Fortune Told in Blood
Fortune Told in Blood
Amidst the Iran-Iraq War, two Iraqi soldiers find themselves stationed on an isolated mountain peak with orders to observe the enemy's troop movements. As they watch the brutal destruction brought about by the intelligence they have gathered, their loyalty to their country and each other is tested.
As in all wars, both Iraq and Iran demonized each other as the war raged during the 1980s. In Fortune Told in Blood, written during the mid-1990s as Iran was recovering, Davud Ghaffarzadegan labors to undo the damage caused by this process. The author, an Iranian, writes from the Iraqi perspective, thus humanizing the enemy and challenging his reader to do so as well.
A deft and economical storyteller, Davud Ghaffarzadegan has received considerable critical and popular acclaim in Iran, though his work has never before been translated into English. M. R. Ghanoonparvar's exquisite translation remedies this oversight and expands the body of literature on the Iran-Iraq War available to the West.
Davud Ghaffarzadegan, a teacher and writer, lives in Iran and has published over twenty-five novels and short story collections.
M. R. Ghanoonparvar is Professor of Persian and Comparative Literature at University of Texas at Austin. He has published widely on Persian literature and culture. His recent books include In a Persian Mirror (1993), Translating the Garden (2001), Reading Chubak (2005), and Persian Cuisine (2006). He is also the translator of numerous novels, short story collections, and plays.
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Fortune Told in Blood
- An Interview with Davud Ghaffarzadegan
