The Gods Laugh on Mondays (in Persian: و خدايان دوشنبه‌ها مي‌خندند) was the first novel by an Iranian author with the pen name Reza Khoshnazar which was published in August 1995. It was a lurid chronicle of Iran in which the male protagonist is raped by his schoolmate, and can not be sure whether he liked it or not. He then marries a young woman who has an affair with his best friend. Eventually, the angst-ridden hero goes on a murder-suicide binge.[1] This novel has been dedicated to Gregor Samsa, protagonist of novel The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Reaction was hot, and some conservative papers called Gods a blasphemy. On the night of August 22, 1995, men arrived at the book publisher's shop identifying themselves as Islamic building inspectors. They set the building on fire. A head of Islamic propaganda (Ahmad Jannati) declared at Friday prayer that zealots are above the law.[2][3][4] Reza Khoshnazar has published six other novels in Sweden.

References

  1. Newsweek, October,1995, page 37.
  2. "UN Commission on Human Rights - Report on the mission of the Special Rapporteur to Iran (Mar 96)". www1.umn.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  3. Newsweek, October,1995, page 37.
  4. "Publisher of Iranian Book Bombed". Reuters. August 24, 1995 via BRIEF ON IRAN, No. 239 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Friday, August 25, 1995.
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