Rooftops of Tehran

To read a wonderful post about Mahbod Seraji's Rooftops of Tehran (one of my favorite books - not just from these studies, just plain one of my favorites), see Carly Fricano's blog. She offers an articulate view that talks about the engaging nature of the book as well as its potential secondary-ed utility.

Rooftops of Tehran

Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji is turning out to be a pretty good read. I haven't quite finished the book yet, but thought I'd do a quick post about it. 

The novel is very engaging and the prose is rich; Seraji makes complex characters witty and fun. He tackles large and intricate concepts while managing to keep the reader flowing from page to page.

The main characters are  primarily 17-20 year-olds and Seraji writes them as such. They're funny. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes as a result of adolescence.

I don't want to talk too much about the book because Marie and I think you'll probably read some of it and we're not sure which parts yet, but here's the basic breakdown:

Characters

Pasha (main character, narrator)

Ahmed (Pasha's best friend)

Doctor (Pasha's mentor)

Faheemeh (Ahmed's girlfriend)

Zari (Doctor's fiancee, Pasha's secret love)

Setting

Tehran, 1973 (action)

Tehran, 1974 (vignettes of the near future interspersed throughout)

Some background on the Iranian government of the time is definitely helpful (read: important), but we'll get there later.