Posted on August 26, 2014 in Persian Books
The US invasion of Iraq and its correlation with the war, Iraq waged against Iran is the main theme of this successful novel by Sadegh Kramyar. It focuses on the relationship between Aslan; an Iranian man and a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who is opposed to the US, and his son Peyman who disagrees with his own father and supports the US –led invasion of Iraq.
The story is set in 2002 and 2003 and it focuses on Aslan’s family. Aslan was among Iranian soldiers who put up a fight against Saddam’s army to shield the Iranian city of Khorramshahr from invading forces.
He lost his daughter during the invasion. Twenty years on, he sees images of a woman on TV-during the US-led invasion of Iraq and thinks that she is the daughter he lost two decades earlier.
He travels to Iraq, which is now under occupation, in search of his lost daughter, locates her, and tries to bring her back home.
The approach of The Spoil, which is set in the thick of war and also features efforts by Aslan to save an American servicewoman involved in a serious road accident, is so humanly in nature that makes it an ideal read not just for the Iranians but people all over the world.