From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Then They Came for Me: A Story of Injustice and Survival in Iran's Most Notorious Prison

Maziar Bahari,

Aimee Molloy

Finish date: March 18, 2015

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Prompt 25: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
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Nov 13, 2014 Debbie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

As an occasional Daily Show watcher, I've seen Bahari several times and knew about Jon Stewart's movie. Because of the subject matter, I wasn't sure I was going to read the book or watch the movie. I generally don't seek out these kinds of stories in dramatic format, although I don't mind reading articles - even feature articles - about them.

Going into the book, I knew Bahari had been accused of being a spy while he was in his native Iran, covering the democratic elections. I knew there was litt As an occasional Daily Show watcher, I've seen Bahari several times and knew about Jon Stewart's movie. Because of the subject matter, I wasn't sure I was going to read the book or watch the movie. I generally don't seek out these kinds of stories in dramatic format, although I don't mind reading articles - even feature articles - about them.

Going into the book, I knew Bahari had been accused of being a spy while he was in his native Iran, covering the democratic elections. I knew there was little doubt that the elections were rigged, that he had covered the demonstrations that resulted from the election results, and that he had been locked up for less than a year, partially due to a satirical interview he'd done with Jason Jones. Obviously, I knew he'd been released and survived, since there was his book about the experience. This was my background knowledge, but I suspected there would be all kinds of graphic details about torture, and I didn't know if I could handle it.

That being said, when my book club agreed to read it last month, I thought this was the kind of peer pressure I needed, and it would also afford me an opportunity to discuss the book with friends. I'm glad we read it.

I was in good hands. I never once read his accounts of his own interrogation sessions with Rosewater - or the news he collected about the others who were locked up before and with him - and felt that he was not going to make it. He goes into detail rarely, but makes colorful enough broad strokes that I could understand the weight of his message without needing to know the specific gory bits. Mostly, his narration was about the head games - both the ones Rosewater played with him and the ones he played to keep going each day - and I have no doubt that people have already made the comparison with Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning and Rosewater.

The extra layer here, though, is that I don't know enough about the press's relationship to politics in the U.S. and the long history of Iranian rule to simply read his account and understand. This is where Bahari's masterful writing really comes out. Every time I read something I didn't understand because of a cultural difference, the next sentence was his explanation of it, oftentimes with the important context that helped me comprehend its importance in his story. (It was only at the end that I realized there were helpful extras, like a list of importance people, word/phrase translations, and a timeline.) I never once felt stupid that he had to explain it, either - the tone was so conversational and the syntax was so natural. Every time I thought, "Why doesn't he...?" he would explain why he didn't in the next sentence, as if he could see into my reader's brain.

I still don't know if I can watch the movie, but I am truly glad I read Rosewater. ...more

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