Circle of Friends Book Club meeting summary for April 2018

April 11, 2018

Our last meeting was a discussion of The Saddlebag, a book by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani. It is based on an anecdote about the theft of a saddlebag from the Bab, recounted in The Dawn-Breakers (pg. 103). Ms. Nakhjavani imagines the travels of the saddlebag after the theft, and how each person coming in contact with it, and the writings it contains, is affected.

Bookclub members were quick to point out the many Baha’i references contained in the story, which also has characters from most, if not all, of the current world faiths. As the setting is the area around Mecca and Medina, readers also discussed the many cultural references, some of which were understandable to western readers, and some of which were not. For example, the Bride is bringing her dowry along, marriage is arranged, and a slave is present. Superstitions play a part in the plot, but there are also occasions of apparent precognition or “sight”.

One member pointed out the many similarities between the way the story is told and the Canterbury tales. For example, in both stories the characters are on a journey and are not named except by designated titles (the Bride, the Priest, the Pilgrim, etc.) Their stories interweave and time is shifted so that events are seen from multiple perspectives as the book progresses. Each character’s background, motives, perspective on the events and their responses to them unfolds with a chapter devoted to each, so events are repeated but appear clearer with each telling. One member recalled a quotation from Baha’u’llah to the effect that there are “72 ways of looking at anything” and the book illustrates this idea vividly. Some readers even charted events visually to aid in understanding how the events in the story transpire.

Overall, members agreed that the book is a beautiful imagining of an event in Baha’i history and what could have come from it, especially in the area of transformation. Each character is transformed through interaction with the saddlebag and its contents, and these transformations are seen as a process and as continual. The Saddlebag was definitely the stimulus for an interesting and lively discussion.

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