Rate this book

Assassins Of The Turquoise Palace (2011)

by Roya Hakakian(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0802119115 (ISBN13: 9780802119117)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Grove Press

review 1: Absolutely amazing book! It really is no surprise that the late and great Christopher Hitchens was a big fan of Roya Hakakian and her new groundbreaking book "Assassins of the Turquoise Palace". This masterpiece by Ms. Hakakian is not just a book, it is lyrical poetry mixed together with a historical account in one of the most important trials of state terror of the latter half of the 20th century. Roya takes us on a journey of the assassinations and lives affected in the state sponsored terror assassination against the Kurdish-Iranian dissidents which took place at the Mykonos restaurant in 1992. Roya takes us on a journey in which one truly feels that they are engulfed in the scene; whether of those Iranians that were assassinated and injured, or the journey of the brave... more German prosecutor and judge who took on the case despite political pressure to turn a blind eye. This book is vital and important as one better understands the true nature of the state apparatus terror machine constituting the Islamic Republic. And to close, it is important and vital to remember that this is just one story of many assassinations that took place throughout Europe and even continue to this day. I for one hope that Roya in the future embarks on writing about the assassination and beheading of the Iranian satirist and great singer Fereydoun Farokhzad. Roya is truly a remarkable writer as her words and prose are truly poetry in writing! I highly recommend this for EVERYONE and for everyone to share this historical account to all their friends and family.
review 2: So, I don't know... I feel a bit bad giving the book only 2 stars. I didn't mind reading it. I'm sure it's thoroughly researched and the writing is ok (though possibly not super), and it's a good story it had to tell about the assassination of Iranian dissidents in Berlin in 1992 and subsequent 4-year trial. I think the main problem I had with the book was the way it tried to explore the inner mindset and humanize everyone on one side (the victims, their families and their supporters), while mostly ignoring the motives of the perpetrators or even of any non-supporters. Probably it wouldn't have been possible to get access to the murderers or Iranian government ministers, but one line near the end mentions "the sinister men that snuffed out the lives of the best and brightest of their nation," which seems to sum up the author's agenda to me. Far be it from me to demand moral equivalence, or to defend extra-judicial terrorist killings or the awful Iranian government, but I do note that the US has fully adopted this technique now - just with drones rather than masked men with machine guns. Is it more justified because it's a democratic government carrying out the killings? I'm sure the Iranian government also considered their victims to be a threat to the state. Although I feel very hostile to the Iranian government myself, I still feel myself reacting to the book and not fully trusting it. less

Download links for: Assassins of the Turquoise Palace

Advertising