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ke_sh's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
doriastories's review
4.0
A large and lavishly illustrated and ornamented book, detailing the epic legends of the early Persian kings. The illustrator has gone to great lengths to create pictures and images drawn from a wide range of earlier sources, and his labor is worth savoring. The book is divided into sections, which are broken up into chapters, all told in clear prose. Each major section is preceded with one or more rhyming tercets, which offer a kind of moral precept reflecting on the content of the forthcoming episode. The story consists of a long and sweeping series of episodes which detail the lives and deeds (and misdeeds) of Persian kings and their dynasties and their principal heroic knights, notably the great and celebrated Rostam. It is ornamented principally by the intricate and colorful illustrations and border motifs, as the writing style itself is fairly straightforward and well-paced, given the enormous amount of narrative material it encompasses.
Interestingly, a number of characters and narrative episodes had analogues in cultures far-distant from ancient Iran. For instance, the figure of Rostam, the heroic knight who performs prodigious feats of strength, has his cognate in the Irish warrior Cú Chulainn. The conception and birth of both men strongly hints at more-than-mortal origins, and their deeds place them in the category of quasi-divine. What is most striking, however, is that both Rostam and Cú Chulainn engage in single combat with their sons, who challenge them under cover of anonymity, and in each case, the son is slain by his father. Tragedy has its way with them both, however dignity is preserved through the warrior's death which both men crave and attain.
Large enough to be considered a coffee table book, this Shahnameh is worth reading and enjoying page by page. There are precious few happy endings, but the tales are romantic and interesting, and the pictures are works of art in their own right.
Interestingly, a number of characters and narrative episodes had analogues in cultures far-distant from ancient Iran. For instance, the figure of Rostam, the heroic knight who performs prodigious feats of strength, has his cognate in the Irish warrior Cú Chulainn. The conception and birth of both men strongly hints at more-than-mortal origins, and their deeds place them in the category of quasi-divine. What is most striking, however, is that both Rostam and Cú Chulainn engage in single combat with their sons, who challenge them under cover of anonymity, and in each case, the son is slain by his father. Tragedy has its way with them both, however dignity is preserved through the warrior's death which both men crave and attain.
Large enough to be considered a coffee table book, this Shahnameh is worth reading and enjoying page by page. There are precious few happy endings, but the tales are romantic and interesting, and the pictures are works of art in their own right.
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