In first person, the narrator offers a string of hazy, dreamlike recollections fueled by opium and alcohol. But whereas Raskolnikov has intellectually convinced himself that he must commit the crime for the greater good, the pen-case painter acts on instinct and seems oddly unaware of what he has done'-īook Synopsis A new English translation of one of the most important, controversial Iranian novels of the twentieth century A Penguin Classic Written by one of the greatest Iranian writers of the twentieth century, Blind Owl tells a two-part story of an isolated narrator with a fragile relationship with time and reality. Both are guilty of a horrible crime and paranoid of being arrested by the police at any moment. Both characters are also isolated in a tomb-like room, surrounded by deafening echoes of disturbed thoughts. The protagonist of Blind Owl suffers from the brain fever characteristic of many of Dostoevsky's heroes such as Crime and Punishment's Raskolnikov. Influenced by European writers like Kafka and de Maupassant, Hedayat also reveals a strong affinity with Dostoevsky.

Part three gives readers a glimpse into the grim realities that unlock the mysteries of the first part. The novel transitions to a one-page part two where reader find the narrator covered in blood and waiting for the police to arrest him. He spends time painting the covers of pen cases only to paint the exact same scene: an old man wearing a cape and turban sitting under a cypress tree, separated by a small stream from a beautiful woman in black who is bending down to offer him a waterlily. In part one, he relates his own story in the first person, in a string of hazy, dreamlike recollections fueled by opium and alcohol.

About the Book 'Written by one of the greatest Iranian writers of the twentieth century, Blind Owl tells a three-part story of a pen-case painter, an isolated narrator with a fragile relationship with time and reality.

The blind owl by sadegh hedayat