Description
I’ll turn off the lights is the story of an Armenian woman who lives in Abadan in the 1930s and 1940s with her husband and three children. The narrator of this book is the same woman, “Clarice”, who in her daily life, which is dedicated to her family, seeks time for herself and her interests and tries to return to the semen that she has been away from for years. The spark of this return is also struck by the new neighbor, “Emil Simonian”.
I turn off the lights
Due to the per capita reading in Iran and the unfavorable situation of book publishing, reaching the 100th edition of a book is an important event among readers. Especially if this book is a novel.
In March of last year, however, “I turn off the lights” by Zoya Pirzad was published for the one hundred and second time, and now in December 1999, this book has reached the final stage of the “10 popular Persian stories of the century” movement. A book where most of the story takes place at home. This book was first published in 2001 and later many wrote novels and short stories imitating this story.
I turn off the lights
The story begins with the children arriving at Clarice’s three-bedroom home, and current events in the house play a key role in advancing the story. Although most of the story takes place in this house, it is not boring and soulless, and the details are told in such detail that it is quite conceivable.

The house is located in the “North Bavardeh” neighborhood, which is for oil company engineers. All the houses in this neighborhood are English-made and have similar architecture: “On the other side of Cheragh Street, one of the G4 rooms was lit. “I could not see right from that distance, but because the houses in the north were all the same, I knew it was the living room.” Because the houses are owned by the oil company, they have good facilities and small but desirable gardens, details of which are each effective in the event.
The role of space in “I turn off the lights”
For many of us, home is just home. A place to relax and spend time with family. But this is not the case for Clarice. Pirzad looks at the house with a wide eye in connection with the housewife Clarice, and of course a mirror of her. For Clarice, the house is a place where every corner is a reminder of what needs to be done.
Cleaning the house is a time-consuming and time-consuming task that takes up all of Clarice’s time and time. However, it is also the home of Clarice’s territory. It is a place where he can express his taste in decoration:
I looked at the dried flowers and flower pots on the shelves, at the red pepper and garlic rings I hung on the wall. He was optimistic and comforted. All this and all the other things that are not in other people’s kitchens and are in your kitchen, are beautiful for you. Even if mother, sister, friend and acquaintance laugh …

Zoya Pirzad, author of the book I turn off the lights
Clarice House
Clarice’s house also displays the secrets of her heart. Before the new neighbor arrived at G4, his life and normal life were going on. Everything was in order.
Specific times for dusting, changing sheets, sweeping and anything else. With the arrival of a new neighbor and Clarice trying to return to an identity she has distanced herself from, and her new boredom and feelings, the house collapses.
Unwashed dishes remain in the sink. His favorite pot breaks in the storm and he does not even collect the remains of his pot. The comfortable green furniture in the living room is torn and Clarice is content to turn the mattress upside down instead of replacing it. Throughout the change, Clarice’s mood is relatively chaotic, and eventually, in the final chapters of the book, she returns home with Clarice’s calmness and change of mood.
Home G4
We talked a bit about Clarice’s house and decor, so take a look at the other characters’s house. The G4 is definitely the most important house after Clarice’s house. The G4 has the same architecture as Clarice’s house but a different story. Newly arrived Simons, including grandparents, sons and grandsons, suddenly disappear. They do not seem to fit together, and before Abadan, they traveled many places from London to Calcutta, bringing with them some of all these trips:
He went to a closet that was almost halfway up a wall. It was made of dark wood with two mirrors. In the middle of the doors was a niche-like recess. Two candlesticks had several branches in the recess. With white candles. The large closet does not fit into the rest of the room. I thought the closet must have been brought from India. I do not know what he saw in my eyes when he smiled and said that he liked the closet? The work of England is of the late eighteenth century.
When home is the center of the world
The objects and utensils of the Simonian house are all luxurious and do not fit into that organizational house. However, they are all old and damaged. The objects of this family are a symbol of a distant and glorious past, of which there are now only a few remnants. It has been destroyed like an empire.
Usually the story of a movie or book becomes boring when it happens in a closed environment and the audience does not like it, but I turn off Zoya Pirzad in the lights, she has accompanied us with a housewife whose house is the center of her world, and It is exciting to see this center through his eyes.
1- Introducing the book I’ll turn off the lights on YouTube
2- Introducing the book I’ll turn off the lights in Aparat
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