You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
What a pompous woman. Who writes literary analysis in memorandum of students who died in political battles? Who thinks like that? I did not care for this book and, despite vague insights into the changes in Iran, I didn't learn a whole lot or find the self-centred, self-important, and too overtly self-aware author to be of much interest. I'm actually reading Lolita now and it's much better than this supposed meta-text.
Skip Nafisi; go straight to Nabakov
Skip Nafisi; go straight to Nabakov
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
“Ormai mi sono convinta che la vera democrazia non può esistere senza la libertà di immaginazione e il diritto di usufruire liberamente della propria fantasia. Per vivere una vita vera, completa, bisogna avere la possibilità di dar forma ed espressione ai propri mondi privati, ai propri sogni, pensieri e desideri; bisogna che il tuo mondo privato possa sempre comunicare col mondo di tutti. Altrimenti, come facciamo a sapere che siamo esistiti?”
This book surprised me. I came in skeptical because it was non-fiction and I had only read 1 of the books listed on the section titles (Gatsby). However, I really enjoyed this book. It had it's slow moments but I can forgive those for how connected to all of the characters by the end. I liked the writing style and although dense, the descriptions and language were nice. It was also cool reading this after just finishing the Kite Runner because it gave the opposite feminine perspective to a very similar time/area setting.
Interesting idea, poor exectution. This book fails not because of the content, but because of poor editing. I think if the book was reorganized, more people would actually finish reading it.
Also, if the author got off her high horse with lit-crit.
Also, if the author got off her high horse with lit-crit.
This book was enjoyable, although it was not what I was originally expecting. While the book is admittedly a memoir of Nafisi, an author and English Professor who returned to teach at The University of Tehran during the Iranian Revolution, I was hoping that she would focus more on the “forbidden” book club she started with her select students.
Read Full Review: https://mybookbagblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/azar-nafisi-reading-lolita-in-tehran/
Read Full Review: https://mybookbagblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/azar-nafisi-reading-lolita-in-tehran/
I absolutely adore this book. It has a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf :)
Azar Nafisi is an amazing author and she brilliantly mirrors the lives of women in Tehran with those of the heroines in classic novels such as "Pride and Prejudice." Nafisi writes during the onset of the Iranian cultural revolution. Nafisi is a professor and the University of Tehran and refuses to "submit" to the new authoritarian rule of wearing a veil, censoring certain books/subjects, etc. She eventually gets expelled. Throughout the book, the "secret" book club she formed frames the narrative; Due to the nature of their Iranian society, the group of women that Nafisi meets with must meet in secret.
"Reading Lolita in Tehran" tells of her life journey through this revolution and her attempts to help the women of the bookclub become their own heroines.
Azar Nafisi is an amazing author and she brilliantly mirrors the lives of women in Tehran with those of the heroines in classic novels such as "Pride and Prejudice." Nafisi writes during the onset of the Iranian cultural revolution. Nafisi is a professor and the University of Tehran and refuses to "submit" to the new authoritarian rule of wearing a veil, censoring certain books/subjects, etc. She eventually gets expelled. Throughout the book, the "secret" book club she formed frames the narrative; Due to the nature of their Iranian society, the group of women that Nafisi meets with must meet in secret.
"Reading Lolita in Tehran" tells of her life journey through this revolution and her attempts to help the women of the bookclub become their own heroines.
This book was hard for me to read. A few times I had to put it down out of sheer frustration at the injustices served to the girls, and to the author herself. I found it especially difficult to endure the Gatsby trial, it was hard not to get defensive about my favorite novel. However, I am glad I finished it because I think this is an important read for everyone -- regardless of nationality or gender. I am a teacher and literature major, so perhaps it was easier for me to empathize with the women.
The one thing that did grate on me was the author's self-importance and constant need to refer to herself as an "academic" or "intellectual" in sentences such as "I am too much of an intellectual..." -- we get it, you're smart.
The one thing that did grate on me was the author's self-importance and constant need to refer to herself as an "academic" or "intellectual" in sentences such as "I am too much of an intellectual..." -- we get it, you're smart.
