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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
The themes of this book (personal v political, the lives of women under oppressive regimes, the role and purposes of story in our lives) are well- and thoughtfully examined. Which *should* make for an interesting book, but does get a bit tedious by the end - it was only by steadfast commitment that i made it through this book after about 7 months of returning to it. I also found the questionable nature of her politics difficult, especially given the role of revolutions in her life and the literature she admires.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
As I read this book another revolution is happening in another Islamic country and I could not help but wonder if this country will repeat the mistakes of Iran or chart a better path for its own citizens. This is a great book that tells the story of a country through the lives of a handful of women who all have different stakes in it. I liked every page of it.
Nafisi is an incredibly eloquent writer. However, at times I felt like I was missing out because most of the books referenced in the narrative I haven't read. She critiques many of them quite in depth as she describes the memories of Iran they evoke.
"Mitra: other women say that having children is their destiny as if they are doomed." I added: "Some of my girls are more radical than I am in their resentment of men. All of them want to be independent. They think they cannot find men equal to them. They think they have grown and matured, but the men in their lives have not bothered to think." (38)
"Much later I read a sentence by Nabokov--"curiosity is insubordination in its purest form"--the verdict against my father came to mind."
"I had mentioned that Humbert was a villain because he lacked curiosity about other people and their lives, even about the person he loved most, Lolita" (48)
"After all, it takes two to create a relationship, and when you make half the population invisible, the other half suffers as well." (70)
"It is only through literature that one can put oneself in someone else's shoes and refrain from becoming too ruthless." (118)
"My father, who all through my childhood would read me Ferdowsi and Rumi, sometimes used to say that our true home, our true history, was in our poetry." (172)
"The truth is that James, like many other great writers and artists, had chosen his own loyalties and nationality. His true country, his home, was that of the imagination." (216)
"Evil in Austin, as in most great fiction, lies in its inability to "see" others, hence to empathize with them. What is frightening is that this blindness can exist because of us (Eliza Bennet) as well as the worst (Humbert). We are all capable of becoming the blind censor, of imposing our visions and desires on others." (315)
IMO like her point about women as symbol/measures of freedoms
disagree with her point about her students' "choices"
"Much later I read a sentence by Nabokov--"curiosity is insubordination in its purest form"--the verdict against my father came to mind."
"I had mentioned that Humbert was a villain because he lacked curiosity about other people and their lives, even about the person he loved most, Lolita" (48)
"After all, it takes two to create a relationship, and when you make half the population invisible, the other half suffers as well." (70)
"It is only through literature that one can put oneself in someone else's shoes and refrain from becoming too ruthless." (118)
"My father, who all through my childhood would read me Ferdowsi and Rumi, sometimes used to say that our true home, our true history, was in our poetry." (172)
"The truth is that James, like many other great writers and artists, had chosen his own loyalties and nationality. His true country, his home, was that of the imagination." (216)
"Evil in Austin, as in most great fiction, lies in its inability to "see" others, hence to empathize with them. What is frightening is that this blindness can exist because of us (Eliza Bennet) as well as the worst (Humbert). We are all capable of becoming the blind censor, of imposing our visions and desires on others." (315)
IMO like her point about women as symbol/measures of freedoms
disagree with her point about her students' "choices"
reflective
slow-paced
I was really drawn to this book—it sounded like exactly the kind of story I would love. But instead of a narrative mostly discussing the characters’ lives, I found myself wading through long stretches of literary analysis and commentary on other works. There were moments that genuinely resonated with me, especially when the book focused on the personal experiences of the author and the girls, but the heavy educational tone kept pulling me out of the story. In the end, it just didn’t work for me.