A novel about Iranians in Exile [Persian Title: Dar Safar. Text available on this site
Away is indeed a photo album of some Iranian exiles, (immigrants, travellers, business men…) and a few non-Iranians, who linger in the memory of the narrator “as overlapped figures in a kaleidoscope”. All the characters are portrayed with the briefest pen-strokes of the author, and come to life vividly, three dimensional and familiar. Oftener than not the melancholy caused by nostalgia is wiped out with loud laughter created by some humorous remark or situation. Away is about homesickness but written with a unique wit which makes the whole work hilariously funny.
