“In the dream, a man had cut down our fifty-year-old pistachio tree, Leila’s and my tree. In the dream, we had a pistachio tree. Fifty years old. That alone.
And so we were deciding what to do with this man, what his just punishment should be. I said something stupid about him owing us a year’s pistachio harvest, the cost of the tree. And then Leila said, in English:
“I do not care about the pistachios, Roya jaan. I do not care about the tree. He owes us the fifty years of sun, fifty years of water inside that tree. Fifty years of sun and water. That is the price.”
She said it in English. I woke screaming. English, fifty years of sun. I wept for a week. Separation from what you love best, that is hell. To be twice separated, first by a nation and then by its language: that is pain deeper than pain. Deeper than hell. That is abyss.”
— Kaveh Akbar, Martyr!: A Novel (Knopf, January 23, 2024)
Notes:
- This man can write! Highly recommended.
- Amazon January, 2024 Book of the Month
- Book Review by Junot Diaz, NY Times, January 19, 2024: “A Death-Haunted First Novel Incandescent With Life. In “Martyr!,” the poet Kaveh Akbar turns a grieving young man’s search for meaning into a piercing family saga.
- Portrait Credit
chilling and powerful and so true
Yes ..
Was lookin at this book the other day and debating. You have tipped me over the edge, pal. Into the queue it goes. 😊
Loved this book Lori…
I gave in and it’s in my kindle, waiting for me to finish the one I’m 3/4 through. That damn David. He costs me a fortune! 😉
🙂 Now the pressure is on. Hope you enjoy it Dale!
You’ve not steered me wrong yet, David.
🙂
😊💞
Ain’t that the truth?! 😂
This hurts to read, in a beautiful way.
Yes! Exactly Laila.
You sold me. Again.
Oh man! This hit me in the heart. Thanks for this recommendation.
Welcome!
He reminds me of Khaled Hosseini, as tender, but sharper blade.
Oh, at an entirely different level…
He is a very, good writer…In his dream the loss of a tree…in reality…they would also have missed the opportunity to enjoy sitting under the tree, feeling the temperature, change to, coolness under the shade. /// I love trees…I have favorite trees along my life’s path…I grieve the hundreds of square miles lost, the small communities lost, though some rebuilding is happening….we’ve not had the courage to drive there to witness the utter, destruction. I still cry when I talk about it even when talking with others …folks here talk about it and I’ve since a tear or two trickle down their cheeks. … (we’ve seen videos (in the past) – the log cabin along the river gone (now rebuilt) the old growth trails, the wildflowers, etc all gone…I’m just a softy, who feels deeply.
Awwwww. Thanks for sharing.
So touching, I want to read this man! Thank you, Love, nia
Yes! Thanks Nia. ________________________________
How wonderful that Kaveh Akbar can share his life’s experience! That he can do so with such power and artistry! I’m reminded of the therapy of poetry manifested by a few of the mentally ill patients I was working with in Dance Therapy–my mentor introduced poetry as another vehicle. I ended my master’s thesis with a powerful poem from a brilliant young man. (His major metaphor was Mac Trucks…bearing down his road on the highway of life.)
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing Valerie.
Reading this, my breathing stopped. So powerful, so overwhelmingly godawful and terrifying ….
…. And gloriously beautiful (sorry, nervous finger!)
Yes, agree with All Kiki!
Powerful – amazing that such a few sentences evoke so much
Magic Pearls strung together….