Hello everyone, this is Miriam Scott from Amarillo, Texas. Today I want to share with you my experience of devouring the book Everything Sad is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri.
This book is not written in a way I was familiar with. It’s not chronological, not really. It is more non-fiction than fiction. The author writes in the manner of storytelling of 1001 Arabian Nights, the Persian book in which Sheherazade tells stories to the king for her very life. Both books have stories inside the story. And the story it is based on is Daniel Nayeri’s journey as a refugee and immigrant.
At times, the heavy facts of being a refugee overpower the easy and personable writing style, and I realized after a while I had stopped breathing. Like when they finally are at a refugee camp in Italy. It was called Hotel Barba, but is a drab, grey concrete building. People there are waiting years to hear about their refugee status, they are in varying states of becoming hopeless. The day-to-day life there is only comparable to life in prison.
Of all the awful things that happened there to Nayeri and his mother and sister, the hot dogs really got to me. Yes, you heard right. Hot dogs. I’ll explain: Once a week Hotel Barba served hot dogs. No condiments, no sides, naked hot dogs. And why? The cook explained that he will not take a risk that the refugees get used to Italian cooking. Because they are not staying. And worse? The hot dogs are actually more expensive for the Italian government, because they have to be imported, meaning they spend extra money, just so the refugees would know just how unwelcome they are.
To Daniel’s mother, who needed to flee Iran because she converted to Chriatianity, the aggressive inhospitality in a predominantly Christian society must have messed with her head. I think I would start doubting my decision. Not Daniel’s mother. She is, in his words, unstoppable. And so is her faith. To her, Jesus Christ is better.
Then what? Better than the comfortable, wealthy, and respected life she led. Better than her country. Better than physical security. Jesus is better. As a priest this lived out faith impresses me deeply and makes my heart sing with joy. As a priest I also wish from the bottom of my soul, that the Christian faith will one day move us all to welcome the stranger. They might be an angel, as scripture says, but they certainly are a child of God.
As a person, Everything Sad is Untrue showed me what I want to be when I grow up, unstoppable.
This is Miriam Scott for HPPR Radio Readers Book Club. I hope you tune in again next time.
