I thought this was a pretty good book. Spoilers alert. It is possibly a little derivative in its postmodernism but I'm not sure how not to be, and I enjoyed it. I think that Mandanipour gave a good picture of modern Iran, and used traditional narrative forms, plus very (post) modern ones in a mish mash that reflects reality.

sjmccreary provided an excellent review with a great plot summary, (going chronologically, see the review just before mine), so I'll just add a few more points. "Censoring an Iranian Love Story" is very much a book about how writers pursue their craft -- how they develop characters, how they decide what situations to put their characters in, and how they decide the fate of those characters.

But author Shariar Mandanipour is writing in Iran, a country in which one isn't able to speak freely without fear of censorship or reprisal. So his exploration isn't simply of the writing process, but of how people are forced to function under a repressive government.

This makes "Censoring an Iranian Love Story" an intriguing look at the subterfuge exercised by ordinary Iranians struggling to have meaningful lives, but also means the novel isn't a rich plunge into the emotions of two would-be lovers. The novel is satisfying and enlightening on an intellectual level; it vividly conjures the sensation of always looking over your shoulder for the thought police and how that cripples the soul -- not just of artists, but of everyone. And it gives a chilling take on the nature of governmental control. But be forewarned, any reader looking for a traditional tale of love and loss will find this novel frustrating. ( )

An interesting book that works on more levels than I am able to understand. On the surface, it is the narrative of an author in Shiraz, Iran who is trying to write a love story. However, in Iran, all books must be approved by state censors before being published, so our author is constantly vigilant about what the censor, Mr Petrovich, will allow or disallow. The author, unnamed, talks about the history of the censorship of literature, the history of Iranian literature in general, and the different ways that life for Iranians has changed since the 1979 revolution. These comments are interspersed with the actual story being written by him.

The story is about Dara and Sara - generic names that were borrowed from the early readers that school children in Iran used to use before the revolution, comparable to Dick and Jane in the US. Their story is presented to us as it is being written, complete with strikeouts made by the author to remove portions that would not pass censorship and the subsequent re-writes. Dara is a 30-something house painter in Tehran who completed the coursework for a degree in cinema studies at Tehran University but whose student records were expunged after being arrested and imprisoned as a political dissident for distributing forbidden films. It didn't help him that his father is a communist. Sara is current student at Tehran University studying Iranian Literature. Her parents are in the process of arranging a marriage for her to Sinbad, a relatively powerful former government official whose influence would be very beneficial to the family.

The author's intention is to write a very nice love story between these 2 nice young people. However, somewhere in the middle of the book, things become muddled. Dara and Sara don't behave as expected. Mr Petrovich becomes aware of the story as it is being written, and he and the author begin stepping into the story, and Dara and Sara into "real life". This is where things are said and done that I didn't fully understand. Especially the part about the hunchback midget.

Overall, I liked the book. Very different than the stuff I normally read. An fascinating insight into Iranian life and customs. This would be a great discussion book, and a good choice for someone who likes to read "books about books or writing". ( )

The first half of the book was caustic and funny but the author ran out of steam about halfway through as the story progressed and the outcome for lovers Sara and Dara became progressively more gloomy. That is where reality took a bit of a dive and the narrator, and eventually the censor, became enmeshed in the fictional story, and reality and fiction became blurred.

Nevertheless, the story cleverly illustrated the absurdity of life in Iran, with its strict Islamic code, its rigid rules and over-enthusiastic moral watchdogs. ( )

An excellent book about literature and the difficulty of wrining while living under strict censorship. It is written on at least three levels. A Love Story, A Censored love Story , the difficulty of writing, and losing control of your characters. Allusions to Iranian History and literature are wonderful, making us even more sad about the demise of such a rich culture under the hands of fundamentalist thugs.

Censoring an Iranian Love Story's main plot is a romance between Sara and Dara, two young people who cannot meet due to Iran's strict rules about the mingling of sexes, but who communicate by writing a code into library books that they borrow. However, that plot is really just a vehicle for the narrator/author to talk about the difficulties of living, and more to the point writing, in a society as authoritarian and restricted as Iran. The author uses an interesting device to illustrate this; the story that would pass muster with the censors is told in ordinary font, with words that the censor would eliminate crossed out, while the sections of the book that the author knows the censor would never approve of are told in bold. Because the book was more a chance for the narrator to reflect on authoritarian society and censorship than a real plot, it was rather slow going and it took me awhile to get through. It was a very interesting structural device, and the cover is first-rate, but it might not be the best fit for someone who dislikes modern or post-modern structural tricks. ( )

Censoring an Iranian Love Story actually tells three stories: the (fictional) author's struggle to get his work past the overbearing government censor, the love story that he'd like to write, and the bland and inoffensive work which he actually hands over to the censor in hopes that it may see the light of day. Sara and Dara are the young Iranian couple who inconveniently fall in love - despite the difficulty of writing a romance in Iran, and despite the "censorship" in action by the fundamentalist post-Revolution Iranian society.

Much of this book made me mourn the effects that the Revolution have had; Iran has been creating beautiful and intricate art and culture for much longer than most of the world - think of everything that came out of Persia at its peak - and now the entire culture is stifled under the Islamic fundamentalism that governs the country's imposed morality. Censoring an Iranian Love Story teaches a lot about Iranian culture, and crafts a unique method of satire with its storytelling. Great and interesting book. ( )

I highly recommend this one. The book uses a very creative and original (to me anyway) method to tell the story of life in present day Iran, particularly for a writer attempting to write a love story that can be published in Iran. The government reviews all publications. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance must issue a permit for any work of literature to be published there. The book switches back and forth between the story being written by the author, with the objectionable portions being shown struck-through, but still legible, to show the censorship that is required, and other portions where the author is speaking directly to the reader about the censoring process and discussing Iranian history and other contextual matters. Then the story he is writing bleeds into the other portion, in part by the author writing for us what he would want to write but dares not to even show to the government's censor. Also, the story begins later in the book to take on a life of its own, with events occurring that are not within the author's control and the characters taking on a life of their own. ( )

This book is about a fictional writer who is attempting to write a love story within the confines of Iranian censorship. This story combines elements of past & present, social, political, and moral issues with humor, intelligence, and heart. I loved the way the author found ways to incorporate references to movies & other literature. I couldn't put it down. It is such a beautiful & amazing novel. I highly recommend this book. ( )