The Colonel by Mahmood Dawlatabadi

As a Pakistani, I find the Iranian revolution fascinating. It is a lesson for all Islamist apologists in what can go wrong. Dowlatabadi does a faboulous job in presenting a very dark picture of post revolutionary period where everything is breaking down, chaos; and among this chaos the protagonist a nameless colonel is trying to live an ordinary life, pruning himself, dealing with all issues as normally as possible. It's the portrayal of human nature at its most vulnerable state. This quest for normality surrounded by unimaginable chaos is a very real but never spoken about human trait. This evolutionary ability to strive to be normal represents the spirits quest for survival. The spirit dudes itself, with lies and justifications in order to keep on living. Doalatabad presents it beautifully.
Than there is the immortal Khowaja Khizer, which for me was the most intriguing character of this very dark tale. For me he represented another set of human traits, justification/reason and quest for power. Quest for power justifies reasoning any injustice. This is a difficult and complicated force which has no right or wrong but it is very real palpable and real entity, which we all experience on almost a daily basis.

The only reason I gave 4 stars to this absolute masterpiece was because a lot of context is needed before the book can be fully enjoyed. I have been lucky as I have a few Iranians in my study group who have guided me through its confusing parables and historical contexts.