. Ms. Asayesh found herself in exile from the place she loved. The wrenching sadness of that disconnection was beautifully portrayed. I hope a lot of people read this book.

Saffron sky is a shallow tale of the discontinuous life of the immigrant. It also speaks to the perspective of the female identity among the Iranian upper class. It depicts a traditional female identity, shaped by the internalized rules and restrictions, customs and traditions, and the immense weight of the family ties and classist values. The author is simply too attached to her unexamined heritage which is inherently patriarchal, power-oriented, contemptuous of lower social classes, and opponent of female individuation beyond the parameters of father's morality.

A big chunk of Gelareh's emotional turmoil is about becoming an adult, be it in America or in Iran. So, when the author wails that while working as a journalist, "there were no buffers between me and life's harsh realities, no cocoon of familiarity and routine to shelter me, no one's love to anchor me."(p.120), the reader wishes to point out to her that this is what growing up is all about, that this has nothing to do with the immigrant's anguish and affliction.

The author's lack of critical examination of her roots frustrates the reader. The historic role of her feudal grandfathers in keeping women, peasants and labourers under wraps are simply not perceived. Gelareh despises the notion of Westerners' superiority over Iranians; she remembers the contemptuous attitude of a British family who came to rent their house in Iran; but she does not feel "diminished" by the "subtle arrogance" and "patronizing kindness" her family showed towards people of lower classes in Iran.

Gelareh's travels to Iran, from 1990 to 1999, coincide with the beginning of a feminist movement within the country that manifests itself through many clandestine feminist gatherings and study groups as well as the publication of progressive women's magazines and many public speeches for the women's rights in Iran by secular women activists. Yet, the author only contacts an organ of the Islamic Regime and talks about women in the Parliament and a single friend of hers who has embraced the world of Mullahs.

Saffron Sky does not bring the reader to a new understanding of the life between Iran and America. Instead, it is an invaluable document on the arrogance and unreliability of an Iranian social class that has very close roots in feudalism, flirts with communism, is alternately for and against the Shah, produces Ayatollahs, pretends to be for feminism, feels inferior to Westerners and then challenges them for their arrogance, and finally reinterprets all thoughts and social events under the Sun.

Saffron Sky is a supperbly writtem memoir. It is not what she says, rather how she describes things that makes the book irresistable. She is accurate and honest with her descriptions, and brave in sharing her emotions. An absolute MUST READ for anyone who is curious about Iran or a life of a successul immigrant or who wishes to read an exciting memoir. Can't wait for the next book from this Author.

Saffron Sky is a book about the immigrant experience. It is a profound and touching examination of the author's struggle to gain acceptance in her new home, and at the same time stay true to her heritage. The book also paints an accurate picture of the huge gap between the East and the West, and the at times impossible task of reconciling the two. The author has managed to examine the U.S. and the Iranian cultures, with respect for both and without offending either. The book also represents a personal and candid examination of issues that are sometimes painful to face, but that are central to an understanding of the sense of malaise that afflicts many immigrants. The prose is very descriptive and at time poetic. The author has a rich memory full of details and conveys those details to the reader with simple but lyrical language.

As an immigrant, I not only enjoyed the book very much, but I also found it an invitation for me to examine my own immigrant experience and thoughts and feelings that I had suppressed for many years. I highly recommend the book, and especially to immigrants and those who have loved ones who are immigrants to the U.S.

What I enjoyed most about Saffron Sky was how much I learned from it. Being born an American, never having traveled off the East Coast, I consider myself somewhat sheltered to the world around me. This book was very educational. Yet, it wasn't boring, fact after fact reading like a text book. It was real life and personal. Asayesh allows the reader to visit Iran with her, to experience some of the same issues, feel some of her same emotions which made it all the more interesting. The book was easy to read, funny at times, a sort of comic relief from some of the more upsetting parts. I feel so very fortunate to have read this book and highly recommend it. I feel a little more exposed to the world now, thanks to Saffron Sky.

The author's vivid descriptions of her remembrances of Iran and her evocation of ambivalence in leaving Iran and loving America should resonate with all who share the experience. Geopolitical and religious differances lose their relevance to the life realities.

I immigrated from the East (Israel) to the West (Amerika) in 1973. I tried to keep in touch with family and culture, and have not been successful. I do read a lot of good literature in Hebrew and stay in touch with cultural events and the events of the day. My children have very little facility in speaking Hebrew, although they can pray in Hebrew. We were able to raise our children "Jewish" as supposed to "Israelis", which captures at least part of my heritage.

I am also sure that Ms. Asayesh would agree with this statement: "in America you are Iranian, and in Iran, you are American."

I am looking forward to future books from this sensitive, insightful and honest author.

The book touched briefly on the political history of Persia, and the decline it experienced. I'd like to read more about how the Persian decline created the Islamic revolution, how the sense of inferiority created "martyrs", and hopelessness made the young Shibab easily exploited by ruthless Ayatolas and Immams. The author can be a strong advocate for both sides, and maybe help create a bridge of understanding between the two cultures.

This book is presented as a collection of reminiscences from girlhood and womanhood between Iran and America. Gelareh Asayesh shares the inward labors of carrying two great yet incompatible cultures in her soul. Every vignette is a gem to admire at length, to laugh, cry or sigh over before even moving on to the next page.

I picked up this book after enduring a heartwrenching goodbye with a compassionate Iranian woman of this same generation who felt that we could never last as a couple with our different cultural backgrounds. As an American, I truly believe that it's impossible for me to understand Iran. This book won't change that; it won't change you into somebody who knows and will even reiterate the futility of trying. But you will be left with a very emotional and meaningful sense of a world you CANNOT know.

I enjoyed every minute of reading Saffron Sky. The author has managed to not only draw a magnificent picture from her childhood in Iran, but also has managed to analyze the common delimmas that immigrants face when leaving their home country behind and starting a new life in a brand new culture where every aspect of life starts over again. I can highly recommend this book.