Only Sound Remains by Hossein Asgari
March 2025 Feature Book - facilitated by Hellai Gul
Hello fellow readers,
Our second book for the year was Hossein Asgari’s debut Only Sound Remains. The general experience with the novel was varied, those with existing knowledge of Iran’s history and of Forugh Farrokhzad’s poetry had an easier time getting through the text. For others, who did not have any familiarity with either, it read as a bit dense and sometimes confusing. So we spent some time very roughly going through both key historical periods referred to in the novel and getting to know Forugh a little too (along with some of her poetry both in Persian and English form some collections I took along).
Once our discussion proper got under way, we covered a range of topics/themes:
the male gaze in the novel as ever present despite clear attempts to avoid pitfalls
disconnection from homelands and writing from diaspora
Forugh’s representations as an object of desire VS the man that obsessively admires her
Forugh’s failed traditional femininity
men constantly taking credit for Forugh’s talent and work
the silences in the story and if all hidden secrets need to come to light
direct quotation of long verses from Forugh’s poetry and how effective this was in the novel
father/son relationships
the affordances of writing exo-fictional and historical fiction
Thank you to everyone who came out and the great contributions to the discussion. Our April session will be held slightly late on May 2nd due to public holidays, and we will be joined by the fabulous Sarah Ayoub to discuss the Stella Prize shortlisted novel The Burrow by Melanie Cheng.
Our gathering was held at Arts & Cultural Exchange on sovereign Burramattagal lands of the Dharug nation. Always was, always will be.
Catch you all at our next meet!
Hellai Gul,
AWSBC Team.