[.uk] Dardedel: Rumi, Hafez & Love in New York (ISBN 1579620825)

Book Description:
Professor Pirooz, a Iranian-American who is despairing of his life and the state of today's world, flies from New York to Phoenix, wanders into the desert at night, and hopes to die. As he pours his heart out to nobody, two cactus plants engage him in conversation. They are the reincarnations of the great Persian poets Hafez and Rumi. They not only try to dissuade him from his plan, but urge him to return to New York, where they appear again to offer their support: Hafez as a 30-something taxi driver and Rumi in a variety of forms. Along the way we learn a great deal about both historical and contemporary Persia (Iran) and about love, as Hafez falls in love with a precocious 14-year-old he takes on as a fare. This playful and illuminating novel-in-verse not only brings these two great Persian poets to life, but also serves as a wonderful introduction to their work. Manoucher Parvin's imaginative love story - part contemporary fairy-tale, part mythology - not only touches the heart, but critically reflects contemporary mores, morals, philosophy, and society.

An Evergreen Epic of Humanity:
Dardedel displays an unquenchable thirst within man for love, perfection and humanity. The enchanting Mitra, the embodiment of everlasting love and light, enlightens a musical craving for love within man. Professor Manoucher Parvin has written a palatable, seductive tale that definitely leaves the reader begging for more. The wisdom of Hafiz and Rumi speaks directly to the heart of philosophy, social theory, and education; it demonstrates a bridge of understanding between the relationship of man to himself (Professor Pirooz) as well as the one between two cultures which are in desperate need of mutual empathy. Epilogue Ascendance: The Possibility of You and Me There is no illuminating nova. There is no cleansing rainstorm. There is no music lifting the spirit. There is no prayer seducing a miracle. There is only the possibility of me understanding you. There is only the possibility of you understanding me. There is only the possibility of one soul caressing another. There is only dardedel. "DARDEDEL"-Epilogue

Manoucher Parvin is the 21st-century Rumi!:
"Dardedel" is a glorious read -- nourished with whimsy, irony, compelling plot twists and passion. I commend this lovely work of verse to everyone from students of classical Middle Eastern literature to lovers of contemporary fiction. There is something for everyone in Manoucher Parvin's prose.

Dardedel--A novel of love and ideas: a 21st C Masterpiece!:
Dardedel, a novel in verse, is a masterpiece that one would read again and again. It sparkles with the wisdom and spirituality of the East and the science and rationality of the West. Its love story between the dazzling and brilliant Mitra and the legendary poet rebel Hafez will become a classic of the 21st Century. The other characters in the novel are the poet Rumi, Professor Pirooz, New York and God.

A Mezmorizing Book:
By reincarnating two legendary Persian poets Rumi and Hafez in New York Dardedel connects East and West,Past and Present and integrates science, art and spirituality in a brilliant fashion. Dardedel is very humorous and insightful.

Dardedel:
Resonating like some soundless bell, I could feel the heartache, the joy, the anguish, and the longing of the novel's characters! "Dardedel" is opening your heart to another heart - fully, without reserve. Dardedel "unchains us from the burdens of our isolation and loneliness. By uniting our soul with another soul our deepest thoughts and feelings are set free without the shame of judgment or the fear of betrayal". I was unprepared for what a true Dardedel really feels like. But I felt a thirst to Dardedel with someone for the first time in life! How wonderful! This loving, inspired work of art is a "magical mystery tour". It is lyrical, musical, and profoundly reverent and relevant. It is a testimony of our hunger for knowing, understanding, loving, living insightful and mindful lives. This connection, this dardedel, among the novel's characters, and between author and reader, is a communion - the sacred sharing of private, important, sincere thoughts and feelings. The extraordinary experience unfolds line after line, page after page - as consciousness and conscience heightens! The `magic' is Parvin's incredible imagination and creativity! Pirooz, the protagonist, a professor intent on suicide, meets the cacti-reincarnations of the great Persian Sufi poet-philosophers Rumi and Hafez in the heart of the Sonora desert in Arizona. Temporarily dissuaded from suicide by Rumi and Hafez, Pirooz returns to the equally inhospitable desert of New York City crowded with equally thorny people! During the return flight home, he dreams of God complaining about His own creation, mankind, as He dardedels with Pirooz. Pirooz's candid response is to ask God why everything God creates turns out to be a lemon. God's answer is best read for yourself. Hafez appears in New York City as a taxi driver to both learn about modernity and to make sure Pirooz does not commit suicide. He is followed by Rumi, whose mission is to look after Hafez and Pirooz. Rumi is also curious about modernity, but critical of it. In the interim, the sparkling Mitra falls in love with Hafez, and he with her. She carries a covenant of past and future unknown even to her. The `poem of poems', a mythical bird, is a brilliant portrayal of the `mysteries' that abound when art and science converge and reveal, in their union, their true spirit - not only in the book but also in life. Lastly is the hopeful poignancy when Pirooz writes "I am a Sufi atom, listen to my dardedel ... love has many hearts, truth many ears, beauty many eyes, and the human fate is not beyond the human reach". He touches the quintessential in the human spirit. This book is a priceless classic whose time has come.