The moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppres...
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Apr 14, 2008
Don
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This wonderful little book tells the story of an educated woman of Iran who participated in the Islamic Revolution and rose her voice to criticize it in terms of gender equality and other democratic issues, while remaining utterly faithful to her religion and to her country. She won the noble prize, as she see's it for her "one refrain: an interpretation of Islam that is in harmony with equality and democracy is an authentic expression of faith" (p. 204).
Dec 18, 2011
Asma
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نادرة هي تلك الكتب التي تُخاطبك تمامًا؛ او لنقل تسدّ ثغرة في داخلك ..
و رغم ان الكتاب ما هو إلا سيرة ذاتية إلا أنه من الطابع المختلف .. ليست حكاية تروى او قالب حياة روتينيّ
شيرين تتحدث بصفتها مواطنة إيرانية قبل أن تكون رمز مناضل .. كرّست حياتها من أجل الأرض ودفاعًا عن وطن لايهتمّ ؛
كانت الحياة بين يديها؛ الى أن أضحى كل شيء الى زوال ..
و ذلك إبان الثورة الإسلامية حيث أصبحت إيران هادمة لسلام الفرد الداخلي في سبيل تحقيق شعارات وفروض واجبة مستخدمة سلطة الدين؛
منعت من مزا More...
و رغم ان الكتاب ما هو إلا سيرة ذاتية إلا أنه من الطابع المختلف .. ليست حكاية تروى او قالب حياة روتينيّ
شيرين تتحدث بصفتها مواطنة إيرانية قبل أن تكون رمز مناضل .. كرّست حياتها من أجل الأرض ودفاعًا عن وطن لايهتمّ ؛
كانت الحياة بين يديها؛ الى أن أضحى كل شيء الى زوال ..
و ذلك إبان الثورة الإسلامية حيث أصبحت إيران هادمة لسلام الفرد الداخلي في سبيل تحقيق شعارات وفروض واجبة مستخدمة سلطة الدين؛
منعت من مزا More...
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Nov 14, 2008
Sandra D
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A quick, absorbing read. It's more of a personal than a political memoir, though it does cover the major events in Iran's history from the mid-20th century to the present in order to illustrate the differences in ordinary Iranians' lives under a secular government, then under the restored monarchy, and finally under a fundamentalist Islamic government which instituted sharia law, complete with Taliban-style behavior police.
Ebadi became a judge at age 23 and initially supported the r More...
Ebadi became a judge at age 23 and initially supported the r More...
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Jan 01, 2009
June
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Shirin Ebadi recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work for the poor and oppressed society in Iran. This memoir chronicles her journeys from being a young wife & mother, becoming a judge in her twenties (!!), to her passionate work that eventually led to her receiving one of the world's highest honours.
While a singularly remarkable woman of courage, Ebadi was also rather possessive of her platonic relationships, in my opinion. She recounts disowning her friends bec More...
While a singularly remarkable woman of courage, Ebadi was also rather possessive of her platonic relationships, in my opinion. She recounts disowning her friends bec More...
Dec 29, 2011
ميّ أحمد
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عام 2009 من شهر نوفمبر كانت السابقة الأولى من نوعها حيث قامت جمهورية إيران بمصادرة جائزة نوبل للسلام من الناشطة الحقوقية شيرين عبادي ومارست ضغوطها المستمرة عليها بوصفها ناقدة للنظام الإيراني وذلك باعتقال شقيقتها وزوجها وبعضا من أقاربها
شيرين عبادي من السيدات القلائل التي إستطاعت أن تهز هيبة النظام بمواقفها المعارضة المتمثلة في المطالبة بحقوق المرأة الإيرانية والتي ضاعت مع انتصار الثورة الإسلامية
من هي شيرين عبادي
وكيف حصلت هذه الإيرانية المسلمة على جائزة نوبل !
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شيرين عبادي من السيدات القلائل التي إستطاعت أن تهز هيبة النظام بمواقفها المعارضة المتمثلة في المطالبة بحقوق المرأة الإيرانية والتي ضاعت مع انتصار الثورة الإسلامية
من هي شيرين عبادي
وكيف حصلت هذه الإيرانية المسلمة على جائزة نوبل !
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Apr 17, 2011
Ari
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To be clear: my rating is based purely on the enjoyment/entertainment factor. I think Shirin Ebadi has an amazing life story and I'm so glad she shared it. I did feel as though she was keeping a lot of things back, not going into much detail. I understand that her work is dangerous and maybe she feared repurcussions from the Iranian government but perhaps it could have been better glossed over? It's hard to explain. I admit she said some things that made me squirm but that's a good sign. I did h
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Jan 12, 2011
Ale-xpressed
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I haven't found any book as rewarding, informing and engaging as Iran Awakening. Standing in the tube on way to work those chilly winter mornings, reading it has made me silently smile, left my eyes wet, and sent shivers down my spine at other times. Critical but not offensive, inspiring but not patronizing.
Iran's first female judge, world's first Muslim woman to win a Nobel prize: that's Shirin Ebadi. She is an Iranian who has lived every day of her life in Iran; who has got to know More...
Iran's first female judge, world's first Muslim woman to win a Nobel prize: that's Shirin Ebadi. She is an Iranian who has lived every day of her life in Iran; who has got to know More...
Sep 25, 2010
Teghan
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I read this book right after I finished 'Infidel'. Due to my overwhelming response to that book, no follow up could even compare. 'Iran Awakening' is the memoir of a woman who fights injustices in Iran. I found the book more to be an annotated modern history of Iran, while fascinating, I wanted to know more about her personally. Her feelings and thoughts as the atrocities were committed around her. What I did take from the book in addition to the well explained history, was an example of what ca
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Jul 03, 2009
Carole
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I got this book to try and get a better understanding of the recent history that has lead to the current events in Iran. And it was perfect. It went into enough depth to give a really solid background on the history, but it's couched in a really engaging narrative that keeps it from feeling like a textbook.
Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work as a lawyer defending dissidents, women, and other victims of the Iranian regime. She is deeply religious and very stron More...
Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work as a lawyer defending dissidents, women, and other victims of the Iranian regime. She is deeply religious and very stron More...
Jul 06, 2010
Khaya
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Definitely one of the better books on Iran from an insider's perspective.
Shirin Ebadi grew up in pre-revolutionary Iran, where she studied law and became a judge at the age of 23. After the revolution, Ebadi was forced to resign her position because she was a woman and was relegated to the position of frustrated clerk. Eventually she was able to work as a lawyer and became an activist on behalf of Iranian women, children, and political dissidents. In her memoir, Ebadi chronicles n More...
Shirin Ebadi grew up in pre-revolutionary Iran, where she studied law and became a judge at the age of 23. After the revolution, Ebadi was forced to resign her position because she was a woman and was relegated to the position of frustrated clerk. Eventually she was able to work as a lawyer and became an activist on behalf of Iranian women, children, and political dissidents. In her memoir, Ebadi chronicles n More...
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Jul 05, 2011
Katherine
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I read this book for my international relations class. I'm glad I did, because before reading it I knew basically nothing about Iran. Shirin Ebadi is an amazing person and her life story is fascinating. However, the writing can get a little dry at times. Ebadi is definitely not and emotional writer. Her passion for her work and her love for Iran show clearly, but other emotions such as her love for her family are less apparent. For example, she discusses how her daughter wants to leave Ira
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Aug 08, 2011
I am really glad i read this book. Like most americans i knew very little about Iran and was puzzled as to why Iran took the American hostages back in the 1980's. This books gives a brief history of Iran and how it came to be so radicalized. It was very nice to read the words of a Iranian feminist giving the iranian perspective on some events that occured in her country that we were only privy to through an american filter media. Once i began talking about the book to others, It also helped o
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Dec 16, 2009
Claire
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What an amazing woman! Lawyer/judge turned activist in Iran. You may know her as the lawyer who took on the case of Zahra Kezemi (the Canadian journalist who was kiled in Iran). This is her first hand account of becoming disillusioned with the revolution, becoming an activist, imprisonment and why she and her family have chosen to stay.
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Jul 27, 2009
Lostinanovel
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Iran Awakening was quite a book. Reads easy, she's a good storyteller. Interesting from different angles as well. Politicly informative. I didn't appreciate the significance of Obama's admission of the US role in the 1953 coup. And their mistrust of the US is pretty understandable as well.
But the story also is inciteful from her personal angle, as a woman and mother. How she backed a revolution that would destroy much of her own personal/professional life is fascinating, especiall More...
But the story also is inciteful from her personal angle, as a woman and mother. How she backed a revolution that would destroy much of her own personal/professional life is fascinating, especiall More...
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Apr 24, 2010
Denise
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Shirin Ebadi is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work as a lawyer in Iran defending human rights. If that sounds like an oxymoron, it is somewhat! She was a judge at the time of the revolution in 1979 and because she was a woman, she was not allowed to work as a judge anymore, she was assigned to be a clerk. She is a courageous woman to stay in that country, but not conform to the expectations of the Islamic government. She has been imprisoned and been on lists to be extermi
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Jan 28, 2010
Celeste
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I think anyone who is interested in making changes for good, women, women's rights, peace, law, revolution, foreign policy, politics, the middle east, Iran's history, hope, or good people in general, should read this book. In fact, I want to say if you're an American you should read this, just so we can better understand Iran.
I found it easy to read. I had a hard time putting it in fact. Before reading this I knew about as much about Iran as a 9-year-old. Somehow within this woman's More...
I found it easy to read. I had a hard time putting it in fact. Before reading this I knew about as much about Iran as a 9-year-old. Somehow within this woman's More...
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Mar 06, 2009
Mikel
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¡Cuánto creemos saber sobre Irán y cuánto ignoramos! Esta biografía me ha hecho aprender muchas cosas sobre la intrahistoria de la revolución y del Irán postrevolucionario en la experiencia de una jueza que va perdiendo poco a poco su posición profesional -y su seguridad- por el hecho de ser mujer. Es una historia de tenacidad y de dignidad de una mujer luchadora pr la igualdad y por los derechos humanos. Es la historia de una mujer que se queda, que lucha decepción tras decepción, humillación t
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Mar 19, 2009
Nancy
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Fascinating...the quality of character it takes to survive, endure, persevere, and occasionally triumph through political upheaval and government policies which oppress women and terrorize citizens. Sherin Ebadi is loyal to Iran, dedicated to justice, clever enough to outsmart ghoulish fear tactics, principled in her response to unjust incarceration, stubborn beyond belief, optimistic against grave odds, visionary to recognize the western vacuum that creates a brain drain from her country and s
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Aug 08, 2011
Nura
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The best Iranian memoir I've read, in my opinion. Shirin Ebadi loves her country so much that she's willing to take on the chauvinistic, misogynistic theocrats who rule Iran, and all the while, putting herself, her family and friends in danger.
The horror that the down-trodden of Iran have to go through in the hands of these monsters, evokes Orwell's 1984 with such chilling clarity.
Despite the horrors, Shirin Ebadi perseveres in the pursuit of justice. She does so while st More...
The horror that the down-trodden of Iran have to go through in the hands of these monsters, evokes Orwell's 1984 with such chilling clarity.
Despite the horrors, Shirin Ebadi perseveres in the pursuit of justice. She does so while st More...
Apr 27, 2009
just sarah
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For those who don't know, Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work in human rights in Iran. This memoir is the story of Ms. Ebadi's life in her own words. At times it is slow and sometimes it's difficult to read for the pure horror of what she's been through as well as those she has defended throughout her career. The epilogue, however, should be required reading for every American. It is the most concise, well-put map of hope for the future of Iran that I've read. At yet anot
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May 21, 2010
Saba
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"Iran Awakening" is the perfect blend of both Iran's history and Iran's present state, told through the eyes of the ever so brilliant and witty Shirin Ebadi. Her life story not only molded her into the person she is today but also taught me a few lessons in resilience and independance. I have been going back and forth to Iran for the past 17 years, and as many political and domestic problems it has, there is a certain charm and gravitational hold that not only Ms. Ebadi feels bu More...
Jun 20, 2010
Talat
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Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is currently a human rights lawyer, and a deposed Iranian Court Judge. Ebadi has at times served prison sentences she describes in her book. More recently she has suffered raids of her office and confiscation of confidential legal files. Recently she also served as one of the attorneys who secured the release of Iranian-American journalist Roxanne Saberi, accused, and initially convicted of charges of spying and purchasing alcohol.
In a re More...
In a re More...
Nov 12, 2008
Mary Etta
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At times it became tedious reading the less than 250 pages because of frustration with the government of Iran. But then, I was just reading of it not living it.
Ebadi was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.
Some keepers--
p. 38
"That day (the revolution against the Shah), a feeling of pride washed over me that in hindsight makes me laugh. I felt that I too had won, alongside this victorious revolution. It took scarcely a month for me to realize that, in More...
Ebadi was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.
Some keepers--
p. 38
"That day (the revolution against the Shah), a feeling of pride washed over me that in hindsight makes me laugh. I felt that I too had won, alongside this victorious revolution. It took scarcely a month for me to realize that, in More...
Oct 25, 2008
Susan
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This was a quick read and definitely interesting. Even more than Reading Lolita in Tehran, it gave me a sense of what Iran is really like—and especially what it’s been like since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Shirin Ebadi won the Novel Peace Prize for her work as a lawyer and activist redressing the wrongs done to women and children in Iran. The book recounts her life and yet it seems deliberately to shy away from herself as a person. We know what she did, but only superficially how she f More...
Shirin Ebadi won the Novel Peace Prize for her work as a lawyer and activist redressing the wrongs done to women and children in Iran. The book recounts her life and yet it seems deliberately to shy away from herself as a person. We know what she did, but only superficially how she f More...
Apr 04, 2008
Aeisele
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If you were to read one book on Iran read this, rather than "Reading Lolita in Tehran." The latter book is decent, but this is really good. She has this interesting position: she was a judge at 23 in Iran, supported the revolution in 1979 (Americans have no clue how much Mossigdh, who was the president we helped depose in 1953 because he nationalized oil, was loved), and then was taken out of her professional life because of this revolution. She supported her own demise, as she said. T
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Jan 03, 2008
Nimave
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I found this was a very interesting and profound read and enjoyed it very much.
Not only does it give an insight into the life of a very interesting person; it also gives a close-up look of a country she loves and fights for and that has been, for many years, debated and (in my opinion) often misunderstood by Western media and people.
Shirin Ebadi tells a story that is both heart warming and heart breaking, and gives us readers a unique insight into a country and a conflict More...
Not only does it give an insight into the life of a very interesting person; it also gives a close-up look of a country she loves and fights for and that has been, for many years, debated and (in my opinion) often misunderstood by Western media and people.
Shirin Ebadi tells a story that is both heart warming and heart breaking, and gives us readers a unique insight into a country and a conflict More...
Jul 01, 2007
Lorraine
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This book, by Shirrin Ebadi, whose work in Iran to bring justice and equality to women and children brought her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, inspires and dismays. The inspiration comes from hearing the story of one courageous person who is making a difference in that turbulent part of the world, at great risk to herself and her family. It is truly uplifting to realize that some people really do risk all for truth and justice and right, and to watch the process by which one brave decision ope
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May 10, 2007
suz
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Reviewer: Ronald Scheer on Amazon
Written by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, this highly readable memoir reaches out specifically to American readers to help them understand the Islamic Republic of Iran as the two countries continue on what gives every appearance of a collision course. While Iran (Persia) can look back over a history of 3000 years, recent memory of political history dates from the 1953 CIA-assisted overthrow of its democratically elected prime minister More...
Written by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, this highly readable memoir reaches out specifically to American readers to help them understand the Islamic Republic of Iran as the two countries continue on what gives every appearance of a collision course. While Iran (Persia) can look back over a history of 3000 years, recent memory of political history dates from the 1953 CIA-assisted overthrow of its democratically elected prime minister More...
Oct 21, 2010
Rehab
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لأول مرة اكتشف انني لا استطيع ان اكتب مراجعة بسيطة لكتاب لا اعلم هل فقدت فعلا لياقتي ام ان هذا الكتاب كان اكبر من فكرة تلخيص ...شيرين قرأت ايران بقلبك لا بقلمك لذا انثر باقة ياسمين على كل دم سقط في مواجهة ظلم ..على كل شجاع حاول ان يقول لا ......
لكن عل فعلا إيران تستيقظ الآن؟
شكرا شيرين More...
لكن عل فعلا إيران تستيقظ الآن؟
شكرا شيرين More...
Feb 23, 2010
Shokufeh شکوفه
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I have a copy of this book signed by Dr. Shirin Ebadi as I met her in Brisbane - Australia during the world peace conference in 2005...She is one of the bravest women of our time and this is a dedication to her great works.......I had the honour to spend two days accompanying her during the conference.
شیرین عبادی یکی از شجاعترین زنان عصر ماست و امیدواریم که قادر باشد کارهائ بزرگی برای ما ایرانیان انجام دهد. More...
شیرین عبادی یکی از شجاعترین زنان عصر ماست و امیدواریم که قادر باشد کارهائ بزرگی برای ما ایرانیان انجام دهد. More...
