On Thursday afternoon, I attended a very interesting reading session with the author Mehdi Aminrazavi. The author is of Iranian origin and Islamic background, and his book discusses the works of a very famous Persian philosopher/scientist: Omar Khayyam. When I was looking through the times of the readings on the little booklet, I couldn't find anything to fit my schedule, then I realized that I had a break between my classes on Thursday. The theme was attractive to me because I grew up in the Middle East. Nourished by an admiration of Khayyam that has been with him since childhood, Aminrazavi's comprehensive new biography reintroduces the figure of Khayyam, and his great achievements, to the Western world. Mixing a readable and accessible narrative with scholarly ambition and years of research, Aminrazavi's work covers not only Khayyam's well-known poetry, but also his extraordinary life, his neglected philosophical writings and the impact of his work in the West. One interesting fact that I learned was that the works of Omar Khayyam were very popular here in America, but specifically in the North. Apparently people in the South hated him, and were fighting his philosophies. I personally found the reading very beneficial. It was great seeing the Western interest and interaction with the author. The hall was of medium size, and there weren't a lot of people. That made it easier for people to ask questions. I noticed that there were a few students taking notes, so I thought to myself "I'm not the only one doing an assignment". I liked the author himself because he was very honest and passionate about the work. Unfortunately I couldn't ask him any questions because he ran out of time, but many others have asked some of the questions that were on my mind. All in all, I felt good about attending the reading. I felt like I learned new things about Iran, or Persia per say.
Sarah, glad you liked the presentation! And it sounds like something that you would definitely be interested in! Did you have questions that came out of your attending?
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