The Blind Owl (Paperback)

by Sadegh Hedayat (Author), D.P. Costello (Translator) "THERE are sores which slowly erode the mind in solitude like a kind of canker..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bugam Dasi, Kingdom of Rey

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Product Description

Considered one of the most important works of modern Iranian literature, The Blind Owl is a haunting tale of loss and spiritual degradation. Replete with potent symbolism and terrifying surrealistic imagery, Sadegh Hedayat's masterpice details a young man's despair after losing a mysterious lover. As the narrator gradually drifts into madness, the reader becomes caught in the sandstorm of Hedayat's bleak vision of the human condition.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Persian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details Paperback: 144 pages Publisher: Grove Press (January 11, 1994) Language: English ISBN-10: 0802131808 ISBN-13: 978-0802131805 Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,112 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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THERE are sores which slowly erode the mind in solitude like a kind of canker. Read the first page

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Bugam Dasi, Kingdom of Rey

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Citations (learn more)

40 books cite this book:

• Sadeq Hedayat: The Life and Legend of an Iranian Writer by Homa Katouzian on 54 pages
• Mute Dreams, Blind Owls, and Dispersed Knowledges: Persian Poesis in the Transnational Circuitry by Michael Fischer on 25 pages
• Lost Wisdom: Rethinking Modernity in Iran by Abbas Milani on 9 pages
• Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers by Farzaneh Milani on page 50, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Culture and Depression: Studies in the Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Psychiatry of Affect and Disorder (Culture & Depression) by Arthur Kleinman on page 389, page 423, and page 426

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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews 5 star:  (18) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (2)           Average Customer Review 4.5 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 11 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Surreal, not so real . . ., September 21, 2005 By  Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    Readers have compared this classic modern Persian novel to the works of Poe's fevered imagination. Its hero is delusional, obsessed, and maybe totally mad. The narrative is dream-like in structure, which is to say layered, circular, and driven by its own demented logic. If that's not enough, the far-from-reliable narrator has fiercely psychotic conflicts regarding women. The author may well be commenting on the deep divisions between men and women in his culture, where attraction is balanced against profound distrust. His narrator is either idealizing women or portraying them as evil incarnate. Meanwhile, there are episodes of black comedy, one involving identical twin men locked in a room with a cobra. And the cycling and recycling of nightmarish images, each as if occurring for the first time, offers an ironic motif of déjà vu. Recommended to lovers of the surreal who enjoy puzzling over the meanings of dreams, whether personal or effusions of the collective unconscious. 11 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars dark and wonderful., December 25, 1999 By  sincerly bored & attempting to kill a too... (budapest) - See all my reviews i just finished reading the blind owl, and it IS one of the best books i've ever read. the first section is very dark and symbolic and contains a lot of repetitions - a picture within a picture within a picture. i rather wish the book had contained more chapters like this. it was too wonderful for words. the second section detailed the unraveling of the main character in his daily tangible life: his feverish confinement to his room, his growing anxiety, his sense of pervasive and impending doom, which extended beyond himself to the whole of mankind and nature. unfortunately, since my background on iran and ancient persia is somewhat wanting, i think i missed much of the historical symbolism that other readers have mentioned, and had swallowed it mostly as a psychological novel. i'm going to reread it and also look for some kind of a supplement. read this book! 22 of 28 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and haunting, truely like no other, February 14, 2003 By  N. Jacobs (Fish Creek, Wi USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    An Persian friend reccommended this book to me, and managed to read it all in one sitting. It was such a quick, compelling read, with so much going on that you feel like you are running through a sandstorm. I have NEVER read a description of an insane mind as well written as this. Poe, Lovecraft, and Dostoeyevsky, I would say, have written excellent descriptions of insane minds, but this is by far the best. By the way, Lovecraft and Dostoyevsky are my two favorite authors. The passage where the narrator describes his dream woman as an angel, and describes the beauty of her eyes is definatly the most beautiful passage I have ever read. Likewise, his descriptions of the more gruesome scenes are really quite disgusting. Hedayat really wrote a masterpiece here. I would highly reccomend it to people who enjoy the authors I have previously mentioned. Its a great book, with so many layers, and so many different ways to interpret what's going on. In the end, even I was unable to figure out what the truth of the matter really was. Absolutely fascinating.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 1.0 out of 5 stars hated this one, or maybe it's just way over my head This is a short novel from Iran written in a surrealist style. While it has a solid reputation in Iran, I think this is one of those works that you'd have to read in... Read more Published 20 days ago by Caraculiambro 5.0 out of 5 stars Edgar Allen Poe of Iran Review by Brian H. Appleton, www.zirzameen.com of: The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat The story is like an opium dream in which the reader drifts along with... Read more Published 6 months ago by Brian H. Appleton 5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and dark The Blind Owl was the darkest book i have read to date. With it's brilliant yet frightening imagery, The Blind Owl reveals mankind's dark and hidden sides. Read more Published 9 months ago by cYRUS 5.0 out of 5 stars I'm buying this book again I read The Blind Owl 45 years ago while living in Berlin, Germany. I was blown away with the astounding literary images and the strange journey the writer so skillfully creates as... Read more Published on May 18, 2007 by The Defuser 4.0 out of 5 stars 80 Proof Bleak The Blind Owl is just about the most exquisitely written piece of pure darkness I have read -- a tribute to both author and translator. Read more Published on April 17, 2006 by Bukkene Bruse 5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and beautiful I can't relate at all to the reviewer who compared reading this book to pulling teeth. It is strange and slightly demented, but these qualities seem only to add to the overall... Read more Published on June 13, 2004 by J from NY 5.0 out of 5 stars Brutal Beauty This book was intense and poetic at the same time,raw and brutal, but very sympathetic. The mental breakdown the man suffers in this story is very disturbing at times and... Read more Published on August 4, 2003 by ERIK 5.0 out of 5 stars health catastrophe Acclaimed by Henri Miller as the best book he has ever read in any language ... a short creepy novella for eradication of humankind Also praised by Octavio Paz, Andre Breton... Read more Published on October 15, 2002 4.0 out of 5 stars blind owl still alive one of the most important aspects of "Blind Owl"is its potential to be interpreted in so many different and even opposing ways. Read more Published on May 17, 2002 by mehrdad salimi 5.0 out of 5 stars A gem in lirature "There are sores which slowly erode the mind in solitude like a kind of canker" That is how the translation of D.P. Costello starts. Read more Published on April 9, 2002 by azmatan Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (January 11, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802131808
• ISBN-13: 978-0802131805
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,112 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surreal, not so real . . ., September 21, 2005

By	Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Readers have compared this classic modern Persian novel to the works of Poe's fevered imagination. Its hero is delusional, obsessed, and maybe totally mad. The narrative is dream-like in structure, which is to say layered, circular, and driven by its own demented logic.

If that's not enough, the far-from-reliable narrator has fiercely psychotic conflicts regarding women. The author may well be commenting on the deep divisions between men and women in his culture, where attraction is balanced against profound distrust. His narrator is either idealizing women or portraying them as evil incarnate.

Meanwhile, there are episodes of black comedy, one involving identical twin men locked in a room with a cobra. And the cycling and recycling of nightmarish images, each as if occurring for the first time, offers an ironic motif of déjà vu. Recommended to lovers of the surreal who enjoy puzzling over the meanings of dreams, whether personal or effusions of the collective unconscious.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dark and wonderful., December 25, 1999

By	sincerly bored & attempting to kill a too... (budapest) - See all my reviews

i just finished reading the blind owl, and it IS one of the best books i've ever read. the first section is very dark and symbolic and contains a lot of repetitions - a picture within a picture within a picture. i rather wish the book had contained more chapters like this. it was too wonderful for words. the second section detailed the unraveling of the main character in his daily tangible life: his feverish confinement to his room, his growing anxiety, his sense of pervasive and impending doom, which extended beyond himself to the whole of mankind and nature. unfortunately, since my background on iran and ancient persia is somewhat wanting, i think i missed much of the historical symbolism that other readers have mentioned, and had swallowed it mostly as a psychological novel. i'm going to reread it and also look for some kind of a supplement. read this book!

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and haunting, truely like no other, February 14, 2003

By	N. Jacobs (Fish Creek, Wi USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An Persian friend reccommended this book to me, and managed to read it all in one sitting. It was such a quick, compelling read, with so much going on that you feel like you are running through a sandstorm. I have NEVER read a description of an insane mind as well written as this. Poe, Lovecraft, and Dostoeyevsky, I would say, have written excellent descriptions of insane minds, but this is by far the best. By the way, Lovecraft and Dostoyevsky are my two favorite authors.
The passage where the narrator describes his dream woman as an angel, and describes the beauty of her eyes is definatly the most beautiful passage I have ever read. Likewise, his descriptions of the more gruesome scenes are really quite disgusting.
Hedayat really wrote a masterpiece here. I would highly reccomend it to people who enjoy the authors I have previously mentioned. Its a great book, with so many layers, and so many different ways to interpret what's going on. In the end, even I was unable to figure out what the truth of the matter really was. Absolutely fascinating.