Reading Lolita in Tehran

By Azar Nafisi...I started this book YEARS ago...and then on Thursday decided that I wanted to read it cover to cover...now it is Sunday evening...I have enjoyed my time reading this book partially because I have read at least a few of the books she discusses in the memoir. My mother in law once said she wanted to read the book only after she had read the books she talks about in it...so here is a short list...there are many more.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Daisy Miller by Henry James (I haven't read this one)
I have recently read PERSEPOLIS and am in the process of reading PERSEPOLIS 2...so reading this novel reminded me of my impressions reading the graphic novel...

Living in Iran would be such a different experience...there are so many things that we take for granted about our lives here in the United States...and so many things that seem insignificant to us but were major cause for alarm in Iran. Women are treated as insignificant...this is the theme I got from reading this book...I guess my favorite story (not particularly funny but yet a little) was one the author's friend tells her in a cafe...

"Let's celebrate!" is how the author's friend starts..."Today, after nine years, eight and a half to be exact, I was formally expelled from the university. I am now officially irrelevant, as you would put it, so lunch is on me! Since we can't drink publicly to my newly acquired status, let's eat ourselves to death..." then she proceeds to tell a story that is both horrifying and funny at the same time. (page 160)

Imagine a strand of hair being seductive...wearing colorful clothing..no makeup or nail polish and the punishment for these crimes, severe! Yet, this group of women met and discussed literature in the apartment of the author for awhile...kind of letting their hair down and opening up in a country where being open was a crime. For me this book was interesting, funny, sad, horrifying, and a peek a one woman's view of Iran and the government that controls it. I know it is only part of the story...and I can't help but want to learn more!