Rating: 
Summary: The Best Book I Have Read This Year
Review: A wonderful study in the psychology and brutality of love. Like all of Buchan's work (at least the three other novels I've read) it is not exactly linear but Buchan fans have learned to stick with it for a rewarding payoff. He assumes his readers know something and never patronizes. He has a style of his own. Bravo Buchan!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Could not get through it
Review: For what it is worth, I very, very rarely stop reading a book mid-way though, but I found the story so hard to follow, the characters so false and/or uninviting, and the writing so awkward that I put it down after about a hundred pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Culturally inaccurate
Review: His story is full of cultural inaccuracy. His perceptions are mostly based on the western stereotypes that don't reflect much true knowledge of Persians and the Iranian culture. It lacks character development and his characters are not at all real to an informed reader.
Rating:
Summary: A White Guy's Fantasy
Review: I found this book very difficult to read, as the story is not realistic at all. As the author lacks enough knowledge and understanding of the Iranian culture and its sub-cultures, he fails to develop the characters appropriately. For example, he portrays the General as a very religious man. For those who are familiar with pre-revolution Iran, know this well that it would be next to impossible to find a religious high ranking officer (let alone a General). There seems to be too many coincidences. The whole story seems to be more like a white guy's fantasy about going to an exotic place, developing a sexual relationship with a beautiful underage girl and act as her hero, than like a real story. My advice to all of those who would like to cash in on the exotic places such as Iran is, at least, do your homework.
Rating:
Summary: The cover
Review: I have not read this book but I gave it a "one" because the cover photo shows the attire worn by the women in INDIA rather than in IRAN.Was it choosen because of the "persian carpet" rather than the"Persian bride" ??
Rating: 
Summary: Like a dream
Review: I started this book one evening and I never stopped reading until I finished it. It reads like a dream, especially the first third or so which is the best. Some other reviewers mentioned prejudices about Iran: Hey! it is about one man and one woman and what happens between them. It reminded me of Ada by Nabokov.
Rating:
Summary: the persian sham OR the english groom
Review: I was greatly disappointed with Mr. Buchan's novel. Although touted on the jacket as an epic work, I found it to be difficult to read & quite pretentious. I think the author was waxing poetic about his own experiences in Iran; and frankly, they weren't that interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Enormous disappointment
Review: I'm told this book was "hailed as a masterpiece in Britain" and that it has been compared to Doctor Zhivago, so it sounded like a wonderful reading experience. However, I have to agree with others here who said they found it to be unreadable. Buchan does a poor job of clearly describing much of anything. The prose is disjointed and confusing and the story jumps around in time and location without adequately explaining any one of those times or locations. It is almost unheard of for me to quit reading a book before finishing it, but I gave up on this one very early on because it utterly failed to grab me on any level. There are some truly great works of fiction out there that will capture you and hold you from cover to cover. Unfortunately this is not even close to being one of them.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing , poetic, comprehending other cultures
Review: In a time when so many Americans are attempting to understand Islamic cultures and recent history of this part of the world, Buchan offers a personal, dreamlike interpretation. The book is difficult to read at times unless one remembers that it is a deeply introspective dream- indeed a nightmare!- without the lucidity of a step by step chronology. The personal trials of one young American who is enchanted by this culture has a rhythm that is similar to the sound of the flute against the heavy drum beat of history in the background. The book is sprinkled throughout with lines of poetry from former centuries that is still vital, living and reverberating in the thought processes of the people. There was a sense of poetry used like hip-hop verses are now-to express a deep poignancy of culture and belief system unlike any that most Westerners understand. I also had a sense of the writing being like a Persian minature, a central "picture" with myriad details drawing the reader into and out of the scene. For me, this category of literature is extremely exciting. As we are exposed to more and more books written about or by authors outside Western culture, our opinions on what is happening in the political world can only become more humanitarian, more understanding and, hopefully, decisions will be made more intelligently. Compare the Iranian general with the character in "House of Sand and Fog" the relationship in "Nino and Ali" and the characters in "Flesh, Blood and Bone", the interaction of cultures in "Balzac and the little Chinese seanstress", the class system in "A Fine Balance", "Caucasia" multiracial interactions in the US, "Yo!", "Anil's Ghost", etc.. Wow, what exciting times for literature!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful spiritual journey
Review: In this book, you experience the spiritual journey that the main character goes through because of his love of a woman. This is told against the backdrop of the geopolitical situations in the middle east from the seventies to the nineties. I experienced what felt like a lifetime within the pages of this book.
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