Leggere pericolosamente. Il potere sovversivo della letteratura in tempi difficili by Azar Nafisi

4.13 AVERAGE

rachaelsreadingnook's review against another edition

3.75
informative reflective slow-paced
randomly's profile picture

randomly's review against another edition

3.5
challenging dark reflective slow-paced
This is not a how-to book. There is no list of Ten Tips for Resisting Theocracy. It will probably not make you pump your fist in the air while muttering “I feel seen!” 

What it will do is stay with you after you read it. You might find yourself drawn back to it at odd moments, pulled in by a new question or realization. 

 Slogans like “Read Banned Books” hit differently when owning said books could mean a public flogging, jail time, or worse. Prof. Nafisi’s insights are hard-earned, thorough, and more subtle than I can do justice to here. Still, here’s some of what I got from this book: 

  • Poetry is important because it lets you speak in a language that can be described as “perpendicular” to an oppressive government. Open and rich, poetic language is a challenge and an antidote to bureaucratic strictures. 

  •  Fiction helps fight tyranny by letting anyone and everyone tell their story. Anyone can be worthy of an audience, not just those in power. 

  • Fiction is especially important in wartime. It humanizes the other side of a conflict, and highlights facts that can get lost among competing versions of history. It lets you see grey areas, unlike regimes that push the simplistic absolutes of us vs. them and good vs. evil. 

  • Finally, the act of telling a story gives hope. Writing implies a future reader, maybe even one who is discovering your work in better times. 

If this sounds a little abstract, that’s how the book came off to me. Despite the very personal framing device of letters to the author’s deceased father, these essays read a bit like an academic lecture. This isn’t a bad thing; the analytical tone reinforces the arguments while turning a clear eye on the horrors of dictatorships. 

Recommended for: readers looking for a challenge; writers wondering how to make a difference; anyone running for public office (I can dream). 

whitneys_bookstack's review against another edition

3.5
challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced
profpeaton's profile picture

profpeaton's review against another edition

3.0
informative reflective medium-paced

jm3684's review against another edition

5.0
I think this book is absolutely great with great insights and comparisons to idealogy in both Iran and America.
wordylocks's profile picture

wordylocks's review against another edition

4.75
challenging informative reflective medium-paced
calster's profile picture

calster's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced
jenmulsow's profile picture

jenmulsow's review against another edition

4.0
challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

sam_woods's review against another edition

4.75
emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
katieg's profile picture

katieg's review against another edition

4.5
challenging reflective medium-paced
A great book that combines literary criticism, political commentary, memoir, and history. It encourages dangerous reading the face of totalitarianism and censorship, and how for the individual reading can be validating, liberating, reflective, and even rebellious. 

The comparisons Nafisi makes between Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini and the US under Trump are pointed but never generalizing, always leaving room for nuance, yet still recognizing how totalitarianism works as a force to sequester ideas and thus limit freedom. 

Nafisi's reading of the texts she highlights here were fantastic, she made some excellent connections between works and authors. I found them to be most rewarding in regard to the works I had already read, and the reading list this book offers makes me excited to revisit some of these letter/essays after I've caught up on some of works she lists here.