Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books

by Azar Nafisi

There, in jail, we dreamed of just being outside, free, but when I came out, I discovered that I missed the sense of solidarity we had in jail, the sense of purpose, the way we tried to share memories and food. She said, More than anything else, I miss the hope. In jail, we had the hope that we might get out, go to college, have fun, go to movies.

how ever since we could remember, our religion has defined every single action we’ve taken. If one day I lose my faith, it will be like dying and having to start new again in a world without guarantees.”

characters were not vehicles for pedantic moral imperatives, that reading a novel was not an exercise in censure.

a word, like a lost opportunity, cannot be taken back once it has been uttered.