| The Patience Stone Contributor(s): Rahimi, Atiq (Author), Seymour, Carolyn (Read by), McLean, Polly (Translator) |
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ISBN: 1441755071 ISBN-13: 9781441755070 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks OUR PRICE: $26.96 Product Type: MP3 CD - Other Formats Published: August 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary |
| Dewey: FIC |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.3" W x 7.5" (0.20 lbs) |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In Persian folklore, Syngue Sabour is the name of a magical black stone, a patience stone, that absorbs the plight of those who confide in it. It is believed that the day it explodes, after having received too much hardship and pain, will be the day of the Apocalypse. But here, the Syngue Sabour is not a stone but rather a man lying brain-dead with a bullet lodged in his neck. His wife is with him, sitting by his side. But she resents him for having sacrificed her to the war, for never being able to resist the call to arms, for wanting to be a hero, and in the end, after all was said and done, for being incapacitated in a small skirmish. Yet she cares, and she speaks to him. In fact, she begins to speak to him more and more, opening up her deepest desires, pains, and secrets. While in the streets rival factions clash and soldiers are looting and killing around her, she speaks of her life, never knowing if her husband really hears. And it is an extraordinary confession, without restraint, about sex and love and her anger against a man who never understood her, who mistreated her, who never showed her any respect or kindness. Her admission releases the weight of oppression of marital, social, and religious norms, and she leads her story up to the great secret that is unthinkable in a country such as Afghanistan. Winner of the Prix Goncourt, The Patience Stone captures with great courage and spare, poetic, prose the reality of everyday life for an intelligent woman under the oppressive weight of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. |
Contributor Bio(s): Rahimi, Atiq: - Atiq Rahimi, born in Afghanistan, fled to Francein 1984 and is now a renowned filmmaker and writer. The film of his novel Earth and Ashes was in the official selection at Cannes in 2004 and won a number of prizes. He returned to Afghanistan in 2001 to set up a writers' house in Kabul and to offer support and training to young Afghan writers and filmmakers. Seymour, Carolyn: -Carolyn Seymour was born in England and grew up on a farm on the Isle of Wight. Her rather eccentric Russian Irish parents instilled in her a love of reading and a passion for the countryside. She has lived in Los Angeles for the last thirty years, where she putters about in her garden, grows vegetables, entertains her children and friends, and hikes with her three glorious but ancient dogs. McLean, Polly: -Polly Mclean is a freelance translator based in Oxford, England. Previous translations include titles by Catherine Deneuve and Sylvia Kristel, as well as the award-winning Secret by Philippe Grimbert. |