That, Of Course, Is What Great Works

This Is A Good Time To Ask Apologists For The Islamic Regime, Who Degrades Islam? Who Imposes Stoning, Forced Marriage Of Underage Girls And Flogging For Not Wearing The Veil? Do Such Practices Represent Iran's Ancient History And Culture, Its Ethnic And Religious Diversity? Its Centuries Of Sensual And Subversive Poetry?

Visa For Avalon Is A Testament To The Power Of Fiction. It Illuminates The Truth At The Heart Of What Is Commonly Called Reality. This Account Of Lives Transformed And Ruined By The Triumph Of A Totalitarian Rule Is A Timely Reminder Of How Moral And Intellectual Laziness And Apathy Can Pave The Road To The Reign Of Terror Brought On By Such A System.

In All Great Works Of Fiction, Regardless Of The Grim Reality They Present, There Is An Affirmation Of Life Against The Transience Of That Life, An Essential Defiance. This Affirmation Lies In The Way The Author Takes Control Of Reality By Retelling It In His Own Way, Thus Creating A New World. Every Great Work Of Art, I Would Declare Pompously, Is A Celebration, An Act Of Insubordination Against The Betrayals, Horrors And Infidelities Of Life. The Perfection And Beauty Of Form Rebels Against The Ugliness And Shabbiness Of The Subject Matter.

Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Belittle A Work Of Fiction By Trying To Turn It Into A Carbon Copy Of Real Life; What We Search For In Fiction Is Not So Much Reality But The Epiphany Of Truth.

Art Is As Useful As Bread.