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Filling a long-neglected gap in the travel writing of the region, Jason Elliot's Mirrors of the Unseen is a rare and timely portrait of the nation descended from the world's earliest superpower: Iran. Animated by the same spirit of exploration as its acclaimed predecessor, An Unexpected Light, and drawing on several years of independent travel and research, this thought-provoking work weaves together observations of life in contemporary Iran with history, politics, and a penetrating enquiry into the secrets of Islamic art. Generously illustrated with the author's own sketches and photographs, Mirrors of the Unseen is a rich, sensitive, and vivid account of a country and its culture.
"An important look at the forces at play in a region starting to dominate the Middle East."—The Star-Ledger (Newark)
"Armchair travelers will enjoy moving with Elliot through both fabled cities and remote corners of Iran."—The Christian Science Monitor
"A work of profound thought, imagination, passion, and ambition. It should be widely read."—The Guardian (U.K.)
"Whatever stereotypes we may have crumble in the wake of Elliot's encounters with ordinary Iranians. . . . Mirrors of the Unseen takes us into a very different Iran, and the journey is fabulous. . . . Elliot writes like an angel."—The Providence Journal
crole
Posted November 2, 2008
This is a great read for those who worship Iran's past glories and believes Iran - its empires and leaders, artists and intellectuals, were the prime movers of Western and much of Esastern civilizations. The authhor also sheds light on Persian Islamic architecture. At times, however, the author gets carried away; objectivity is nowhere strongly evident in his descriptions of Iran's past glories.<BR/><BR/>The author presents his journey in too easy and positive a light, portraying Iranians everywhere as supportive, absolutely friendly and brimming with hospitality and friendship. This appears to be overstated<BR/><BR/>There is also the unavoidable unplesant pitfall as for many of those who come from this millieu in Britain, apparently: a sleazy seam of racism: as in the description of his meeting up with a Jewish shopowner, whom he describes as greedy, voracious and dishonest, without telling us anything about the religion or racial background of the others who cheated him in his travels, and whom he indulgently forgives. There is also a factual error in his description of the Jewish propher Daniel's tomb, whom the Persians revere, he says (the implication being: in spite of his Jewishness). He cannot avoid a sly comment on the improbability of Israeli parallels. For his information - and that of his readers: the prophet Daniel is considered by the Shiá as having predicted the appearance of the prohpet Ali, which, by reflection, cannonizes Daniel. Yet the tomb bears almost no mention of the Jewish tradition, the tombstone itself is a Persian-Arabic inscribed marble. As opposed to this, there are no Muslim prophets in Israel who predicted the appearance of any Jewish prophets. Rather, the traditional tombs of King David and others are open to Muslims and Christians; The Muslims hardly ever visit them.
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Posted June 28, 2010
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Overview
Filling a long-neglected gap in the travel writing of the region, Jason Elliot's Mirrors of the Unseen is a rare and timely portrait of the nation descended from the world's earliest superpower: Iran. Animated by the same spirit of exploration as its acclaimed predecessor, An Unexpected Light, and drawing on several years of independent travel and research, this thought-provoking work weaves together observations of life in contemporary Iran with history, politics, and a penetrating enquiry into the secrets of ...