Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran

I got hold of an early review copy of this book, and weighing in at 500 pages, wonder if the final edition was sculpted down to size. Overall I really enjoyed it, with that sought after 'wish it wasn't finishing' feeling. It was certainly very eye opening about a nation sometimes demonised and certainly not widely known about. The history and former greatness stuff was fascinating, and the author's patient coverage of different eras gave some real depth and dimension to the way he approached Iran and interpreted what he found. My only word of warning (and reason for the 4 rather than 5 star rating) is that the book was in places like ploughing a field - hard work. Now frankly I'm game for such literary and factual exertion, but the armchair travel tome reader beware, there's a bunch of notes and digressions (my favourite footnote is a touchingly prolix passage in reference to his discussion on various genealogical links between different equine subspecies!)
Overall though, if you like a methodical, quasi-scholarly approach to travel investigations, this'll knock your detail oriented socks off. As I said, I enjoyed the journey and think he's a really entertaining writer with a real contribution to make.

The Other Side (9/9 people found this helpful)

I really enjoyed this book. It made me appreciate just how old the civilisation of Iran actually is, and made clear some of the differences between Iran and other Middle Eastern countries which are often lumped together. Elliot clearly knows and loves the country and its people and shows us how much more there is than the current superficial scare-mongering by politicians. What I found most heartening to read about was the humanity of the people Elliot met, their wish for peaceful co-existence with other people, and their rejection of the religious fundamentalists. They take the long view - the Shah came and went, and so will the current regime, while the Iranians and their history and culture will remain.

A Wonderful Second Book (9/9 people found this helpful)

I'm sure I've expressed these views before, here on the blog, but it often seems to me that the nineties were not good years for the emergence of new travel writers. But, since the start of the decade there have been a number of fine new travel writers emerge, and a number of them have recently produced the all-important second book.

Perhaps, one of the most accomplished of these writers in Jason Elliot. His accunt of travels around Afghanistan, An Unexpected Light, was put together during the safer years after the Taliban had been driven out and before they started the current conflict; it was a wonderful book.

Mirrors of the Unseen is the account of a number of trips to Iran, indeed, Elliott covers much of the country, including some of the more isolated regions that are ignored by Tehran.

This is travel writing of the highest order. Elliot stays with ordinary families, meets many interesting new-friends on his travels on gives us a good account of contemporary life in Iran. There are the sophisticated, and educated, families in Terhan and the traditional farmers who's lives give a glimpse of ancient cultures and civilisations. There is a lot of history as befits a book about one of the great cultures of all time. I knew that Persian intellectuals - mathematicians and scientists - had given us many of the discoveries and inventions that we take for granted. But I hadn't quite realised just how many there were. No wonder modern day Iran is so frustrated with the clichés trotted out by George Bush and his acolytes.

For much of the journey Elliot is following in the footsteps of Robert Byron who travelled in Persia and Afghanistan during the early part of the twentieth century. Byron's classic, The Road to Oxonia is often described as the first modern travel book - and indeed it is a fine book (and well worth hunting down itself). It is fascinating following Elliot, following Byron, not least because Jason's experiences and observations bear out the skill and dedication of Byron's work.

Although Elliot followed Byron he is no `heir' to Byron's style. Someone like Bruce Chatwin was an `heir' to Byron, not least in the way that it is often argued that Chatwin's greatest creation was his own character. Elliot, is less colourful but not less fascinating. Elliot, seems to me to be, to Colin Thubron what Chatwin was to Byron - and that's praise indeed.

Mirrors of the Unseen is a wonderful book. I shan't tell you too much about it as I don't want to spoil the fun. It is wise, warm and keenly observed. But it is also ground-breaking as Elliot manages to decipher the mysteries of some important and ancient architecture, that had puzzled all kinds of experts for hundreds of years.

If you like your travel literature then you'll love this

Mirrors of the Unseen provide distorted reflections.. (17/34 people found this helpful)

The author's previous book (Travels In Afghanistan) got wonderful reviews from such people as Colin Thubron and Eric Newby, so it's whilst bearing this in mind, that I write this review for "Mirrors"..and also as someone who prefers to armchair travel.
And I have to say that I found this book rather heavy going. It begins with a fairly typical start..The author lands in Iran and makes ..various observations about Tehran, and it trips along for a bit..Taxi rides, hotel rooms..he is invited to a party, he meets people..So far, so good.
However, interspersed between the..frankly, only moderately insightful or even interesting, first -hand accounts of the places and people he meets, are pages of, to my mind, dull and unnecessary facts and historical background, regarding Iran's history, politics and architecture..From my personal point of view, this is so much dreary padding and waffle..If a reader wishes to know about Xerxes, or the Seljuks, he or she will, presumably, be quite capable of researching this at their own leisure..
I can't see that dumping bits of historical texts into what I took to be, essentially, Travels in Iran, is either enhancing the narrative, or filling in anything that helps the reader to understand the nature of the people he meets or their attitudes. I found it annoying to be continually tripping over, and trying to dodge, pages of facts and information, I either already knew, or didn't particularly care to know, just to get on with the good bits.
To my mind, any travel book is only as interesting as the writer's ability to relay the anecdotal with a bit of zip, and to paint the landscapes vividly..if he or she should fail to ..meet any interesting people, or to see anything fascinating..he could at least have the courtesy not to fill in the lack of crocodile wrestling with A level history notes.
I had looked forward to meeting some of Iran's people, and to learning about their lives, their views, their hopes..even in a small way, to get a mental image of the scenes and the general..feeling for the country, to let the pages conjure up the author's experiences. Silk purses and sow's ears sprang to mind at this point..Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of..a certain type of earnest, scholarly chap who goes off to ..re-trace Byron's steps, the T.E Lawrence ,Burton afficionados,and so I try to avoid those like the plague..
All very Ripping Yarns, generally, but it bores me rigid.
I got the picture, when the author had revealed, quite early on in the book, that he had grown a beard , in order to "blend in with the natives"..and was scornfully told by a student that everyone had therefore considered him to be working for the secret police. He somewhat plaintively reported that "it had worked in Afghanistan" which at least did make me laugh.
(I assume the beard had probably,far less to do with this reaction,than ..someone evidently, merely sticking out like a sore thumb, and hanging about the park watching people, but there you go...)
But I appreciated the author's candour in recounting this information, for the rare amusement value in what was otherwise,sometimes, a pretty dreary old read,about a much misunderstood country that should have provided a wealth of interesting and, I would have considered ,thoughtful and evocative genuine reflections of its people and their land.

Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran

Jason Elliot

Reader Reviews:

Warm, surprising but no ripping yarn (0/0 people found this helpful)

The Other Side (9/9 people found this helpful)

A Wonderful Second Book (9/9 people found this helpful)

Mirrors of the Unseen provide distorted reflections.. (17/34 people found this helpful)

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