I picked up this book at a conference in part because American medieval studies programs are expanding their courses to be more global and also because the description of the “plot” looked absolutely entertaining. As my first foray into Persian literature, this wasn’t a bad introduction. The main drawbacks to reading this book were likely due to my own lack of knowledge rather than any inherent failings of the text itself.

Things I Liked

1. Larger-Than-Life Characters: Whenever there’s a classical or medieval character that’s larger-than-life, there’s bound to be some amusing and outright bizarre moments in the text, and Rostam is no different. I loved reading about him doing things that were both strange (to me as a modern, Western reader) and yet, somehow familiar (as a medievalist who reads about a number of larger-than-life characters as part of her job). For example, Rostam slays thousands of foes and is large enough to be likened to a mammoth, and yet he’s also very cunning and courtly. It’s this blend of ordinary and odd that make Rostam a memorable mythical hero and a good intro to Persian literature.

2. Supernatural: The supernatural elements in this book abound - there’s a magic bird whose feathers allow the hero to call her to him, there’s dragons and demons and witchcraft, there’s a horse with a strange sense of bravery and awareness of all that’s around him. These aspects not only enhance the larger-than-life feeling of Rostam himself, but are also entertaining in their own right.

3. Liminality: I love that this book heavily features cahracters and places that are “in between” - Rostam is descended from parents with somewhat demonic ancestry and he rules a country that is between kingdoms. He’s also said to be between man and monster himself, which is part of what makes his larger-than-life status so great. All of this (and more) makes for an interesting read and prompts a lot of thought: heroes are often on the finges of society and humanity, and the implications of what this means for literature is abundant.

Things I Didn’t Like

1. Pace: There are many moments in this book where the action slows down, and we get pages and pages of people exchanging letters, kings being mad at each other, etc. with not a lot actually happening. I’m sure the same could be said of other medieval literature, but for me, the pace really dragged me down at certain points in this book.

2. Lack of Supplementary Materials: Despite the quality introduction at the beginning of this book, I feel that for translations of books, there really needs to be a lot of supplementary materials to help English-speakers engage with a text that is outside their temporal and cultural situatedness. For this book, a map would have been nice and perhaps a list of major characters (since I tended to get confused as I read). A bit more in the intro about the social and political climate of the time period in which the text was written and/or set would also have been helpful.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you're interested in Persian literature, Iranian history, or medieval history/literature. You might also like this book if you're interested in folklore, hero tales, and the supernatural.

I can say that the stories that I read from this book tell about many subjects: love, honor, adventure, cunning, fealty, loyalty, revenge, grief to name a few. But I would consider pride to be the greatest concern of these stories from the Shahnameh. Especially, how pride leads only to tragedy.

So many characters could have escaped their dismal fate, if only they had put away their pride. Most of them being Rostam himself. Rostam who is the greatest warrior of Iran, the maker of Kings, imbued with supernatural strength and versed in the magical arts, was brought down due to his own pride and with him the rest of his household.

Let people beware pride. It is a blind rabid lion, tearing apart its own kin in its frenzy.