Wikipedia
Natani ( nâtani) is a 2004 Persian-language romance novel by Iranian American writer and scholar Mehdi Khalaji about the life of the son of an Ayatollah growing up in present-day Qom, Iran. It was published in Berlin by Gardoon, an Iranian publishing company, and it is the first Persian novel set in Qom and its seminary.
The novel alternates between the present and the past, a reflection of the protagonist’s life as he converses with a complete stranger.
The title Natani is a play on words. The Persian word natani means “half-blooded” (as in one's half-brother or half-sister, for example) on the one hand, but the title can also be deciphered as na-tani, meaning no-body (negation of the body), or dismemberment. This interpretation of the title embodies the novel's general ambiance, as many times its narrative envelops not merely the struggles of the main character, but the struggles and frustration of a dark, oppressive spirituality that suppresses recognition of the body, while simultaneously being obsessed by it.