You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Not perfect, but worth reading. Nafisi's prose can be over-wrought at times, forgettable at others, I think I would prefer to hear this in Nafisi's own voice - something gets lost without the delivery. I had trouble keeping the characters straight, and I think it's safe to assume this is a somewhat fictional account - or at least one that is heavily influenced by Nafisi's own experiences and perspective. But what memoir isn't?
There were some interesting literary insights that make me want to go back and read or re-read some (not all!) the books mentioned. That means I'll likely be reading this one again.
There were some interesting literary insights that make me want to go back and read or re-read some (not all!) the books mentioned. That means I'll likely be reading this one again.
In this memoir, Nafisi opens the door to the secretive and dangerous world of thinking women in Iran before, during and after the revolution. A Western literature professor, Nafisi shows us her joy and sorrow as she introduces her students to Western Classics by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, Jane Austen, and Vladimir Nabokov. At first she uses these books in open class. Then as the revolutionaries begin to enforce Shari'a law and female professors and students are forced to take the veil or be jailed, Nafisi begins teaching a select group of female students in her home. Using the lessons of these authors, she draws parallels and lessons which reflect the lives of her students and of Iran herself.
I found the book a bit slow in the middle, but I'm glad I stuck with it and finished it. Nafisi's view of learning form literature and her constant call for herself and her students to read and learn to both empathize and to see situations from multiple viewpoints echos in this dichotomous time of the American 2010s-20s. I also enjoyed learning more about a region and time that I have little knowledge about. Recommend.
I found the book a bit slow in the middle, but I'm glad I stuck with it and finished it. Nafisi's view of learning form literature and her constant call for herself and her students to read and learn to both empathize and to see situations from multiple viewpoints echos in this dichotomous time of the American 2010s-20s. I also enjoyed learning more about a region and time that I have little knowledge about. Recommend.
Le sujet est passionnant et son analyse des oeuvres est bien approfondie ; les parties qui explorent les vies des filles dans son groupe de lecture étaient particulièrement intéressantes. Cependant, malgré tout ça il y a eu quand même pas mal de moments où j'avais envie de lâcher le livre. Elle a tendance de se répéter, au point où ses révélations deviennent plutôt agaçantes, et sa manière de lier ce qui arrivait au groupe aux thèmes des livres qu'elles traitaient ensemble était parfois très tirée. Finalement ça ne vaut peut-être pas la peine.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
The justification for fiction. After the section with the class debate, I slammed down the book and cried, "That's right!" I wish I had read the classics mentioned within. Time to start! Gatsby is first.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Review can be found here: https://ginghampanda.blogspot.com/2019/08/reading-lolita-in-tehran-memoir-in.html