The Age of Orphans, By Laleh Khadivi
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Laleh Khadivi's The Age of Orphans has something in common with Chinua Achebe's masterpiece, Things Fall Apart. It's a historical novel focused on one individual, and shows both the destruction of that individual and the culture which gave him birth.
Reza Pejman Khourdi (as he comes to be named) is a Kurd who is savagely orphaned at the age of eight, abducted by the Shah's troops and raised as a soldier in the army of the new Iran.
It's a slow, sad story, spanning the years from 1921 to 1978. With great psychological acuity, Khadivi shows how Reza's character is fatally split, and the lengths to which he goes to suppress the Kurd within. He becomes a brutal oppressor of his own people, a killer and rapist. But Khadivi's concern is not to condemn but to understand; one can't help but feel sympathy for the innocent little Kurdish boy trapped within the monster he becomes.
Khadivi also supplies other perspectives: the thoughts of Reza's victims, his commanding officer, his wife, his children. The style is poetic, intense and lyrical, even when describing events of great brutality. It takes a little while to get into – Khadivi certainly doesn't spoon-feed the reader. But persevere: it's worth it.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments