Reading "Lolita" in Tehran

An inspired blend of memoir and literary criticism, Reading Lolita in Tehran is a moving testament to the power of art and its ability to change and improve people's lives. In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to its repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels.

For two years they met to talk, share and "shed their mandatory veils and robes and burst into color". Though most of the women were shy and intimidated at first, they soon became emboldened by the forum and used the meetings as a springboard for debating the social, cultural and political realities of living under strict Islamic rule. They discussed their harassment at the hands of "morality guards," the daily indignities of living under Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, the effects of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, love, marriage and life in general, giving readers a rare inside look at revolutionary Iran. The books were always the primary focus, however and they became "essential to our lives: they were not a luxury but a necessity", she writes.

Threaded into the memoir are trenchant discussions of the work of Vladimir Nabokov, F Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen and other authors who provided the women with examples of those who successfully asserted their autonomy despite great odds. The great works encouraged them to strike out against authoritarianism and repression in their own ways, both large and small: "There, in that living room, we rediscovered that we were also living, breathing human beings; and no matter how repressive the state became, no matter how intimidated and frightened we were, like Lolita we tried to escape and to create our own little pockets of freedom." In short, the art helped them to survive. --Shawn Carkonen, Amazon.com

View books by Azar Nafisi.

Bright Red Lipsticks Under the Veils - Rated
Azar Nafisi tells the story of her life in Iran before & after the Islamic revolution. She teaches English at the University of Tehran without wearing a veil until she's expelled (though she claims she resigned beforehand). She decides to run an English class in the privacy of her home, every Thursday, for a select group of women, so they can study various novels banned by the Iranian regime. She becomes close to these women, hears their tragic stories, then decides to bugger off to America with her family. The End.

This memoir is part unreliable narrator (which makes the title oh-so-ironic), part intriguing study of a woman's life under strict Islamic law, and part lit criticism on key Western novels (e.g. Lolita, Pride & Prejudice, and Great Gatsby.) It could have done with tighter editing and a more comprehensible chronology; it could have also done with less flights-of-fancy and more objectivity on the part of the author.

A decent introduction to Iran and its regime's nefarious persecution of women.

Quite difficult to follow - Rated
I received this book as a gift and was very intrigued by its title. Being a member of a book group myself, I expected the book to describe what it's like to be in a book group in a country where literature (amongst many other things) is censored. Although chapter 1 tries to do this, I found it quite hard to follow. There is no clear narrative and there are a number of book group members who are described in quite a sketchy manner. Hence I never really felt a connection to them. It was a very confusing chapter to read and unfortunately I was very disappointed.

I also found that the author was mainly concerned with analysing books rather than exploring her relationship with the other book group members or telling 'a story'. And frankly, if I wanted to read an analysis of 'Lolita' I would have done so.

The second chapter initially seemed a bit more promising, with a clearer narrative and structure attached. The author talks about her life as a professor at one of Iran's prominent universities during a time of turmoil and transition. However, again, the author was never quite able to really capture my attention as a reader as the narrative is still laboured and complicated. As the author focuses on her time before the book group, it gets completely forgotten. (Yet it was the aspect of the book that most intrigued me!)

As I was ultimately unable to really enjoy this book and get into the story (which is based on true events), I had to abandon it after 2 chapters.

As a result, I can't really recommend this book. Having said that, if you're really interested in Iranian culture etc. and are up for a bit of a challenge, perhaps it is worth a shot. But be warned - it's very hard to get into the story, the terror of the regime never really comes across and there are more `main characters' than you might care to remember.

A real shame...

A little bit memoir, a little bit dissertation. - Rated
'Reading Lolita in Tehran' is definitely not a mainstream "chick-lit" book, nor a highly literary work of non-fiction, nor a basic memoir- it's a combination of all three. "Reading Lolita" has many things it's trying to accomplish, and this is where I think it falls short.

I must admit, it took me a few chapters to get into "Reading Lolita". I thought it was going to be a strict memoir, and when she digressed into these elaborate dissertations on (especially Lolita), I found myself getting bored. Now, I'm not one to ever eschew an intellectual conversation or debate on ANYTHING, but I really wanted to hear about the girls and their lives and Azar Nafisi's life in this horrible theocratic regime. I also wanted to know how they managed to get away with reading such blasphemous stuff. When Azar Nafisi talked of these things, I couldn't put the book down, but when she started on her diatribes and nuanced descriptions of "Lolita", Nabokov, Fitzgerald and Austen, I found my mind wandering, wondering, "What am I going to wear tomorrow?" I suppose if I had picked up a book entitled, "The In-Depth Analysis of Vladimir Nabokov and Lolita", I wouldn't have felt that way, but as you know, this isn't that book. As the book progressed, I really did have affection for some of the characters, and I truly felt scared for them and hoped that this book didn't have a horrible ending like all the women getting executed in a soccer field or something. Luckily, we didn't have to deal with that, but I wish Azar Nafisi would write a book JUST talking about the lives and feelings and situations of young women in Iran, so that people throughout the world can really figure out what's going on over there. Unfortunately, I believe that would be hard for Nafisi to do. She is definitely an intellectual, and I think her interest lies in absolutely dissecting fiction in a way that no one else is interested in, and I believe she is a bit self-promoting.

Finally, I do believe this book is worth reading. I learned some things about what was going on when the Ayatollah was in power- things I didn't realize- and I did find myself sort of missing "the girls" after I read the last page and closed the book. If I could have, I would have made the rating 3-1/2 stars just for a little added oomph to her rating.

A little bit memoir, a little bit dissertation. - Rated
'Reading Lolita in Tehran' is definitely not a mainstream "chick-lit" book, nor a highly literary work of non-fiction, nor a basic memoir- it's a combination of all three. "Reading Lolita" has many things it's trying to accomplish, and this is where I think it falls short.

I must admit, it took me a few chapters to get into "Reading Lolita". I thought it was going to be a strict memoir, and when she digressed into these elaborate dissertations on (especially Lolita), I found myself getting bored. Now, I'm not one to ever eschew an intellectual conversation or debate on ANYTHING, but I really wanted to hear about the girls and their lives and Azar Nafisi's life in this horrible theocratic regime. I also wanted to know how they managed to get away with reading such blasphemous stuff. When Azar Nafisi talked of these things, I couldn't put the book down, but when she started on her diatribes and nuanced descriptions of "Lolita", Nabokov, Fitzgerald and Austen, I found my mind wandering, wondering, "What am I going to wear tomorrow?" I suppose if I had picked up a book entitled, "The In-Depth Analysis of Vladimir Nabokov and Lolita", I wouldn't have felt that way, but as you know, this isn't that book. As the book progressed, I really did have affection for some of the characters, and I truly felt scared for them and hoped that this book didn't have a horrible ending like all the women getting executed in a soccer field or something. Luckily, we didn't have to deal with that, but I wish Azar Nafisi would write a book JUST talking about the lives and feelings and situations of young women in Iran, so that people throughout the world can really figure out what's going on over there. Unfortunately, I believe that would be hard for Nafisi to do. She is definitely an intellectual, and I think her interest lies in absolutely dissecting fiction in a way that no one else is interested in, and I believe she is a bit self-promoting.

Finally, I do believe this book is worth reading. I learned some things about what was going on when the Ayatollah was in power- things I didn't realize- and I did find myself sort of missing "the girls" after I read the last page and closed the book. If I could have, I would have made the rating 3-1/2 stars just for a little added oomph to her rating.

When you set out to rid the world of evil.... - Rated
I was enjoying this book while reading it over the Christmas holiday but returning to it several months later I found it tough to get into again - first it is written by a university professor, and not the kind who is going to give you good marks just for showing up! I enjoyed the references to literature but I was left a bit dispirited - had I to write an essay on them I would certainly fail, an uneasy feeling I had not studied hard enough, and a bit cheated! But the main oppression comes from the setting - the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, and the increasing rigidity of the Islamic Republic. The effect could not have been felt more than by the author - a female, liberal teacher of Western literature!

It would be wrong to assume Azar Nafsi is representative of the Iranian people, but her story, and that of her students, friends and family is still valid. It gives an insight into the Revolution which promised so much to so many, the valiant fight over rights, eg. the wearing of the veil, which all became futile when faced with increasing oppression from the State.

This is largely a personal story of one person's struggle - how much should you dedicate yourself to oppose the dictates and absurdities of a government, and at what point does it take over your life? How much value do you place on personal freedom? How much to belonging to a home, a community, a country?

For me though, the real lesson was that whatever the rhetoric or stance of the Iranian (or any) Government, we all need to remember the Iranian (all) people are individuals, each with their own hopes and fears, a private life (even if not one as openly and bravely expressed as here).

What of "Lolita," literature and the arts? - the impression given here is that their worth increases the more powers try to tell us what to think; the need to imagine, to place ourselves in the other person's shoes - is both an escape and a revelation. Timely lessons for us all!

Not a light read, but very worthwhile.