victoria_tsonos's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

moonchildjuli's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

ohnopatrick's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.75

cstaude's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this book slowly so as to better take in all it had to share. Nafisi writes with power, and her position as an American of Iranian descent gives her a unique perspective on literature, ideas about the world, and America’s place in it.

The best thing about reading this book was the way it added to my TBR stack of further reading I want to do!

lddecker's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

moudi's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

2.0

خمس رسائل من آذار إلى والدها تتحدث فيها عن السياسة و الواقع وأثر الكتب فيهما من خلال سرد ذكرياتها و قراءتها .. كان يمكن ان يكون كتاباً جيداً لكنه سقط سريعاً ، فالمؤلفة تتماهى مع اليسار الأمريكي فلا تبدو رسائلها شخصية من حيث الفكر ، لا بأس ان تتوافق آراءها مع مزاج اليسار إلا أنه لا يبدو أن لها رأي منفرد قد توافق أصلاً .. 
مثال على ذلك ربط المؤلفة القضايا بعضها ببعض لكنها حين تحدثت عن التمييز العرقي في أمريكا لم تربطه بشيء في إيران كما فعلت مع كل القضايا التي تحدثت عنها مما يجعلني أستغرب اقحام قضية السود إذن ! ، مثال آخر اصطفافها في جانب دولة اسرائيل والتلميح بأن المقاومة الفلسطينية إرهابية وغير أخلاقية - ولا يشفع لها الحديث عن رواية باب الشمس وفكرة النظر من كلا الجانبين - رغم انها حزينة لكون العالم كله يعرف أمريكا لكن أمريكا لا تعرف عن العالم شيء .. الجرأة و الوقاحة أن تتجاهل تاريخ أرض بجانب أرض وطنها الأم بل تتعاطف مع المحتل ! .


thesarahkay's review against another edition

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4.0

“Ideology always needs and invented enemy, to keep supporters, excited, and on their toes and to keep rebels, frightened, and paralyzed. As we in Iran discovered so painfully, it is easy to invent enemies when you see the world in black-and-white.”

Inspiring read. I didn’t really get into it until the third letter (chapter) and then I was swept away. Nafisi’s insight into the power of books, particularly with her experiences under the Islamic government in Iran, was eye-opening and moving. Iran has more diversity of belief than just Islamic traditions. With book bans starting to sweep the US, it felt like a critical moment to read this, and remember that we need to protect the right to read all kinds of books.

Her persistent hope and will to fight to protect the right to read and write planted a seed in me, and I have some more reading and writing to do yet.

chasemm's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

disabledbookdragon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

jlmn's review against another edition

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I was hoping this book would be about the trials and tribulations of banned books and why we should read them but instead it’s a reflection of why reading is important with the author’s father. The book wasn’t for me at the time and maybe I’ll pick it up later.