Book Review: 16 Words by Nava Ebrahimi

 

16 Words - Sechzehn Wörter - are the invisible threads taking the Iran-born Mona in and out her memory lane, from her Cologne childhood and coming-of-age until the Iran of her family. The story is taking place within a period of time of several days, like a road trip novel, only that the trip takes place less on a highway with a number, but on the mischievous memory maze.

Each chapter of the book starts with a Persian word which in further on developped in the short story. Those words are important in a certain context, it is a certain encounter that took place which connects the specific memory of the word with the story where it was used. It is a thread which is created, made of people, emotions and fragments of memory. 

Mona Nazemi, 34 years old, travels with her mother back to Iran for the funerals of her beloved grandmother and while revisiting old friends and childhood places, it is the past who is confirming the present, in the most non-dramatic possible way. The present, what she made out of it is coming to life through the inner dialogue and the interactions with places and people that she remembers or she meets. Both in memory and in real life the encounters are uneventful, there are things happening and words exchange but the life as such is not changed through it. Mona´s life is following its vital flow taking her along until the next present which is about to become soon memory. A memory which will be maybe reminded in a couple of years or words too.

I particularly loved how the words, the Persian words, are not automatically translated for the non-Persian reader, but rather offered a context which may help the reader to understand it. It is a guided exercise directing the reader´s attention towards the beautiful Persian culture and layers of linguistic context. 

Nava Ebrahimi is an interesting writer with a crafty storybuilding and would love to read her newest novel as well. There is so much to say in German about the cultural stories of immigrantion and we need more than 16 words for that.

Rating: 3.5 stars