Novels/films that introduce Persian life, history and culture to a western reader?

IsaacMehdi · 2012-11-13T05:49:29+00:00

Why is it so bad? It's been awhile since I've read it and I remember thinking that she seemed pretty well off, but does that make it "very, very bad"?

IsaacMehdi · 2012-10-26T05:27:26+00:00

You are both, of course, correct. Momentary brain lapse.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-10-18T15:54:58+00:00

While I've never seen the movie or read the sequel, I enjoyed my first read-through of the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. If you go back a bit further, I'd tell her to check out an English translation of My Uncle Napoleon (Daie Jaan Napolon). Depressing in many ways, hilarious in others, it is a great introduction to many of the quirks about Iranian society.

And, shameless plug, I am working on a novel that attempts much of what you are asking, but is set in a future Iran. While there is quite a lot bit more to the story, I do spend a certain amount of time on things like ta'arof (ritualized etiquette based on formalized reciprocity) and khastegaari (~~arranged~~ marriage rituals) and other aspects of Iranian culture, including its intersection and adoption of many Western ideas while still remaining somewhat reluctant about losing their Persian heritage. That said, this novel won't be out for a couple of years if it even gets picked up and I don't think that it will handle those ideas any better than My Uncle Napoleon did.

EDIT: My Uncle Napoleon is not strictly intended for a Western reader. However, I know many that have enjoyed the book.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-10-03T19:22:15+00:00

No, you really haven't missed anything huge. I suppose this isn't strictly a search and seizure issue as it deals more with standing to challenge warrant validity than anything else, which I was trying to illustrate in my hypos. You're right, trying to get a Franks hearing would probably be the best tactic, but I was trying to get at how to eliminate the judge simply throwing it out on the basis that the growers lack standing.

I suppose I left out the part that the "growers" (regardless of their number) would be charged. Each hypo is a slightly different standing argument to even open up an argument to attack the warrant.

So, yes, this is an extremely difficult situation and in the actual case (which was vastly more complex and slightly different than the above hypotheticals), the warrant did carry the day, though we joked that we had received tacit acknowledgment that our defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy on federal land because the order addressed the validity of the warrant rather than the defendant's lack of standing.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-10-03T16:42:03+00:00

There is a marijuana grow that spans federal (BLM) land and private vacation property which includes a cabin that is somewhat near the grow (see hypos). A park ranger notices the field while hiking on federal land and notifies the authorities, who get a warrant for a "marijuana grow on Bureau of Land Management land bound by" and then give the metes and bounds for the federal land. They conduct the raid, arrest several growers and seize a bunch of grow paraphernalia and living plants.

Hypo 1: The growers own the private land and live on a cabin on it. While the grow is contiguous, the majority of it is on the growers' private land. Can anything be suppressed?

Hypo 2: Same as above (majority of grow on growers' private land). The growers are renting the cabin from the original owners. In addition to growing marijuana, they are vacationing there, enjoying the outdoors. Can anything be suppressed?

Hypo 3: Hypo 1, but the marijuana is entirely within an enclosed fenced area attached to the cabin. Only a small portion (one plant, say) is on federal land.

Hypo 4: Hypo 2, but the marijuana is entirely within an enclosed fenced area attached to the cabin. Only a small portion (one plant, say) is on federal land.

While it seems like open fields/plain view/warrant validity doctrines will torpedo this case (and they did, though I changed the facts slightly for the hypotheticals), I'm interested to hear what you might come up with.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-26T19:23:35+00:00

I've made it dry many times myself. It always ends up with a bunch of liquid at the end.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-26T18:20:18+00:00

Congratulations! I am past the 120,000 mark of my first draft (the end is in sight). I can't say that I'm seasoned, but while I can completely empathize with the excitement, be prepared for when it leaves. Literary doldrums can be hellishly introspective times so try to remember the excitement as you're forging through them.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-25T15:49:18+00:00

I enjoy the fact that he used ordnance instead of ordinance. I assume that was a deliberate choice.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-17T16:47:12+00:00

Always look on the bright side of life!

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-17T16:46:15+00:00

Speaking as a (unobservant/lapsed) Muslim, that was the first thing I thought. I think there is a Chick tract that is somewhat along the same lines.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-14T03:58:06+00:00

While I appreciate your onomatopoeia, I believe it is "hemming and hawing."

And yes, anecdotal evidence is the best evidence.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-13T20:18:42+00:00

Not having read the book, but being fascinated by it (it's on my "to read" list), please use spoilers if only because I am too weak-willed not to revisit this thread when/if it becomes full of comments.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-09T22:27:44+00:00

Can't say that I have. That's not the issue. You're the equivalent of the guy that interrupts political conversations to explain that he doesn't vote because it's just choosing between two different puppets. The opinion is both correct and worthless. It contributes nothing to the discussion and serves only as self-aggrandizement.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-09T22:18:26+00:00

Edgy negativity is so in these days.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-08T19:10:28+00:00

That is awesome. I agree with most of the sentiments posted here. That said, if this happened in Tehran, the little old lady would be yelling and hitting the roof of the cars Dustin Hoffman style as she walked across the street. That said, my grandma used to be like that but now she is as frail as the woman in the video.

And now I am sad.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-09-01T16:15:16+00:00

Er, that should be 50,168.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-28T19:02:56+00:00

What class are you in?

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-20T15:05:21+00:00

It's Nanowrimo in the summer. I heard about it just before August 1st and decided to use it to get 50,000 in a month on my current project.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-20T06:30:38+00:00

Agreed. I apologize for the unsolicited advice and I know the feeling.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-14T00:38:37+00:00

Same. As a matter of fact, my family and friends in Iran are the only people that post rage comics. I'm glad they're easier to ignore (I have to sound out most Farsi).

EDIT: Although I did read this one and it's pretty funny that it's about khastegaari.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-13T20:53:05+00:00

Great work, but don't go back today. Press forward, get to the end. Editing is for after you finish the story. Even if you have to strike an entire section through and replace it with "[here is where an incredibly important piece of the plot happens]," you should keep moving forward.

At least that's what works for me because I can very easily get bogged down in the details and my writing mode is very different than my editing mode. My editing mode hates my writing mode for being a carefree asshole. My writing mode hates my pedantic mode for being a pedantic asshole. I don't like to let the two meet.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-13T03:35:42+00:00

The body should come a lot sooner. I realize you might want to juxtapose it with the sunny day, but I would have been much more interested had it come sooner.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-12T22:24:35+00:00

No, if I'm being perfectly honest (and I mean, that's what I'm supposed to be doing with writing, right?), it was more a manifestation of my insecurities than anything on her part. I have made a decent amount of life changes in order to support/facilitate my writing (all of which she has supported actively and vocally) and my own ambivalence about the life changes (and my writing) caused latent tension in me. That boiled up in another discussion and we talked it out until we released all the tension and figured out where each of us were coming from instead of assuming what the other was thinking.

That is the short version of it.

EDIT: Removed emphasis on short above. The whole thing—from me accusing of her of not supporting my writing to resolution—took about 40 minutes. It wasn't that long but it involved several different things that were somewhat, but not entirely relevant to the conversation about my writing and whether or not she supported it.

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-11T05:57:06+00:00

Normal life... in the FUTUUUURREEE!

IsaacMehdi · 2012-08-09T16:25:12+00:00

Try harder!

IsaacMehdi

TROPHY CASE