Review- Reading Lolita in Tehran

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Nafisi was a professor of English literature in Iran during the Iranian 'revolution', when she resigned from her post after refusing to wear the veil or follow other restrictions following the establishment of the theocratic regime. Thereafter, she set up a private literary group consisting of a number of her most promising students (all girls, to avoid contravening regulations on the mixing of men and women), who discussed literature, and, usually obliquely, through reference to their personal experiences, political developments in Iran. The book is divided into four sections, loosely based around the themes developed in the novels of literary authors, and the book alternates between literary criticism, the stories of the women in the literary group, and Nifisi's own life.

Reading Lolita in Tehran is a memoir that has a semi-fictionalized feel. The author says that some of the names of the characters have been changed, and some of them feel a little stock, as if they might be several persons rolled into one. The women in the literary circle are introduced all at once, and several of them seem indistinguishable at times. On the other hand, some of the characters are strongly painted, such as Mahshid, who is a conservative Muslim who nevertheless has an ambiguous attitude towards the regime, and Mr Bahri, a student in Nafisi's class, who is a pompous and self-serving moralizer who refuses to look women in the eye. It is no surprise that the character traits on display, and the political concerns that absorb the protagonists, are universally familiar.

Although the book does not give a detailed description of the political events (as a memoir, it is focused on the author's experiences), it nevertheless gives an interesting insight into some of the disputes and struggles of the time. For example, Nafisi describes how many of her leftist students (foolishly) supported some of the authoritarian measures taken by the emerging theocratic regime, because they believed they had a common interest in opposing 'liberalism'.

The description of the theocracy shares many similarities with descriptions of other authoritarian regimes, with its distinguishing feature being an obsessive focus on the allegedly corrupting influence of female sexuality, and the accompanying fantasies about the purity of chaste women. One of the characters in the book describes women wearing the veil as pearls protected by oyster shells; a view that cannot survive interaction with actual women.

However, the main focus of the book is on the novels. In places, there are miniature essays offering literary criticism, which feel a little bolted on. Some of the author's comments seem lightweight (such as when she claims that the novel is an inherently democratic form because of its ambiguity, which feels odd- there is no reason why a dictatorship could not be mysterious too). Despite this, a real love of literature emerges, and the quality of the prose is often beautiful and powerful. In a memorable scene, the author puts The Great Gatsby on trial in one of her classes, the conservative students denouncing its immorality with arguments that are skewered by those who understand that the moral status of a book cannot be reduced to the actions of one of its characters.

Nafisi has a childlike love of stories (in the best way), that is very endearing. That is what I was left with after reading this book, and is why I would recommend it to others.



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