REVIEW: Shahriar Mandanipour conjures joy and tragedy in ‘Seasons of Purgatory’

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CHICAGO: Award-winning author and journalist Shahriar Mandanipour’s short-story collection, “Seasons of Purgatory,” is best described as an exploration of the human experience — from victims of war and soldiers on the frontline to lonely souls treading water, Mandanipour explores the physical, emotional and spiritual facets of his characters.

The collection — translated into English by journalist Sara Khalili — moves through the cities of Iran to the countryside, telling tales from young and old in ways that are both unique and relatable.

The collection opens with “Shadows of the Cave,” which centers around Mr. Farvaneh, a particular man whose past life as a former government employee envelops him in mystery. After being incarcerated for a little over a month in his youth, his entire outlook on life has changed and it’s the little details that seem to trouble him. Next up is “Mummy and Honey,” in which a father inherits his father’s house and orders his sons to take up residence with him if they want their inheritance. Reluctantly agreeing to their father’s outdated demands, the brothers stay, but a viper that lives in the grounds of the property spells trouble for the three brothers and their families.

Mandanipour’s title story takes readers into the Iran-Iraq war, introducing us to Captain Meena’s soldiers and Nasser, a decomposing man leaning against a rock in a valley. Stuck in no-man’s land between Iraqi and Iranian troops, Nasser’s skeleton has merged into the landscape, and represents something different to each soldier.

Mandanipour’s stories contain moments of joy but are underpinned by tragedy. His characters resiliently push through the trauma that affects everyone and everything — including animals and nature — around them. Among the floating orange blossom petals are lives that are connected, no matter their species.

Mandanipour manages to conjure a sense of magic from the heartbreak of wars and the consequences of power structures. The themes of his stories, no matter how unique the specific tale, seem to repeat in different circumstances with different characters, to show that life is a circle that repeats — a cycle of failures and successes.