Book Review: Reading Lolita in Tehran

Hi All,

It has been a few months since I posted a book review. I have a good reason for that. I started this book back in September and just finished it last night. Do not let that discourage you, though! It is a good read and very interesting. I am rather behind on my goal for the year now and will have to play catch-up. On the hunt for my next two books, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know!

Reading Lolita in Tehran has been on my list of books to read for over a year now. I picked it up as a freebie at school and started it last fall. I soon noticed, however, that I was rather confused. The book is split up into four different sections: Lolita, Gatsby, James and Austen. Well, I had not read Lolita! So I put that on my books to read and got it done over the summer. Now I felt ready to start. I had already read Gatsby, and books by James and Austen. 

Another thing that makes this book out of the ordinary for me is I don't typically read memoirs. Though I like them, I don't usually pick them up. The first section of the book is a bit hard to get into. I was reading about ten pages a night before I fell asleep. Once I got rolling with it though, I was able to read large sections and spent my weekends lounging with the book in my hands.

I realized several things while reading the book. I know so very little about Iran. The book is mainly set in the 80's and 90's, which is before I was conscious of places other than my own. Learning about how the Islamic Revolution happened and the drastic effects it had on women (and men) was a bit terrifying. It reminded me of the book A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Suddenly, a very religious group takes over the country by murder and the people have no choice but to obey. Their rights become less and less.

I did not realize how Iran viewed 'the West' and the true hatred that people had for it. Growing up in Western culture, I of course understand their critique, but I would not want to wish it away. There are always negative things, but we should not disregard the positives as well.

This book is really about the woman's journey. Nafisi moves from America back to Iran in the early 80s to teach at a University of Tehran. The way the university is set of is so drastically different than the one I went to. There were several different highly political student groups who ran the university and could cancel classes and expel teachers for being too Westernized. I always viewed, and I still do, a political culture to be enlightening, and it did make me miss my own college days. She also includes the stories of the women whom she has a secret class with once a week for several years.

Reading about the persecution of anyone, but especially the intellectuals, because of minor infractions was also scary. In my own class we recently read Animal Farm which ties in nicely to this book. There are large groups of people who idealize the communists of Russia and want to make Iran more like that. But, above all else, it reminded me of the utmost importance of education and critical thinking. The pigs in Animal Farm are able to control all of the other animals because they keep them uneducated-they cannot question those in charge because they don't know how. By getting rid of all the writers(whose job it is to question authority and the status quo) and other intellectuals and teachers, the government controls the people.

In the last chapter of this book, I am reminded about how our memories and even our writing never truly reflect the truth. Nafisi gave the people in the book different names, but she also had the power as author to create situations that may or may not have occurred, and we will never know. The conversations are recreated and reflect what she wants us the take from her  life experiences, maybe not how they really happened. Ah, the magic of writing.

I do recommend this memoir as a way to educate yourself and also to try and experience something that is so completely different, in the case of our freedoms, and yet hauntingly similar.