The Blindfold Horse: Memories of a Persian Childhood (Tauris Parke Paperbacks) Paperback – Bargain Price, July 29, 2004

The Blindfold Horse by Shusha Guppy is a very special Memoir of a Persian childhood. I've read many other Persian memoirs, but I found this book really captivating, well written , very informative, filled with fascinating characters and lots of interesting new information. I loved hearing about Shuska's family, her grandfather who was a famous mullah , he died in his sleep at 105, her parents, her extended family, her schooling, the family servants, her education, family friends, and her upbringing. My only complaint was that this edition wasn't edited very carefully. 2 chapters were were totally repeated word for word which is absurd, a good editor should have been on the ball and have caught that . The 2 repeated chapters were A Little Night Music and The Princess, but other than this slight glitch I would give this book top marks. I also loved The Secret of Laughter which Shusha Guppy also wrote, which are stories, and they're magical tales from classical Persia. I got The Secret of Laughter from an English bookstore in Istanbul, they insisted I had to buy the book ( although Amazon sells all 3 of Shusha's books), and they were right), and I plan on getting very soon A Girl in Paris ( about Shuska's time in Paris when she was very young, and attending university. I'm just sorry that Shusha only wrote these 3 books, this is really worth reading, it's a very special memoir.

Until I read this book, I virtually knew nothing about what the life is really like in Iran, even though I've read a few books from the country. The author starts with her family's origin, so to speak, by telling stories of her great-great-grand father who became Haji, and goes down the generations to her own time. Through anecdotes and episodes, she tells of bazaar, social life of different social status people, old remedies for certain sicknesses, how they educated their children, how they treat girls differently from boys, what it is like to be a servant, what roles mullahs play in politics and religion, how some tried to westernize the country and how others opposed, what it was like in the first movie theatres, how they tried to cool themselves during the summer heat, etc, etc.As you read, the life in Iran becomes very vivid and alive in your heart, as if you yourself grew up with the author, and you start understanding the Persian people and the way they are in very positive ways.She mentions about religions and politics, as her family has always been one of the powerful and well-respected families which played important roles in religions and politics of the country. 1979 revolution was certainly a bitter experience for many Iranian people. She definitely regrets about it also. But she talks about it rather objectively which allows the reader to see the situation with positive attitude.Some of the anecdotes are hilarious, unimaginable to some of us. You will find out what they use to treat laringitis and bronchitis, their best remedy which outworks any of the western medicine, or who is the best bone fixer when you broke your bone, or what it is like to be married at age 12.Very very colorful book. You will find a lot of things you have never imagined, and you will gain a lot of knowledge and love for Iranian people. Recommend you 100%!

Guppy writes in a conversational engaging style about a period that is irretrievably lost, an Iran -- or Persia -- that seemed, from her perch of privilege, more open & cosmopolitan, although there are clearly cautionary notes concerning the role of women, as well as religious strictures. Her companion book, A Girl in Paris, is equally appealing.

Shusha's story telling is so sweet and warm.From her name, I thought she is not from Iran,( not a persian name!) but, yes she is Persian, and her voice is beautiful. But why dose she insist to call the country Persia? The first half of the book, is written so openly and modest, then she just takes us to locations, places, and not so significant introduction of friends and neighbors, when she hardly talks about her siblings and parents.It was difficult to finish the book, still waiting for a catch!Her refernce to the 1979 Iranian revolution, makes the reader think: "so there is no Persia any more"??? The country we know stands still, with any name Shusha likes to call it.

Growing up in Iran during the 1950s is made to sound idyllic, even though author Shusha Guppy lived in a rapidly changing world. I picked up this book after reading Nafisi's brilliant memoir about life in Iran after the Shah, called "Reading Lolita in Tehran." I was curious about Iranian life during Reza Shah's reign, and according to this author it was darn near perfect.At least, if you had money.Shusha's family wasn't rich by American standards: their summer home was a tent and they had no car. Her father was a very religious man and a respected poet, and was greatly honored by his contemporaries. It might surprise some of us who tend to lump all mullahs into one unflattering category, that he sent his daughter to be educated at a series of private schools. She grew up to become a singer and songwriter, and the multi-lingual London editor of "The Paris Review." That alone tells me she received a far better education than most of us here in America.Shusha Guppy is also a gifted story-teller. The decades before the Iranian revolution of 1979 still required obedience and docility from women, and the author is a keen observer of the crippling effect this had on some of her sex. That's why I don't quite understand why she blames women for refusing to give up their veils, and eventually playing into the hands of reactionary mullahs.Despite this slight sour note, this book reads like the tales of a modern Scheherazade, who regales us with matchmaking bathhouse attendants and philandering mullahs, strict teachers and loving fathers, and of course, the blindfold horse treading round and round in a cloud of yellow turmeric and dreaming of paradise.Paradise is a Persian childhood as remembered by this author.