The Colonel

Praise

“This important novel offers at least some glimmer of insight into recent history that remains quite opaque to most of us…and perhaps even to many Iranians themselves.”
—Paste

“Yes, it’s a good book.”
—Vice-chairman of the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (although the book is still unavailable in Iran) in the New York Times

“Dowlatabadi combines the poetic tradition of his culture with the direct and unembellished everyday speech of the villages. With this highly topical new novel Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Iran’s most important novelist, sheds light on the upheavals, which haunts his country until today.”
—Man Asian Literary Prize nomination citation

“[A] masterpiece.” —Quarterly Conversation

“A demanding and richly composed book by a novelist who stands apart.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Mr. Dowlatabadi draws a detailed, realist picture of Iranian life, especially that of the rural poor, in language that is complex and lyrical, rather than simplistic.” —The Financial Times

“The Colonel is a remarkable and important book … a masterpiece.” —The Globe and Mail

“The nature of authoritarians is not to learn from mistakes but to attempt to erase them. The Colonel is a very thorough accounting of those mistakes, and of their cost, and a demonstration of the necessity, for humanity’s sake, of overcoming them.” —The Rumpus

“Iran’s greatest writer.”—The Millions

“It’s about time everyone even remotely interested in Iran read this novel.”
—The Independent

“An affecting and beautiful novel.” —The Literary Review

” … Instructive … a stirring tale replete with the hideous viscera of violent confrontation.” 
—Booklist

“An outstanding master achievement.”—Der Spiegel

“The Colonel is a page-turning panorama of Iranian mental anguish, producing visions and nightmares like dark exotic blossoms.”
—Neue Zurcher Zeitung

“This novel has what it takes to become a strong and irresistible window into Iran.”—Die Zeit

“…a very powerful work.”—Michael Orthofer, The Complete Review

“Because of its honesty and indeed brutal clarity of language the novel has so far not been published in its original language, Persian…[an] honest and truly literary account.”
—English Pen

Praise for Missing Soluch

“Beautifully and incisively rendered, and imbued throughout with hope.”—Publishers Weekly

“There are some brilliantly tough pieces of writing…[The original’s] vigour comes through in translation.”—Times Literary Supplement

“Brings East of Eden to mind… Dowlatabadi knows a world that has seldom overlapped with the modern novel.”—The New York Sun

“Dowlatabadi has created a masterpiece.”—Words Without Borders