You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
YK book club pick. Absolutely loved it, one of the best memoirs I've read. I learned a lot about this region while reading the book and felt like the author was sitting and telling me the story herself. Would recommend to anyone.
This was one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. At many times I couldn't believe what was happening in the book actually happened to Marina, they were so horrible. It was so compelling and wonderfully written that I had a hard time putting it down. Through this book, I realized I really enjoy learning about the history of other countries through someone's story. A must read.
This book was so well written and it exceeded my expectations by far because I had not heard much about it. There are so many things you will learn about Iran before and after the Islamic revolution especially about how women were treated and the overall happiness and the welfare and overall freedom of the people in their daily activities.
I think I read here someone asking if the stories in the book are actually true, I must say as a Persian, everything I read in this book is absolutely believable since I have been hearing the same stories from other survivors and all the historical events mentioned in the book are as everyone knows them to be.
At some point such horrifying accounts need to stop being myths and thanks to authors such as Marina we get to take a step closer.
At times reading this book I became so emotional even when seeing how perfectly she had captured the dynamics in Persian family settings and the saddest of all: how easily many teenagers and young treasures of this country were killed for no good reason.
It is amazing how she was able to tell these stories as well as she did so many years after they happened.
I think I read here someone asking if the stories in the book are actually true, I must say as a Persian, everything I read in this book is absolutely believable since I have been hearing the same stories from other survivors and all the historical events mentioned in the book are as everyone knows them to be.
At some point such horrifying accounts need to stop being myths and thanks to authors such as Marina we get to take a step closer.
At times reading this book I became so emotional even when seeing how perfectly she had captured the dynamics in Persian family settings and the saddest of all: how easily many teenagers and young treasures of this country were killed for no good reason.
It is amazing how she was able to tell these stories as well as she did so many years after they happened.
Le problème de ce livre n'est pas son sujet: en effet, il est nécessaire que ceux qui ont survécu à une expérience du genre puissent raconter leur histoire. Le problème réside dans la structure du récit, avec ses sauts dans le temps qui ne sont pas bien indiqués et qui rendent difficile la tâche de se retrouver à la bonne époque. Il n'est pas nécessaire de jouer avec la linéarité du récit lorsque celui-ci perd au change avec cette technique.
La séparation par chapitres manquait également de constance et entravait la compréhension.
Pour toutes ces raisons, ce livre est un peu comme une occasion ratée, mais demeure tout de même un exposé troublant sur la réalité des prisons pour femmes en Iran.
La séparation par chapitres manquait également de constance et entravait la compréhension.
Pour toutes ces raisons, ce livre est un peu comme une occasion ratée, mais demeure tout de même un exposé troublant sur la réalité des prisons pour femmes en Iran.
Definitely a compelling memoir, however the pacing of the books (including Marina's flashbacks) and her writing style detracted from the flow of the story.
I had tears in my eyes while reading this and cried when I finished. It's got some really difficult content (rape, torture, violence, death), and is a memoir which makes it even harder to read because these things happened to real people. If you are someone (or know someone) who is against Syrian refugees coming to Canada (or wherever you're from), please give this a read and recommend it to everyone you know.
When I was a teenager, reading The Diary of Anne Frank and Exodus made me realize how blessed I was to be born in this country. I got the same feeling after reading Prisoner of Tehran and I think any teenager who read this would feel the same way. When you are sixteen years old, you are trying to break away from parents, traditions and rules to become your own person. In the United States, teens are free to speak their minds and write what they feeling. While I realize that schools can censor what the kids write, those kids aren't then placed on an arrest-to-be-tortured list.
Yet this is what happened to young Marina. When she was born, the shah was still in power and while there were abuses by the government there was also a lot more freedom and independence for women. Under the Ayatollah Kohmeini, all of that changed. Marina and several of her high school friends were arrested for "striking" against the school and for writing a protest newspaper. The strike involved a protest against teachers who chose to lecture on fundamentalist religion rather than on the topics they were supposed to teach (like calculus).
Marina was tortured in an attempt to force her to reveal the names of more friends involved in the protest. She suffered a great deal before being placed in a cell with some of her friends. Some survived; some did not. The ultimate horror--in my opinion anyway--was when Marina's interrogator fell in love with her. I recommend the book to anyone. Read it to find out what happens to Marina.
Yet this is what happened to young Marina. When she was born, the shah was still in power and while there were abuses by the government there was also a lot more freedom and independence for women. Under the Ayatollah Kohmeini, all of that changed. Marina and several of her high school friends were arrested for "striking" against the school and for writing a protest newspaper. The strike involved a protest against teachers who chose to lecture on fundamentalist religion rather than on the topics they were supposed to teach (like calculus).
Marina was tortured in an attempt to force her to reveal the names of more friends involved in the protest. She suffered a great deal before being placed in a cell with some of her friends. Some survived; some did not. The ultimate horror--in my opinion anyway--was when Marina's interrogator fell in love with her. I recommend the book to anyone. Read it to find out what happens to Marina.