| PRODUCT DETAILS | | The Rug Merchant | | |
The Rug Merchant
A sparkling debut novel about an unlikely May-December romance between an Iranian immigrant and an American college student.
Unabridged CDs - 5 CDs, 6 hours
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
Price: $6.62
 The Rug Merchant
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| User Reviews |  | Engaging
rating: 4
I thought this was a wonderful read. The crafting of the words made me feel the loneliness and quiet desperation of Ushman and Mrs. Roberts and even the city itself. Like music in the background, I thought the prose was so fitting for the story.
In response to other comments here, I agree that the other characters, the women were not well developed but I think the key to the story is that it is solely from Ushman's point of view. We read only what he sees, what he thought and felt. While reading the book, I didn't realize that they were flat or poorly developed, I saw them from Ushman's perspective and he didn't understand them at all! I think this added to the story.
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An inspiring story of immigration
rating: 4
I was actually looking for something else when I found this book - I was looking for how-to books on rugs. Working in the rug industry, I decided it would be a relevant, engaging read. I can relate to the main character on so many levels, and a lot of his struggles are poignant and realistic. Presents the classic "I left my country to make in America" story in a great way.
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An unenjoyable Persian carpet ride
rating: 2
A fortyish rug merchant, having spent three long, lonely years in America while his miscarriage-prone wife remained in Iran to care for his mother and locate his stock, learns that his wife has moved on without him. When he meets a young American girl (19 years old and described as "half his age") his sad world transforms.
Although the wordplay involving the American-idiomatically-challenged immigrant is really good, the point of the story is unclear. In fact, it seems that there is no point. Among the incomprehensible: discussions of three suicides and/or attempted suicides; two incidences of a certain type of intimate contact; an incident involving an overheard appropriate or inappropriate conversation between a father and young daughter in a bathroom stall; the pure state of the young love interest, as well as her desire to become otherwise with with the help of a fatherly foreigner (one with revulsion for his own mother, whose existence only inconveniences him in the form of phone calls and letters); a bitter, hate-spewing African man; and the ending.
Except for the great cross lingual conversational issues between the American teenager and her Iranian boyfriend, the story just plain senseless. House of Sand and Fog by Albert Dubus is a better read.
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Loved it
rating: 5
I adored the Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns, and now I'm trying to plod my way through Reading Lolita in Tehran, and I just needed something more...captivating. Well, I found this book to be a page-turner, and finished it in just two days. The writer does her job well, inasmuch as I felt I was there with Ushman and Stella, seeing what they were seeing, smelling what they were smelling. I really enjoyed the symbolism of the kilim and Ushman's dreams. This book enchanted me, however briefly, and broke my heart, too. It is romantic and exotic without being trashy or preachy. I loved Khaled Hosseini's books and loved this one, too. This is a small book and would pack well into a purse.
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Lack of character development dulled the story
rating: 2
The Rug Merchant is not a book that draws the reader in. There are only a handful of characters in the book that have any dialogue exchange at all. The nineteen year old character Stella's dialogue was distractingly contrived in several places. Other than Ushman, the few characters who are in the book are boringly undeveloped and lacking in complexity. Since the characters were so simplified, I was unable to take an interest in them individually and thus had a hard time plodding on to the end of the book (but I did finish it, just to get it over with).
The story had potential to be a good read, but I don't think the author was up to the task of turning a decent short story into a compelling novel.
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The Rug Merchant
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