The Secret of Laughter: Magical Tales from Classical Persia - Hardcover

Loose Ends, Radio 4: well-remembered and beautifully written...vivid description...wonderful moral tale... exotic book; Ted Hughes: Somehow she puts you in touch with the ancient experience of a whole people... the real river of souls and physical ritual history; which is the genius of Persia.; Nathalie Sarraute: (She makes you live) moments of real enchantment...freshness, delicacy, intensity.; Patrick Leigh Fermor: She writes with a fluency and charm that seem to come as naturally as breathing. The Times Weekend Review, 30th April 2005. Review by Roger Scruton; "Guppy heard these tales in her childhood, has carried the memory of them around the cities of Europe, telling them to children, embellishing them with details and wisdom of her own, and now writing them down in polished versions that are models of narrative clarity." "Reading these cheerful and heart-warming stories, one is struck by the overwhelming act of cultural suicide that has caused the mullocracy to deny not only the facts of life but also the great literary tradition that found such charming ways to approve them." Financial Times, 21st May 2005: 'Charming and digressive, they [the Stories] are full of sorcery, love affairs and tyrants who are thwarted by clever, resourceful women.' Mail on Sunday, 27th June 2005. Reviewed by John Williams: 'A bewitching collection of folk tales.' 'They reveal a wonderfully rich culture, full of spirited princesses, headstrong lovers and heroic warriors. In contrast to the curent, desperately limited portrait of islam in the media, it's a surprisingliy sensual collection, revealing a strongly female-centred society. All in all, this is remarkably subversive for a book of fairy stories.' 'A delightful read' Times Higher Education Supplement 'The Secret of Laughter...allows us to witness the ability of literature to preserve a culture...' Times Higher Education Supplement '...a more charming, alluring, unique book will not be published this - or any other - year. The Secret of Laughter is a 200 page treasury of "Magical Tales form Classical Persia" which Guppy heard as a young girl and which she re-tells here in her own unobtrusive and entrancing words...''...full of magic and strangeness.''...ordered and conversational, free-flowing yet structured.''Each story if filled with...charm and humour...''...a burst of relieving magic...regrettably brief but repeatedly memorable...a gem of a book...' Social Affairs April 2005. Review by Douglas Murray, bestselling author and freelance journalist. 'The simplicity, distinctive humor and vivid imagery of the book enchant the reader with their effable charm.'Center for Iranian Studies Newsletter, Fall 2005. 'Here is Shusha Guppy doing what she does so well - recreating and so preserving, for English-reading audiences, the bewitching worlds of Persian folklore and fairy tales which continue to engage young and old alike.' - Eastern Art Report LAW SOCIETY JOURNAL 'Guppy makes a significant contribution to the continuity of Persian tradition in this collection and has exposed this tradition to a much wider international audience by publishing the stories in the English language.'

This magical collection of stories, gathered from the rich treasury of Persian folk and fairytales, tells of love and longing, fate and human ingenuity, loss and grace. Although sources of these tales have been lost over the ages, their memory runs through the collective psyche of the Iranian people. Handed down through generations, told by professional storytellers in bazaars and gatherings, these tales have been made popular the world over by great poets such as Rumi and Firdowsi. In her own unique voice - with style, charm and humour - Shusha Guppy narrates these timeless fables of princes and princesses; dervishes and miracle-working saints; jinns and giants; flame-breathing dragons and winged-horses; sorcerers and magicians. At the same time, beneath these charmed narratives, they reflect deep cultural and psychological insights into the attitudes, values and structures which constitute Iranian society.