Mirrors of the unseen
Subtitle: journeys in Iran
By: Jason Elliot
Edition: 1st U.S. ed.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 415
ISBN-13: 9780312301910
Subjects: Travel; Description and travel
Description: In our current climate of war and suspicion, Iran is depicted as the "next" rogue nation that America and the world must "deal with." But the rhetoric about nuclear weapons and jihad obscures the real Iran: an ancient nation and culture, both sophisticated and isolated, which still exists clandestinely in major cities as well as the country's remote mountains and deserts. Jason Elliot has spent the last four years traveling in Iran, and in this remarkable book he reveals the many sides of the culture, art, architecture, and people that Westerners cannot see or conveniently ignore. Part close reading of symbols and images, part history, and part intimate interviews with Iranians of many different kinds--from wealthy aristocrats at forbidden parties to tribal horsemen in the most remote mountain villages, who have never seen a Westerner--this is a thought-provoking book by an acclaimed adventurer and author.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Tehran; title: Not Kansas Any More; title: Common Knowledge; title: What the Persians have Ever Done for Us; title: The Weight of Assumption; title: Street Names, Old and New; title: Capital Growth; title: The Sweep of History; title: Trouble Ahead; title: Sorush, my Mentor; title: Heaven's Scent; title: Which Iran?; title: The Double Life; title: Tehran; title: Isfahan; title: The Faces of the Doomed; title: Geography; title: First Glimpses of Isfahan; title: History of the Chahar Bagh; title: Half the World; title: The Naqsh-e Jahan; title: The Royal Mosque; title: The Mosque of Sheikh Lutfullah; title: Gardens of the Unseen; title: The Vision of Shah Abbas; title: Grim History; title: Tehran; title: Gombad-e Qabus; title: Gorgan; title: Eastern Alburz; title: Golestan; title: Fatter is Better; title: Louise Firouz; title: Conspiracy Theory; title: Steppe Country; title: Ranch Life; title: The Rescue of the Caspian Horse; title: Opium Dog-Hell; title: A Day at the Races; title: Romans and Parthians; title: Mithra Myths; title: Parabolas and Colonnades; title: A Forgotten Corner of Iran; title: Golestan; title: The Sound of Eons; title: Soltaniyeh; title: Tabriz; title: Sanandaj; title: Takht-e Suleyman; title: The Traveller's Ritual; title: Mongol Hoards; title: Dark Days for Islam; title: Pax Mongolica; title: Fantasy: the Persianization of the Mongols; title: Uljeitu and the Italian Connection; title: Sunni or Shi'a?; title: Ali, Prince of Martyrs; title: A House of Strength; title: An Irreverent Host; title: Muqarnas; title: Border Manoeuvres; title: Wine and Women; title: Daydream at Vanished Shiz; title: Kirmanshah; title: Hamadan; title: Tehran; title: Shiraz; title: Trouble with Herodotus; title: 'Weststruck': Shades of Heidegger; title: The Sons of Adam; title: The Importance of Being Azerbaijani; title: The Virgin Castle; title: A Subterranean Discovery: What Byron Missed; title: The First Dome; title: Sasanian Rhapsody; title: Hafez and the Language of the Unseen; title: Blame the Greeks; title: Little Britain; title: Deja Vu; title: Begging For It; title: Aups; title: Isfahan; title: Shiraz; title: Firuzabad; title: An Unbeautiful Instrument; title: Phi, Fie...; title: Lines Visible and Invisible; title: The Riddle of the Maidan; title: Clues and Discoveries; title: Zizou's Honour; title: More non-Euclidean Speleology; title: Caveat Lector: Nasruddin's Pigeon; title: Aspects of Islamic Art; title: Epistemological Conundrums; title: The Problem of Meaning; title: All Roads Lead to Metaphysics; title: Dissolving Snowflakes; title: Persepolis; title: Yazd; title: Kerman; title: Natanz; title: Kashan; title: Mashhad; title: Money Talks; title: Persepolis; title: The Shah's Last Hurrah; title: Operation Ajax: The Un-Democratization of Iran; title: A Civilized Way to Differ; title: Dualities; title: Holy Smoke; title: Taxis of Evil; title: Rendezvous in Paradise; title: Rosewater; title: The Crazed Ones; title: Plus ca Change; title: Lessons in Profanity; title: To the Shrine; title: Full Circle.