Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (Wheeler Large Print Book Series (Cloth))

Rating:
Summary: A literary tour-de-force
Review: Azar Nafisi's memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran, is the sort of book you should pick up if you want to assure yourself of how well-read you are, or perhaps to remind yourself that you are not well read at all. In the back of Ms. Nafisi's book is a list of recommended reading, some of which deals with Iran, but much of which is the fiction about which she writes in the book.

Having only read some of the novels about which Ms. Nafisi writes, I don't think I can adequately discuss the literary criticism woven throughout the book. The story of the book club itself is often not the main focus, as Ms. Nafisi gives a crash course in Iranian revolutionary history and delves into her personal life as well as that of the women in her book club. The combination of the three is an intriguing and potent conceit; learning how everyday life in Iran affects these women is compelling and evocative. Intertwined with commentary and comparison of some of the great books of western literature makes it even more so.

It would be had to say that one does not learn one thing, if not many things, from this book. Certainly it inspires you to read some of the books Ms. Nafisi writes about, if only to re-read the book and access a new level of understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Style
Review: Excellent style of writing like other books such as Nightmares Echo and Running With Scissors. A story that captures your attention and holds it. I am a fan of Non Fiction works, Particularly that of Memoirs-Autobiographies. This book is meaty and hard to put down. <br />

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous! If you love and cherish books, read this now
Review: What a fabulous find! Book-lovers should read this memoir of being female in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution contrasted with ideas and ideals of Western civilization as shown by great authors. Azir Nafisi, an English literature professor, has taken 4 novelists (Nabokov, Fitzgerald, James, and Austen) and shown how the ideals written about in their novels espouse those desired by her and some of her female students in authoritarian Iran. The ability to show and feel love, freedom, imagination, and passion espoused in great novels can only be dreamed by the women portrayed in this book. They gather to study forbidden books, and to find words and outlets for the feelings of inadequacy, fear, loss, and longing in their hearts fostered by a government dismissive (and fearful) of women.

In addition to the internal struggles bravely portrayed, this book gives a fabulous cultural picture of life in Iran during and after the revolution. Beyond the political atmosphere, I felt the love Nafisi has for her native country and the people she left behind there.