ePub Nothing Gained by Overcrowding (Studies in International Planning History) by Raymond Unwin in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A powerful look at the complexities of contemporary IranBy Roberto Toscano(Review I wrote for RESET online when the Italian edition was published)Mostafa Masturrsquo;s ldquo;Pig Bone and Leperrsquo;s Handsrdquo;. A powerful introduction to contemporary Iranian societyRoberto ToscanoWe talk about Iran every other day. For Americans; let alone Israelis; it is a true obsession; and also in Europe people look at the country with concern and suspicion. The Iranian regime; of course; deserves ndash; on the basis of a political analysis ndash; both concern andsuspicion; but what has been happening since the 1979 revolution goes much beyond politics and has affected the image of the country; in the sense of simplifying; schematizing; and losing depth and color. It is as if the country as a whole had been forced into a black chador; as if we paradoxically had taken for granted the image that the regime wants to project: chador-clad women; bearded demonstrators chanting ldquo;Death to Americardquo;; old Shia clerics defining religious orthodoxy.This is why the millions of Iranians who went to the streets protesting for the fraudulent 2009 presidential elections (ldquo;Where is my vote?rdquo;) were such a surprise. Suddenly the world discovered that Iranian society was not what the regime was projecting; but it was young; articulate; with women as courageous protagonists of the protest.A healthy new awareness; but one that runs the risk of producing a schematic reversal of a distorted image; producing an equally distorted one. After 2009; if we judge by what the media are producing; one might get the impression that Iranians are overwhelmingly young; middle class; dissident; secular and pro-Western. Politics is again at work; ostensibly for a good purpose (solidarity for Iranian democrats) but not necessarily on good; reliable grounds.How is; really; Iranian society? To answer this question we should not ask political leaders (neither Iranian nor American nor Europeans) and also we should take political commentators with more than a grain of salt.If we want to know what Iranian society is really like; we should listen to artists. For Iran; this has been true especially in the case of the great movie directors: Kiarostami; Panahi; Majidi; and recently Farhadi; whose ldquo;The separationrdquo;; that won the Silver Bear in Berlin; gives us a deep; many-layered; contradictory and fascinating view of Iranian society through what is apparently a merely private story.We know much less Iranian literature ndash; one could add; unfortunately; since Iranian writers could add another dimension to our knowledge; as well as to our enjoyment of good literature. This is why I believe that the publication of the Italian translation of Pig Bone and Leperrsquo;s Hands (ldquo;Osso di maiale e mani di lebbrosordquo; in Italian) by a contemporary novelist and short-story writer; Mostafa Mastur; must be welcomed as an important event; and one which should be followed by further efforts to translate and publish contemporary Iranian literature. The book; published by a newly founded publishing house; "Ponte 33"; is a real discovery; and one that deserves to draw both attention and commentary.One is immediately captured by an incredible rhythm; a narration that is apparently broken but is on the contrary coherent and fully unitary. It is almost a script ready for a movie. What came to my mind was Altmanrsquo;s ldquo;Short cutsrdquo;; which is not surprising; since Mastur is the Farsi translator of Raymond Carver; the author of the literary work from which that movie was drawn.The story? A high rise building in Tehran. Neighbors who reflect and embody the most disparate social conditions; religious or non-religious orientations; moral or immoral behaviors. Conservative families; young people with outrageous lifestyles (alcohol; drugs; unwanted teenage pregnancies); hardened professional criminals; and even a prostitute.Everything is mixed; everything is contradictory; everything is puzzling.(............)