The Blind Owl : Book review



 

Book Review

 

Title: The Blind Owl

Author: Sadegh Hedayat

Genre: Translation (Persian)

 

 

The Blind Owl chronicles a man’s descent into madness and deterioration. We have our unnamed narrator who appears as though he is making a confession to himself-an owl shaped shadow on the wall. The narrative is pretty unique as it appears like two stories. The first one comprises of repeated imagery and has a resemblance to Kafka’s writings. The second story is in italics font which tells the story of an opium driven man, his childhood, past experiences and mourning over the woman he lost. It reminds you of Old Rosa by Reinaldo Arenas. 


Written in first person, the narrator delves into ruminations of life and death, loss of loss, marriage, separation and sex. Throughout the story, you find yourself spiraling deeper and deeper into the stream of consciousness of the narrator. There is an eeriness about this entire story, right from its setting to the characters. 

 

The language is disturbingly beautiful with its poetic descriptions of nature and feelings of the character. The tone of the book is melancholic throughout and projects the character’s despair, distress and his inner demons and delusions. You are torn between wanting to praise the lyrical language and dealing with the content that eventually weighs on your mind. The title makes you contemplate on the symbolic representation of owl. While its considered as a representation of wisdom in the west, our eastern counterparts consider this as a bad omen. Perhaps this explains why the narrator views himself as an owl, justifying his journey to self-destruction. 

 

The Blind Owl is no easy read. While it’s a masterpiece as far as literature is considered, its dark, and unsettling content makes you oscillate between reality and delusion. Reading this book is an unusual experience. 

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