I have read several Persian poems and epics in the past, for example Shahnameh as well as Vis and Rāmin. I've enjoyed these previous encounters with Persian poetry. But somehow, The Conference of the Birds is just slightly off.
I suppose there's a part of me that doesn't understand the form. I mean, there's a gathering of birds, who altogether decided to go on a journey. They elect one among them, the hoopoe, to be their leader. And their goal is to find the simurgh. There are trials and tribulations along the way, and the hoopoe somehow is wise, that with every challenge coming from one of his fellow travellers, he has a smart response.
It's almost like The Lord of the Rings. But with perhaps a lot less action. No ring, no Mordor. Just birds trying to find something. And in the end what used to be many birds got reduced to thirty. And in between, there are many vignettes of different short stories, somehow all illustrating some life's lesson that the reader needs to learn. It's essentially a collection of parables, and I suppose the intention is that the reader becomes wiser as one reads through each and every one of these parables. I am not sure it worked for me.
Oh well, in any case, I take this as an interesting cultural artefact, but to be honest, it hasn't been the most gripping read I have had. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
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