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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Interesting learning about life in arab countries but it doesn't grab you.
Unlike other memoirs, this memoir explores the life of its author through the books that she taught at the University of Tehran and the unique value these books had to her and her students as they struggled to live through various layers of oppression and tragedy in Iran. This book was heart wrenching, eye opening, and beautifully triumphant all at once.
At first I thought this book might be more thrilling and more of a human rights activist novel. I admit the pacing is a little off putting as it is a bit slow and it does jump quite a bit. However, I found it to be a very insightful novel. As the author discussed her own thoughts on the novels she taught along with those of her students, it gives insight to their thinking. I have only read a few of the books discussed (Lolita included) I find myself wanting to go back to them and see how they had came to their concepts about them. Their insights also were a way to make us as readers try to understand their beliefs just as Dr Nasfisi had to go through. All in all the novel is very thought provoking and it is something I think would benefit reading in a group as it is very argumentative.
I loved the way the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran related the classic books she taught to her students (first at the university; later in secret to a select few female students) to the events in Iran. The memoir is written almost in a series of essays, which are sometimes academic and sometimes very personal. The treatment of women is, of course, horrifying, but I’m very glad I read this book.
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/adult-nonfiction-roundup/
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/adult-nonfiction-roundup/
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I get the impression that Nafisi is a better teacher than she is an author. I don't say that because she's necessarily a bad author, but I do think that the irony of her book is that to truly enjoy it, you need to read the books it discusses, but doing so highlights the weaknesses in her writing. She tries to emulate the best qualities of the authors she adores, but she falls short (the luxury sensory imagery of Nabakov, for example). She wants to use the same kind of symbolism she sees in their works, but she's too much of a lit professor to let the symbolism stand on its own merits, so she either draws the metaphors so thin you can't help but get it, or she flat-out explains it.
I think the best way to approach this is more like a college class: do the required reading (minimum: Lolita, Invitation to a Beheading, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller, and Pride & Prejudice), do a little bit of homework (get a basic foundation on the political timeline for Iran since the 70s), and you'll do fine with this book. It revels too much in each novel to be enjoyable without at least some knowledge of them, and knowing some modern Iranian history would help because she kind of jumps around in time, so it can get a little confusing. But, treated like a class instead of a novel, it works.
I think the best way to approach this is more like a college class: do the required reading (minimum: Lolita, Invitation to a Beheading, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller, and Pride & Prejudice), do a little bit of homework (get a basic foundation on the political timeline for Iran since the 70s), and you'll do fine with this book. It revels too much in each novel to be enjoyable without at least some knowledge of them, and knowing some modern Iranian history would help because she kind of jumps around in time, so it can get a little confusing. But, treated like a class instead of a novel, it works.
It is so beautifully written you can literally see yourself walking in the streets and sitting in mrs. Nafisis living room. And the very end was so sad I literally felt like I myself was leaving my country and the girls! Absolutely captivating
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
A lukewarm start but quickly draws you into the word-soaked eyes of the author. we live in such a strange world and this book really flaunts how contrasts of time and situation disguise universal emotion and experiences. Also I like books (shocking) and this is an exaltation of literature.
I liked this book, but I have a couple qualms with mainly the structuring of the book. It's pretty free form and I had trouble getting to know the characters Nafisi talks about quickly, since there's so many people. But the prose is beautiful and very poetic, and I managed to finish this in one night in time to write an essay about it hehe.