Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in BooksEvery Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Azar Nafisi, a bold and inspired teacher, secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. Some came from conservative and religious families, others were progressive and secular; some had spent time in jail. They were shy and uncomfortable at first, unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon they removed their veils and began to speak more freely–their stories intertwining with the novels they were reading by Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, as fundamentalists seized hold of the universities and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the women in Nafisi’s living room spoke not only of the books they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams and disappointments. Azar Nafisi’s luminous masterwork gives us a rare glimpse, from the inside, of women’s lives in revolutionary Iran. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a work of great passion and poetic beauty, a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny, and a celebration of the liberating power of literature. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - meredk - LibraryThingIn many ways this is a remarkable book. The author gives us an inside view of the frightening changes in Iran after the ouster of the shah, and weaves that view in with analyses of several of her ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - CDWilson27 - LibraryThingA professor of English Literature lives through the Iranian Revolution of 1979 with several of her students. Azar Nafisi narrates her life as a professor at Tehran University in the 1970's. As ... Read full review
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American asked Austen Ayatollah Ayatollah Khomeini Azar Nafisi Azin Azin's Bahri became become Bijan called chador chair coffee color created culture Daisy Miller dance death discussion door dream eyes face fact feel felt fiction films friends Gatsby Ghomi girls Guards hair hands Henry James Humbert imagination Iran Iranian Islamic Republic jail James Jane Austen Khomeini knew Laleh later leave literature Lolita look Madame Bovary magician Mahshid Mahtab Manna married Mitra mother Muslim Nabokov Nafisi Nahvi Nassrin never night Nima novel Nyazi once pause Persian political Pride and Prejudice Reading Lolita regime remember reminded revolution revolutionary Rezvan Sanaz scarf seemed sitting smile story streets suddenly talk teach tell things thought tion told took tried turned University of Tehran veil voice walked wanted wear Western Winterbourne woman women words write Yassi young Zarrin
References to this book
Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism Jennifer Baumgardner,Amy Richards No preview available - 2005 |
Bibliographic information
| Title | Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books Reader's circle |
| Author | Azar Nafisi |
| Edition | reissue |
| Publisher | Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0812979303, 9780812979305 |
| Length | 380 pages |
| Subjects | › Biography & Autobiography / Women Social Science / Women's Studies |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |