“Reading Lolita In Tehran” is a beautifully written book based on a true story of a female Literature Professor, teaching English Literature during a time in Iran history where women were losing all of their basic freedoms and rights. This time period is set in the ‘80s and ‘90s, besides the problems that the women face with the Islamic Regime, Iran is involved in a war with Iraq and the professor and students must deal with years of bombs and missiles being dropped all over Tehran and many of their friends and family being killed in the process.
Professor Nafisi and her students endure many trials and tribulations throughout the story and the focal point is the struggle that women must go through during this time period.
Television, movies, books, and music are either banned or censored because they are deemed as being too westernized and decadent. This also affects Professor Nafisi as many of the literature books she teaches become banned and she can no longer teach them, or some of the male students find the books she assigns to read offensive and sinful. As a professor she must put up with many demonstrations and students skipping class in order to participate in them. During this time the Islamic Regime forces the women to wear chadors, scarves, and veils. Professor Nafisi and the students attend many demonstrations against the rules and regulations forced on the women of Iran, but in the end the Islamic Regime wins and the women must wear the regulatory garments. Professor Nafisi gets expelled from teaching at the University of Tehran because she refuses to wear the veil, but after a while she conforms and resumes her career as a teacher.
After a while Professor Nafisi resigns from her career as a professor and selects a few female students to participate in a class she teaches at her apartment every Thursday morning. In this class the professor teaches the books she was not allowed to teach at the university, such as “Lolita,” and “Invitation To A Beheading” by Vladimir Nabokov and many other banned books. Professor Nafisi and her students must risk everything to continue with their class. If they are found out by the Islamic Regime they may end up in prison for many years or even executed. The students and Professor Nafisi find their freedom and happiness in these Thursday morning meetings reading and discussing literature. They not only learn a great deal about the literature, but they form bonds and learn about each other which gives them hope in the future. The class goes on for many years and each person in the class including Professor Nafisi finds themselves. The class only ends when Professor Nafisi and her family decide to move to America to live.
I would recommend this book for anyone to read. We not only learn about the hardships women have to face in other countries, but we also gain a new found respect for the freedoms that we take for granted. Because of reading this book I have learned that I am quite interested in reading many of the books she talks about in the story. We must all rejoice in the fact that we are free to read, watch, and think what we want to without having to answer to our government.
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Nice post, you very much summed up my ideas. Your post was logical and very well thought out. I agree that this book was a good read. I think it should be on high school reading list’s, I think many people could benefit from reading this story. I mean we take everything for granted, our basic freedoms the things were allowed to do. The clothes we wear, I mean I couldn’t imagine being told I had to wear a vale and be discreet. I also couldn’t imagine being told what books I could and couldn’t read. It is so bizarre to me and because I live in a world where I have so many freedoms I often find myself unable to think of anything different. Sense I am free I often forget that not everyone is, I forget that still to this day I have more freedoms then many people. This story really opened my eyes and helped enlighten me, I agree I would recommended it. I think you worded your review very well. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteYour review was well written and it gives some great insight to the story, it is just enough preview and summary of the book to catch my interest, and I can imagine that those who have not read the novel yet would become very interested in reading it. In fact, just from reading your review it really makes me want to re-read Reading Lolita in Tehran all over again! Great Job. I would also recommend this book for anyone to read, especially those who are interested in literature and social or cultural issues around the world. It does in fact give light to the many freedoms we take for granted, and we should all be grateful of these freedoms. After reading the memoir I also became interested in reading the books she talks about, and I agree that we all must rejoice in the fact that we have the freedom to read and watch and most importantly think whatever we want free of government persecution and intervention.
ReplyDeleteHello Andrea, I posted this on Khaliah's Blog but I felt it relevant to post it on yours as well. I think that it is important to note that another reason why this book as well as other works are important, is because they help to dispel the many misconceptions Americans have about other people that are trapped in these regimes. Many times we think of “them” as our enemy without giving thought to the individuals that are being oppressed by their governments. We see them on TV chanting “death to America” and burning our flag but we fail to realize that maybe they don’t believe what they are saying or what they are doing, that maybe they feel it’s either that or their death. This literature humanizes these cultures and makes us realize that their values and their desires are not that different than ours. Their government was imposed on them, they didn’t choose it – not all of them. I think this type of literature should be forced on military personnel before they are sent off to wage war with another country, to help them realize that there are individuals with individual beliefs, that not every person there supports the belief system of their government. The last thing someone needs that is down, is to be kicked by an American soldier.
ReplyDeleteYour summary of the book was written very well. If I hadn’t read this book and curious if I should read “Reading Lolita in Tehran” you’re analysis would definitely persuade me to do so. As a female, reading about professor Nafisi in your summary was powerful; you very much caught the strength of this woman and the inspiration she provokes in women alike. You gave a very good summary that was comprehendible and thorough, it could go right on the inside cover of the book itself. When you got to the paragraph about whether you would recommend the book or not I found myself agreeing with you on every point you made regarding what the book and this woman teach the reader and what we take for granted. As I read this book I was constantly getting angry and upset at the absurdity some cultures put people through (particularly women). As you said it did, “Reading Lolita in Tehran” really opened my eyes to how lucky we as people of the United States are to have our rights protected. It’s a shame that other countries will miss out on the wonderful things people have to offer because they are too focused on projecting their prejudices onto them.
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