The Immortals of Tehran by Ali Araghi is the saga of Ahmad and his family from village life in Iran to life in Tehran, as well as a march through the history of Iran from the 1950s through the exile of the Shah, interwoven with strands of magical realism. Ahmad witnesses the suicide of his father at age ten and loses the ability to speak, which leads him, ironically, to become a poet, which allows the author to explore the nature of poetry. At the height of his powers, Ahmad’s poetry has to be etched on trays because if written on paper it will catch fire (we poets all wish we could pull that off). Ahmad also becomes a political activist, enabling the author’s retelling of Iran’s political history. Ahmad’s uncle develops a theory, based upon a fairy tale told by Ahmad’s seemingly immortal great-great-great-grandfather that a conspiracy among cats is responsible for the misfortunes of Iran, punishment for the greed of human beings. But most of the book is about the personal relationships of Ahmad and a cast of interesting characters. I liked it, even when the magical realism was sometimes over the top, but Kirkus Reviews panned the novel as overly ambitious.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ali-araghi/the-immortals-of-tehran/
