Everything Sad Is Untrue: (a true story)

There is so much to say about this work that simply would not do it justice, as I have much more thinking, and processing to do with it.If you want to read a book that puts you into the shoes and the life of someone, who is very likely different than you, so that you’ve become more compassionate and empathetic, then this book is for you.If you want a conversation starter for your children to begin discussing some of the most important things in life, then this is a book for you.The best thing I can say about it is that you should read it too.

This book is an absolute treasure. It will live on my shelf between Life of Pi and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, and I'll probably read it several more times before my son is old enough to appreciate it. Beautifully raw and wise, Khosrou sucks you into his own personal Arabian Night, straddling a nexus between two cultures, between a time-muddled past and an unknown future. This is a story you will carry with you, as you carry memory told by a friend. I aspire to Nayeri's authenticity

There is another review titled "I wanted to Highlight Most of this Book". I couldn't agree more. As I started to get deeper into the book I realized I had read and was reading so many impactful sentences, paragraphs and sections that I bought some post it flags and started marking places in the book to come back to later.The book has some really funny parts and is the cliche "page turner". But more than being entertaining it is also thought provoking. If you are willing to be honest with yourself, there are a number of places that may wound you. But it is the type of wound that as it heals you are the better for it.

There are some books that I find myself thinking, as I read them, I will want to read this again. Jane Eyre for example. This book is the story of Khosrou, his journey to find his place in an alien environment after upheaval and transplant. We have all had this experience, if our parents were divorced or we were or both, but the fact that Nayeri is able to capture the elements of the factual story, and then tell us the emotional story too, is what makes this book so rich and layered. He weaves it all together with a loose retelling of The 1001 Nights which lends magic and hope to a story that could otherwise become too painful to bear. My reaction is Bravo! My recommendation is Read This. And then pass it on. Tell all your friends. And have a highlighter ready.

Such a good read. Highly recommend.

All too often displaced people are reduced to political pawns and depersonalized talking points to shame opponents or outrage the voting base. Everything Sad Is Untrue is an antidote to such lack of personal empathy and compassion. In it, Daniel/Khosrou records a barely fictionalized account of his own life as a refugee. He writes from the point of view of his 12-year-old self, speaking directly to the reader about his memories, confusion, heartaches, and hopes.We are told repeatedly that "a patchwork memory is the shame of a refuge," and the book’s extremely disordered and fragmentary narration highlights this theme. Khosrou jumps around wildly in his story from earliest childhood memories to present middle school experience to everything in between (including an odd number of poop-related stories...gotta love middle schoolers). Along the way he frequently references The 1,001 Nights of his native Persia/Iran as a sort of parallel to his own desperately throwing out stories as they occur to him.The scattery style and 12-year-old voice take some getting used to, but it is worth your time to stick with it. The confusion, loss, and hurt that underly most of the stories will sadden your heart and make you angry at the cruelty of mankind, but there are also some beautiful descriptions of his mother's courage and faith and his own hope that looks beyond present circumstances. This is not a Christian book per se (in fact, behavior by some of the churchy people in the book really ticked me off!), but his mother's faith in Jesus is a truly amazing expression of the blessed hope that there is coming a day when "everything sad comes untrue."

Profound memoir of a 12yo Iranian refugee and his family; billed as YA, but don’t let that deter you. If you’re looking for lots of plot this is not your book, but if you want to learn about another culture, experience the pain but also the hope of a refugee family, this IS your book.

I began reading this highly acclaimed book and did not find it very interesting. And then, all of a sudden I was halfway done with the book... so I guess it was interesting enough that I didn't want to stop reading. It got better as the book went on and I didn't want to stop reading.When I was done, I immediately opened it up to the first page and started reading the book again. It's not too often that that happens.So, I don't know what it is about this book, but it's worth the read.

El libro es hermoso, muy bien escrito e increíblemente profundo. Muestra la vida de un niño refugiado, lo que dejó atrás, lo difícil del camino, la reacción de sus compañeros.De inmediato he kerido compartirlo con todos mis amigos esta navidad y entonces me he dado cuenta de que, aunque la versión en español existe (ISBN 9786078825059. Todo lo triste es mentira) vosotros no la tenéis. Por favor hacedla disponible,

Lovely story about life and how to overcome. Not only children should read it but everyone!