Song of a Captive Bird in Retro Chapter Chicks

May 03, 2018 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, historical

I won a copy of this book through one of my book groups. I had NO IDEA how good this book would be.

This book is inspired by the life and poetry of Forugh Farrokhzad. She was amazing! She went against the grain of what an Iranian woman should be in those times. She was a great poetis, feminist and activist.

Thank you to Retro Chapter Chics for getting me involved in this book!

And this is me
a woman alone
on the threshold of a cold season
on the verge of understanding
the earth's polluted exi
...more

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Feb 03, 2018 Brina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, poetry, feminism

Toward the end of last year I joined the moderator team of the group retro chapter chicks. We take part in a variety of historical fiction and nonfiction history group reads and discussions, and are given an occasional opportunity to review advance reader copies. One such book is Song of a Captive Bird, the debut novel by Jasmin Darznik, an Iranian American literature professor who resides in northern California. Although this book is slotted as a group read in a few months, I was drawn to the p Toward the end of last year I joined the moderator team of the group retro chapter chicks. We take part in a variety of historical fiction and nonfiction history group reads and discussions, and are given an occasional opportunity to review advance reader copies. One such book is Song of a Captive Bird, the debut novel by Jasmin Darznik, an Iranian American literature professor who resides in northern California. Although this book is slotted as a group read in a few months, I was drawn to the pretty color, which lightened up a gray winter day. Combined with a captivating subject matter, I could not resist to read this tale of Iranian feminist poet Forugh Farrokhzad a few months in advance.

It is 1950s Iran. Although it is decades before the Khomeini family overthrew the shah and his antiquated form of government, Iran is still an eastern powerhouse country, devoid of many eastern influences. Women do not have to wear a burka that is emblematic with their status today, but their rights were limited nonetheless. Girls were lucky to receive an eighth grade education, and unmarried women and girls could rarely leave their homes unless they were chaperoned by a male relative. Women went from being the property of their fathers to that of their husbands and unless they were fortunate enough to marry a forward thinking person, still were relegated to life within their homes. Forugh Farrokhzad was a rebellious daughter of Colonel Farrokhzad. From an early age she desired more than a life as an obedient daughter turned wife, and was influenced by the extensive library her father kept in their home. Despite receiving only the requisite eighth grade education, Forugh kept up her learning through reading and then eventually writing poetry. What is more, despite the attitude toward women writers during the era, her father initially encouraged her forays into writing. This changed one day when Forugh showed promise as a poet.

Coming of age, Forugh thought she found true love in the form of a cousin Parviz Shapour. Her father not knowing what to do with her rebellious daughter, married her off before she brought shame to the family. Shipped off to rural Ahwez, Forugh became the property of Parviz and by extension his mother. She became a prisoner in their humble abode and longed for life back in Tehran. After giving birth to her son Kamyan, Forugh longed for her family only to discover than Parviz had no desire to travel to the nation's capital city. Craving independence from her husband, Forugh turned to writing and had invitations to publish in some of the city's start up intellectual literary journals of the time. Traveling to the capital alone under the guise of visiting her mother, Forugh began to make a name for herself in poetry circles, albeit a scandalous one. As a result, she brought the shame to her family that the Colonel had feared during Forugh's teenage years. The feminist poems which influenced a generation of school girls, but lead to Forugh's divorce from Parviz as he did not wish to be married to a modern woman who did not fit the mold of demure Iranian wife and mother.

Equating marriage as bird captive in a cage, Forugh makes a name for herself as a poet and forges a strong female friendship with Qajar heiress Leila Farmayan who becomes her entry into the upper crust of Tehran society. While Darznik has take poetic license in creating this friendship, she uses it as a means to touch on the crumbling Iranian society amidst student uprisings in the later 1950s and early 1960s. The discovery of oil in Iran brought an influx of English and American influences into the country, and, with the arrival of westerners, the desire of the younger generation to enjoy better human rights. Leading to various factions in both the government and society, people lived in constant fear until these student protests quelled. In the midst of this activism, Forugh continued to write poetry volumes, which lead to a meeting and relationship with film director Darius Golshiri. Darznik takes much license in their relationship as well, but uses it to touch on the changing place of women in society. Unfortunately, in a country as Iran, the more things changed especially with increasing western influence, the more men asserted themselves as superior to women. Forugh's place as a poet and later as a film director cemented her place in intellectual circles, but many still believed that men wrote her work and wished her to stop writing. This criticism only encouraged Forugh to continue writing.

In her afterward, Darznik writes that when her family fled Iran in 1978, her mother smuggled out two volumes of Forugh's poetry. Seeing this poetry as a child led to Darznik's fascination with the poetess later in life, which eventually lead to her research for this book. She includes translated poems throughout the text including the title poem Song of a Captive Bird. I found the poetry to be more mature than the prose, but felt that the prose flowed well for a debut novel. I myself grew fascinated with Forugh Farrokhzad's life and would be intrigued to read some of her poetry past the selections featured in this novel. Combined with the sensory stimulating cover and feminist poetry, Darznik shows promise as a continuing novelist, and I would look forward to reading her future novels.

Breakdown:
4.5 story
3 writing
4 poetry
3.5 overall ...more

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May 27, 2018 Tasha rated it really liked it

Overall I enjoyed this story. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not an autobiography, it had that feel and I think it worked well. I really like learning about new people I haven't heard of before and not being into poetry, I had never heard of Forugh but I'm likely to never forget her after reading this book. This hist fic story gives us a glimpse into her life and an impressive one for so short a time here. The author's notes in the end brought this one to a wonderful close and I th ...more

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Apr 02, 2018 Lory Sakay rated it really liked it

Okay, so I'm one of those that doesn't enjoy poetry. :). However, I do enjoy learning about other countries, cultures, history, and people. Darznik captured all of this (pun intended) in her fictional book, written as a memoir, of Forugh Farrokhzad. Although there were a few points in which the storyline moved too slowly for me and I often wanted to shake Forugh for her naivety and romanticism (blech!), I admired her grit and resistance to adhering to the status quo and stringent expectations of ...more

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