The Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat (1936): A Review
Author: Sadeq Hedayat
Publication Year: 1936
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pages: 112
Source: book, ebook, audiobook @storytel.tr
Genre: Modernist fiction, Surrealism, Psycho fiction, Literary fiction
There are rare books that do not merely reflect an individual's mood but encapsulate the profound despair of an entire nation. The Blind Owl is such a work. For many Iranians, it is not just a story, but a mirror of ongoing suffering, struggle, and loss - a narrative of failure that echoes painfully through generations.
At its core, The Blind Owl follows an unnamed protagonist, condemned to an endless cycle of nightmare and despair. His suffering is not only personal, but becomes a symbol for the existential pain of an entire nation. The horror depicted in the novel is unrelenting, and each new revelation renders previous torments insignificant by comparison. The narrative refuses to offer comfort, presenting only the bleak reality of anguish that deepens with every page.
The richness of The Blind Owl is haunting. It can be read as a universal meditation on the dissolution of self and identity, or as a national elegy for the loss and collapse of a collective soul. The novel is a tapestry woven from strands of modernism, surrealism, French Decadence, German Expressionism, Gothic, Horror, Lacanian psychoanalysis, Freudian psychoanalysis, Jung, Dark Romanticism, Historical fiction, Historical fantasy, Existentialism, Nihilism, and more. It is influenced by Kafka, Rilke, Joyce, Dostoevsky, André Breton, Gérard de Nerval, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Edgar Allan Poe, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Omar Khayyam, Ferdowsi, Arthur Schopenhauer, Sigmund Freud, and many others. That so much suffering, so much cultural weight, and so many philosophical questions can be contained within a mere hundred pages is, itself, a testament to the depth of Hedayat's despair.
Through its poetic, uncompromising language, Hedayat dismantles the foundations of religion, mythology, poetry, and identity. The Blind Owl is his elegy to a homeland he loved deeply, yet for which he saw no hope. The book is unapologetic in its bleakness and in the truths it exposes. Even as Iranians continue to grapple with their history and identity, the shadow cast by Hedayat’s despair remains. Yet, there is an ongoing effort among Iranians to fulfill Hedayat’s deepest hope for the country, to return to the cultural roots and traditions that, though repeatedly attacked, have never vanished. In striving to reclaim what was once great, even if flawed, Iranians seek to prove Hedayat wrong; that this time, a return to an authentic and resilient identity is not only possible, but inevitable.
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