First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

At once a sweeping saga of twentieth-century Iran and an intimate story of a young woman’s determination to create a future on her own terms, Disoriental is Négar Djavadi’s timely, passionate, and entertaining debut novel.

Kimiâ Sadr fled Iran with her mother and sisters at the age of ten to join her father in France. Now in her twenties, sitting in a fertility clinic in Paris as she awaits life-changing news, Kimiâ is inundated by memories of her ancestors, reminiscences, and family myths that reach her in unstoppable waves. Generations of flamboyant Sadrs return to her, including her formidable great-grandfather Montazemolmlk with his harem of fifty-two wives, and her distracted but ardent parents, Sara and Darius, stalwart opponents of each political regime that has befallen them.

In this high-spirited, multigenerational tale, key moments of Iranian history punctuate a story about motherhood, family, exile, rebellion, and love. At the heart of this prize-winning international bestseller is the unforgettable Kimiâ Sadr – queer punk-rock aficionado and storyteller extraordinaire, a woman caught between the vibrant intricacies of her origins and the modern life she’s made.

After five days of toiling at the office, the workweek is finally done! The weekend is just over the horizon! Cue Taeyeon’s Weekend. Thankfully, our workweek was shorter than usual as June 12 was a holiday here in the Philippines in commemoration of the country’s 125th year of independence. Anyway, time to ditch those corporate attires for comfortable articles of clothing. But before we can dive deep into the weekend, I hope that everyone is ending the week on a high note. I hope it went well for everyone, else, I hope that you will spend the weekend recovering or finding your groove back. I hope that everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. For me, it is going to be the typical weekend spent reading books, watching random videos, and, well, catching up on my writing.

Before I can dive into the weekend, I will be capping the work week with a fresh First Impression Friday update. In the same manner that I open each blogging (work) week with a Goodreads Monday update, I fittingly close it with a First Impression Friday update. My journey across Asia – except Japan of course – is in full swing. The journey, so far, has been interesting and riveting. So far, I have been to China (Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum), South Korea (Han Kang’s Greek Lessons), the Philippines (Ninotchka Roska’s State of War), and India (Deepti Kapoor’s Age of Vice, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die, and Dipika Rai’s Someone Else’s Garden). Earlier today, I read my first novel by Pakistani writer, Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I am now moving further west with Négar Djavadi’s Disoriental.

Disoriental is my first novel by the Iranian-French writer. If my memory serves me right, it was during my 2022 Asian Literature Month that I first encountered Négar Djavadi and her novel Disoriental. I just learned that Disoriental, which was originally published in French as Désorientale, was Djavadi’s debut novel. The book was originally published in 2016 and was translated into English in 2018. The original edition was well-received as it won several accolades such as the Prix de L’Autre Monde, the Prix du Style, the Prix Emmanuel Roblès, the Prix Première, the Prix littéraire de la Porte Dorée, and the Prix du Roman News. The English translation was warmly received as well.

At the heart of the story was Kimiâ Sadr. We meet her in Paris. In narrating her story, Kimiâ transported the readers to her native of Iran. It does seem that she was bridging the gap between the present and the past. In the process, she was conveying the story of her family, thus, introducing a diverse set of characters such as her Uncle Number Two whose death was conveyed in the book’s second chapter. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten that far into the story yet as I just started it earlier today. But I can feel that Kimiâ was slowly building up the landscape of the story. I want to learn more about her.

I can already tell some bits of the story because of the details I learned while researching more about the book. When I first encountered the book, there were references to LGBTQ elements. The book winning the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Fiction at the 31st Lambda Literary Awards was another dead giveaway. I am now excited about how Djavadi is going to work on this element. Another important element in the story I am excited about is the reason why Sadr and her family moved from Tehran to France. History and memory, it seems, play prominent roles in the story.

Sure, from the period the book was set – it started in the 1980s – one can easily surmise what transpired. However, what is available are generic details so I am kinda expecting Djavadi to provide more intimate details, details obscured from the casual reader or spectator. Speaking of which, I have long been curious about Iran. It is a place that I am bewitched by even though I haven’t been there yet. It is a country I badly want to visit. Its colorful history – and its tumultuous contemporary history – makes me gravitate toward it. Iranian literature is also a part of the literary world I want to explore more.

It just struck me right now. What is it about the title? Disoriental doesn’t seem to be an English term. Is it, somehow, pertaining to removing Oriental elements from one’s identity? Dis-Oriental? I am now more invested in the story. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!