Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Mar 26, 2011 Jenny rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2011

The reading of this book was made all the more poignant by the fact that a wonderful student, Shohreh, loaned it to me, but said she didn't think she could read it because it would bring back too many bad memories. This is a memoir of sorts by Azar Nafisi, a professor of literature, who uses the frame of a reading group she formed in her home in the 1990's with some of her former students to reflect on her life (both academic and personal) in Iran after the fall of the Shah and the rise of the I ...more

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May 05, 2009 Rebecca rated it it was ok

Shelves: bookclub-read

For me, this book is really 2.5 stars, but I feel compelled to round down even though I chose this book for bookclub. I’m very interested in Iran and especially the experience of women and minorities there after the revolution. So on the surface, this would seem like the perfect choice (given that I also love books). And there were glimpses into women’s lives that were riveting.

After being expelled from the University of Tehran for refusing to wear the veil and briefly teaching at two other uni For me, this book is really 2.5 stars, but I feel compelled to round down even though I chose this book for bookclub. I’m very interested in Iran and especially the experience of women and minorities there after the revolution. So on the surface, this would seem like the perfect choice (given that I also love books). And there were glimpses into women’s lives that were riveting.

After being expelled from the University of Tehran for refusing to wear the veil and briefly teaching at two other universities, Azar Nafisi held semi-secret meetings in her home for a group of her brightest former female students to discuss English literature such as Lolita and The Great Gatsby. Through flashbacks and retelling, we learn Nafisi’s personal history as well as some of the other women’s stories. And this was what I wanted to read about: how the revolution changed women’s lives and how they struggled with the new limitations (especially educational limitations) imposed by the Islamic Republic.

However, Nafisi spent a great deal of the book on literary criticism of the books she taught (as a professor and with her private group), and I frankly just lost interest during those sections. I also found her on-again off-again use of correct dialogue punctuation exceedingly irritating. When she chose not to use quotation marks in long paragraphs it was difficult to determine who was speaking or if Nafisi was simply musing about how she believed her students felt. Additionally, I felt the book was very disjointed. Nafisi seemed to start in the middle of her story without providing the reader any background sense of place or personal history. And while she did provide more information later in the book through flashbacks, I still finished the book feeling dissatisfied.

I rounded down to 2 stars because I would not have finished this book for the fact that I chose it for bookclub, though I think there are others in our group who will enjoy it. I only recommend this book if you really enjoy literary criticism and have read at least most of the books Nafisi discusses. ...more

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May 15, 2008 Sarah left GR added it · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

Listening to this on a Playaway. Narrated by Lisette Lecat, of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency audiobooks.

*** UPDATE ***

This was perhaps not a good choice for a Playaway. I feel somewhat disoriented because of the narrative structure; the author drifts among descriptions of modern life in Tehran, synopses of her book discussions with her students, and lecture-style literary criticism of Nabokov and others. Also difficult to tell when a chapter begins with a lengthy quotation (such an easy th ...more

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Jun 27, 2008 Sarah left GR rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoir

More than just a diary of a book club, Reading Lolita in Tehran offers a deeply personal view of the Iranian Revolution and life in the Islamic Republic.

Late in the book, the author admits, "I am too much of an academic: I have written too many papers and articles to be able to turn my experiences and ideas into narratives without pontificating."

This is a forgivable offense, as Nafisi pontificates more eloquently than any literature professor I've ever heard. I can't recommend this highly enou ...more

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