The novel, "rooftops of tehran" by Mahbod Seraji is a coming of age story about Zari, Faheemah, Iraj, Ahmad, Doctor and the narrator, Pasha. The book is beyond wonderful. My main focus became the love story. The love story has a Shakespearean feeling. There is jealousy, guilt, insanity, love beyond death, murder, etc. All emotions common to mankind whether Iranian or not Iranian are in this novel. Not surprising, all of cry the same tears.
In rooftops of tehran my learning moment came when I began to focus on the complexity of love. Romantic love between two people easily becomes compounded with difficulties. The difficulty of loving one person deeply while your culture or parents might say no, this is not for you. Is it possible to turn this love off like you would a faucet? No. Therefore, the inner self becomes sick with longing, yearning and desire. The author used flashbacks from the streets of Iran and to an asylum to prove loss of love can drive us over the edge.
I focused on love in a friendship. A best friend is not an easy find. When you find a friend who laughs with you, at you, cries with you, protects you life becomes as colorful as the colors of a rainbow. It's as hard to live without that friend as it is to live without your lover. Life becomes unbearable. Mahbod Seraji writes "I was in love. But then, love is an incurable disease, don't you think?" What a good description of love.
In rooftops of tehran by Mahbod Seraji uses my favorite flower, the red rose, as a symbol for an unforgettable friendship. Pasha will plant a rose in an alley below the rooftops where so many good times were shared with all of his friends especially one. Soon, that rosebush becomes a symbol for all of the neighborhood. I loved the way Mahbod Seraji used the rose over and over throughout the pages of rooftops of tehran. I wanted to bite between my thumb and index finger many times. I can't do it. Iranians express deep feelings with this act.
Now that this book is finished I will dream of love: Love for grandparents, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers lovers, husbands and wives. It's all in rooftops of tehran. My only regret is that I can't experience sitting on a rooftop in tehran and laughing with my friends. Those rooftop visits were so very special and memorable.
May I use one more quote Mahbod Seraji wrote? "Life is like a boat without sails: there is no telling where this boat will take us or which shore we'll end up on." I'm waiting anxiously for Mahbod Seraji's next novel.
