Learn about Persian culture through epic tales

My girlfriend is Persian so I listened to Shahnameh to better understand Persian culture. My girlfriend listened to the first half of the story with me on a road trip and then followed along by reading a Farsi version. I was impressed at how entertaining the stories were, it was like a better version of The Iliad with more poignant moral lessons. At the same time my girlfriend felt the translation was very accurate with only minor details left out and minor differences in the order of events which did not effect the flow or themes of the stories. The decision to put the sections of Shanameh in which Ferdowsi uses his own voice to verse is brilliant and serves as a constant reminder that you are reading a beautiful poem that has survived the test of time.

12 people found this helpful

A tremendous auditory experience

Any additional comments?

I greatly enjoyed listening to the Shahnameh Audio book. The original book is a long poem with many intertwined stories, hard even for the native Persian speakers to access all its details. This audio book, however, makes the core of the book available to everyone who can understand English. With a epic style narration, this auditory English version echos thousands of years of tradition of graphic storytelling. What I like the most about this version is inclusion of snippets of what could be called the wisdom of the Shahnameh. Ferdowsi did not want to only tell the story of king, but in those stories he masterfully places emphasis on virtues such as kindness, justice over vices—glorifying good people and actions and criticize bad people and their actions, whoever they are. The Shahnameh is not a book of glorifying a particular group, it is one glorifying virtuous deeds and it is great this has been conveyed in this audio book.

8 people found this helpful

Annoying presentation of great stories

I really struggled listening to the entire book because of the melodramatic presentation of the material. Maybe they were going for the kind of presentation one would get from an authentic Persian storyteller but I found the sound effects distracting and cringed at the female voices. Unfortunately this was the only audiobook I could find of the Shanameh.

4 people found this helpful

excellent English translation

dramatized by narrator. Will listen again at least a dozen times. a story so characterizing of Persian culture it should be heard by anyone who has a interest in that region

4 people found this helpful

A unique and refreshing audio book experience.

I listen to a lots of spoken words and audiobooks but this one is different. In some chapters you feel you are in the space and even more. Specially chapter 9th and 14th. The production value of this project is just awesome. Highly recommended for the long trip or even in the gym! I myself listen to it mostly on the subway! chapter a day!

4 people found this helpful

magnificent audiobook and cool sound effects!

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook a lot; the sound imitation and background sound effects made it seem like as if you were watching a movie! I highly recommend this :)

4 people found this helpful

an epic like no other

for years the shahnameh has fascinated me... this audiobook is a good representation of the original epic

4 people found this helpful

Translation

This book was written during the time of the Persian Empire and the translation does not address Persia but instead identifies Iran as the place this story was written. This takes away the ancient mystery of the entire tale. What a shame.

3 people found this helpful

I loved it!

I loved this epic! It has a bit of everything- romance, war, revenge, adventure... you name it.

3 people found this helpful

Great performance, amazing story

I've been dying to read Shahnameh for a long time. Now, I'm INCREDIBLY happy that this version exists to bring it to life - THANK YOU!!!

3 people found this helpful