thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
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I travelled to Iran in 2018 with my wife for our honeymoon because we wanted to kickstart the rest of our lives together with a great big adventure. Iran turned out to be one of our favourite countries in the world and, since then, I have been trying to find books by or about Iran, Iranians and Iranian history.
Dalia Sofer’s Man of My Time was one of the most notable books in 2020, or at least that is what the internet would have you believe. It tells the story of Hamid, an interrogator for the Iranian government, who has to bring the ashes of his father back to Iran from the US for burial. Not only does he have to confront his estranged family members, he has to come to terms with hard decisions he made in the past.
All of this sounds well and good, but the execution is poor. Sofer’s similes feel forced and mostly fall flat. Even though you spend the majority of the time with Hamid, the WAY his story is told feels disjointed and episodic. On one page, he commits a crime against his father, and on the very next chapter — no, the very next page — his entire family is migrating to the US without him; on one page, he is living with his girlfriend, and on the very next chapter, he has a one-page argument and she moves out. What happened to everything in between? The book feels slow and yet overly eager to get through the ‘greatest hits’ of the protagonist’s life.
Perhaps a bigger crime, according to Iranian reviewers on Goodreads, is the fact that this book consists of a whole lot of historical/factual errors — which makes sense, since Sofer left Iran for the US when she was two years old. Considering the poor story and the inaccuracies, I cannot recommend this book to anybody.
I travelled to Iran in 2018 with my wife for our honeymoon because we wanted to kickstart the rest of our lives together with a great big adventure. Iran turned out to be one of our favourite countries in the world and, since then, I have been trying to find books by or about Iran, Iranians and Iranian history.
Dalia Sofer’s Man of My Time was one of the most notable books in 2020, or at least that is what the internet would have you believe. It tells the story of Hamid, an interrogator for the Iranian government, who has to bring the ashes of his father back to Iran from the US for burial. Not only does he have to confront his estranged family members, he has to come to terms with hard decisions he made in the past.
All of this sounds well and good, but the execution is poor. Sofer’s similes feel forced and mostly fall flat. Even though you spend the majority of the time with Hamid, the WAY his story is told feels disjointed and episodic. On one page, he commits a crime against his father, and on the very next chapter — no, the very next page — his entire family is migrating to the US without him; on one page, he is living with his girlfriend, and on the very next chapter, he has a one-page argument and she moves out. What happened to everything in between? The book feels slow and yet overly eager to get through the ‘greatest hits’ of the protagonist’s life.
Perhaps a bigger crime, according to Iranian reviewers on Goodreads, is the fact that this book consists of a whole lot of historical/factual errors — which makes sense, since Sofer left Iran for the US when she was two years old. Considering the poor story and the inaccuracies, I cannot recommend this book to anybody.
willsank's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jchang's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
caitlancole's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent and Child death
Minor: Physical abuse
belgaer's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
valkyrie's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
meriwether's review against another edition
returned early to library because i found myself dreading to pick it up, and I don't want it to put me into a reading slump. i will say it wasn't bad
mendthecat's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent
jcamp's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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