Not Without My Daughter

Rating:
Summary: An Extremely Engrossing Read...
Review: Not Without My Daughter is the true story/biography of Betty Mahmoody, who accompanies her husband on a supposed two-week vacation to his native homeland, Iran, along with their daughter. Betty is well aware of the fact that once in Iran, she has nearly no rights, contrary to that of an American woman. As a woman, and especially an American she is looked down upon by others. A

This book, while coming under heavy criticism for it's portrayal of the Iranian lifestyle and customs is still quite a good read. The book is somewhat suspenseful, always with plot twists and intricate detail. The detail is so intricate, in fact, that I read it over and over.

However, many events in the book are supposed to be exaagerated. I do not believe this, because the book is taking place during a time period in which Iran is embroiled in a bitter war with Iraq, which changes every single circumstance in the perspective of a reader.

Not Without My Daughter is almost like a survival story, because Betty makes choices and she vows to escape with her daughter several times in the story. The mother-daughter bond is a constant theme in this story as children belong to the father in Iran and no one can simply identify with Betty's maternal instinct.

Despite the fact that people think it is over-exxagerated, it really is not. However, times have changed, and the book can not be put in any time period and work with the reader. Reading this book will give you an insight into what it is like in third-world countries like Iran, coupled with a mother and child's desperate desire for freedom. A compelling, yet disturbing book, Not Without My Daughter is an interesting, motivational, and overall dramatic book for someone looking to be deeply sensitized in an adventure.

P.S. - The book is definetely more in-depth and more detailed than the made for TV movie, starring Sally Field, produced by Pathe Entertainment, and released in 1991.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely disgusted. Shame on u Mrs. Mahmoody!!!
Review: As an Iranian, I found her generalization of an entire society, her derogatory fictious portray of the Iranian people and her extreme dramatization of her story ( in oder to sell her book)deeply insulting. I was sickened to my heart from the ignorant& hateful sterotypes so firmly expressed by this book and the movie as to who we Muslim Iranians are! We are not perfect and embody a great deal of imperfections but most of us are not filthy and uphold cleansiness to the highest degree , we are not primitives, we don't eat with our fingers while sitting on the floor, we don't marry our cousins, we don't slaughter animals, walk around in a pool of blood, we don't cover our hair or wear Chador or Mantue ( which most women in Iran have to wear not by choice but by law inoder to survive), have dirty homes and bathrooms with no furniture and behave like complete uneducated savages. We are modern educated human beings ,who like all, are suffused with great ambitions and dreams of a happy life. I appolegize 4 sounding arrogant but we are also known for our family values, hard work, emphasis on education and success, hospitality and our delicious food. Mrs. Mahmoody has every right to express her feelings and write the script to her life as she desires but she has no right to degrade a whole culture with her fabrications, propaganda and lies. What I find the most intriguing is how this woman who abhors and dispises all that her husband emblems puplished a book with his last name still being hers!!!! I profusely thank all my fellow Americans for not buying in to her lies. Thank u.

Rating:
Summary: A one-sided story of a failed marriage
Review: This is a one-sided story that tries to exploit the average western reader's ignorance of the middle east and the stereotypes of Iranian people fed by recent political developments. This book is written by a woman who had marital difficulties leading to divorce and, most likely, deep-seated bitterness towards her Ex. Bitterness that is not only reflected in her views of her former lover but also the entire society he comes from. A women, or a man, with a failed romance can be expected to write a book like this, but when a Hollywood producer puts it on the big screen (as was the case with this book), it gives the story a legitimacy which is unwarranted to say the least and which feeds existing stereotypes and hateful impressions based on ignorance. I lived in Iran for a decade and I can assure you that every one in that country does not hate happiness, freedom, prosperity, and family bliss, despite what the author may have you believe. In fact many may argue that these are innate desires born to every human being, regardless of the political winds and stereotypes of the day. I would also like to note that the father of the "daughter" in this movie also wrote a book of HIS views on the matter which documents the other side of the coin (his book however, to no surprise, has NOT been turned into a huge Hollywood production......not enough audience appeal).

Rating:
Summary: Awesome, gripping story!
Review: This book contains such a personal, touching story. No detail is spared, no matter how painful. I couldn't put it down. It was so compelling. It's just a great story told very well.

Rating:
Summary: good read, but authenticity questionable
Review: I thought this book was full of action, suspense, and drama. However, I do question the validity and authenticity of the events that took place in this book. For example, if betty said that she can't contact her friends who helped her in Iran, to see how they are, then how did one of them, Hamid, get her address and write her the letter? mpreover, some of the things she said about the sanitation conditions in iran were very hard to believe, I myself have had many Iranian friends, and they're the most cleanest people i've met. Furthermore, her daughter, mahtob, was a little over a toddler when they went there. Betty makes it seem as if she had the brains of a girl much older, especially when she said she hated her father. It's physiologically unlikely that a 4-year old can understand so much as to say that. Also, if betty could hardly cross the cold mountains and felt as if she'd die, and did collapse on numerous occasions, then how did her little girl survive? it's hard for little children and the elderly to handle such harsh conditions, since their bodies can't handle extremes in weather that well due to developmental levels. This, and other details she mentioned in the book didn't seem to be so true.
I think it's a good book to pass your time, but it appears to be full of bias towards people of other cultures. Moreover, it's only from her point of view. Maybe it is a true story, but it must have been greatly dramatized. I'd like to hear this from mahtob's point of view, and see what she remembers. I feel sorry that she doesn't have a father for all these years. I do empathize with Betty, if she did endure such dire conditions in Iran, but a lot of the things in this book are questionable in their truthfulness. I'd like to hear the side from Dr. Moody's story.
As for Dr. Moody himself, he tried to keep the women inside, partly because he knew the dangers in his country. Wouldn't any father/husband try to do the same? I'm not saying he was innocent, but some of his actions as mentioned here were to an extent justifiable.
Lastly, If betty complained so much about the filthy conditions in a 3rd world nation, that's life. In the us, we do ignore what goes on in the world and it doesn't give her the right to degrade someone as a bad person because of the sanitary conditions. I myself can't always handle filth, but you have to learn to adjust to unfavorable conditions whereever you go, more or less. Even in America, you can't always find cleanlienss.
Overall, a good read, but not very truthful. Good propaganda.
Bottom line: don't believe everything you read.

Rating:
Summary: Pure Garbage and Propaganda
Review: I'm not Iranian, but how a book this racist and packed with lies ever became a movie astounds me. The book could have easily been shortened by at least two hundred pages had Betty Mahmoody stuck to telling her story, but she spends half of the book describing with disgust how filthy and primitive Iranians are. Her poor half Iranian daughter Mahtob must have quite a self-esteem problem if Betty Mahmoody feeds her this kind of hateful rhetoric at home.

Considering the author's intense xenophobia, I wonder how much of the story really is true and how much is just the fabrication of an ignorant bigot.

Rating:
Summary: Revenge and Lies
Review: I am not Iranian and am not married to an Iranian. However, I have done some research on Betty Mahmoodi and feel she greatly dramatized and told untruths about her stay in Iran and about her husband, Dr. Mahmoodi. If Betty had played herself in the movie, you would see she is a large woman, not petite like Sally Fields. In contrast, her husband is a small slim man. I doubt very much that he hit her, knocked her down, and beat her. She could eat him for breakfast. Nor does the fact that she had been previously married and had children, then divorced ever touched upon. By the way, she did not keep the children of her first marriage. Also, she took ten suitcases of clothes with her when she traveled to Iran. I believe she definitely knew that they would be staying for a while. The home she lived in while Iran was very nice and Iranian people are extremely clean. She apparently decided she didn't want to stay there and raised a ruckus. Her husband, wanted to keep his only child--can you blame him? According to International Law, she is the transgressor, not her husband.
The book and the movie were very moving, so much so that I decided to find out more. I was totally disillusioned. The book should have clearly been marked "fiction" or "fairy tale."

Rating:
Summary: Gripping disturbing heartwarming true story
Review: If you like human interest stories that are well-written, and adventure stories that are well-written and you can hardly put down, and suspense stories that are well-written, then you'll enjoy this story very much.

It's for all parents with children who care enough about their children to protect and care for them above all costs. It's for people without children as well, as everyone can relate to the American protagonists in this story.

There are no punches pulled. The story is disturbing at times.
The reader often doesn't know what to expect, what is going to happen. It's as well-written and makes an enjoyable and memorable read as much as any book I've read.

It's more so if you like to imagine life in some alien place - in this case it's Iran in 1984, just 4 years after Khomeini's Islamic revolution.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, but some biases
Review: I liked this story. It is a wonderful story of how a woman gets herself out of a situation she doesn't want to be in. I think she shows good intentions towards wanting to get her daughter out of Iran. I do wish I could read the other side of the story from Dr. Mamoody's view point. This book does have some flaws. Ms. Mamoody or her co-writer do make remarks that are bias towards Iranian people. I do think she also at times sounds like the woman scorn. Maybe if she could have just told the story from a viewpoint that didn't show so much derrogatory remarks towards Iranians; it would be more appreciated. I do suggest reading it though.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is one of my all time favorite books (and I've seen the movie several times). It is full of action and hard to put down. However, I will admit the author, although it is a true story, gives a false impression of the Iranian culture. Perhaps her husband's family was the way she portrayed, but I know that the rest of Iran is not like this. I know this because I am now married to an Iranian man (who is not Muslim)and he and his parents are the most loving people I could know. And incidentally, they all bathe regularly, keep clean homes, and the food I get to eat is awesome!