Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi – How Many Years Can Some People Exist Before They Allowed To Be Free?

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 peoples lives. In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to 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 the Ayatollah Khomeinis 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, she writes. In short, the art helped them to survive. –Shawn Carkonen

Reading Lolita In Tehran
More than a combination of literary criticism and memoirs of living through the totalitarian ruthlessness of Islamist-ruled Iran, this book essentially examines how the author and a group of friends took refuge in literature from the totalitarian nightmare.
And at the same time using that literature to make sense of life under Islamo-Nazi repression.
The women in the group are able to make analogies of the works of Vladimir Nabokov, Jane Austen, Henry James and F Scott Fitzgerald with the society in which they live.
The villain of Nabokov’s Lolita, Humbert, rapes a twelve year old girl and thus the book is about the confiscation of one individuals life by another.
Humbert has tried to shape another soul according to his own hopes and dreams.
So the author is taking revenge on the Ayatollah and the Mullahs for confiscating the lives of the people of Iran, for their war against women.

This is a society in which girls are punished most brutally for wearing coloured shoe laces, running in the school yard or licking ice cream in public. Where women are flogged for wearing nail polish.

Marxist and left wing feminists in the West pour scorn on taking up the cause of oppressed women in Iran, as the Iranian Marxists did at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, before they themselves became victims.
“They claimed that there were bigger fish to fry’ the author explains “That the imperialists and their lackeys need to be dealt with first. Focusing on women’s rights was individualistic and bourgeois and played into their hands”
“What imperialists?” asks the author acting as a much needed voice of true conscience ‘Do you mean those battered and bruised faces on television confessing to their crimes? Do you mean the prostitutes they recently stoned to death, or my former school principal Mrs Parsa, who like the prostitutes was accused of “corruption on earth”, “sexual offences”, and “violation of decency and morality” for having been the minister of education. For which offenses was she put in a sack and then shot or stoned to death. Are those the lackeys you are talking about, and is it in order to wipe these people out that we have to not protest?”

Azar Nafisi has been indeed accused by leftist and Islamist radicals in the West of serving the ‘imperialist’ or ‘neoconservative’ cause by writing this novel.
So once again the dreams of the people of Iran to enjoy the same freedom , Nafisi’s leftwing critics in the West enjoy are denied.
Like Humbert in Lolita, the Western Left want to confiscate the lives of the long-suffering people of Iran and shape them according to the formers own hopes and dreams.
Like Humbert and like all great myth makers they try to fashion reality of their dream and end up destroying reality and their dream?
Nafisi is a true feminist who really cares about the rights and welfare of women unlike so many left wing self-styled feminists in the West, who want people moulded according to their ideals, and have never spoken up for the persecution of women by Islamists, for their own selfish reasons.

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Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – Revenge Taken To New Lengths

For nineteen-year-old Edmond Dantes, life is sweet. Soon to be captain of his own sip, he is also about to be married to his true love, Mercedes. But suddenly everything turns sour. On the joyous day of his wedding he is arrested and–without a fair trial–condemned to solitary confinement in the miserable Chateau dIf! The charges? Faked! Edmond has been framed by a handful of powerful enemies. But why?

While locked away, Edmond learns from another prisoner of a secret treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. Edmond concocts a daring and audacious plan: escape and find the treasure! But it is years later–long after Edmond has transformed himself into the Count of Monte Cristo–that his plan for revenge begins to unfold.

Disguised as the wealthy count, Edmond returns to his native land to find his enemies–and make them pay!

I Can’t Believe I Finished It.
I am not a type of person who reads ‘classics’ because I want to understand and appreciate fine literature. I have no intention of broadening my literary, historical or philosophical knowledge to impress other people so here is a review from a guy who just happen to read it because this book was on sale for $1 at the local library clearance.

I read a lot. Most of books I read are popular paperbacks I see on best seller list. One day I was at the library and saw this thick book for a $1 and I thought I would give it a try. Even if I don’t like it, I am out of a $1 so no big deal. I won’t bore you with the story or the translation because that’s not why you are reading these reviews on Amazon website. You are looking for a reason to pick up this yellowpage thick book that you already know the plot so allow me to give you several.

Story in this book is not what you expect as it is much more detailed and insightful to the movies and young adult versions. Story is darker than what you expect so that’s a good thing. Also, finding a good book about revenge is difficult enough so stick with a proven winner. Certain lines in this book adhere to your brain like it’s been spread liberally with crazy glue. I sometimes write “.. now the God of Vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked.” on my forearm whenever I have a business meeting with some jerk I cannot stand. Lines like this sticks to your head and it lingers like a noxious fart in public toilet.

Let me leave you with this. After I finished this book, I bought Les Miserables, Brothers Karamazov and David Copperfield because I finally understood why people are so high on some of these so called ‘classics’.

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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas [Pere] – I Can’t Believe I Finished It.

The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas most popular work. The writing of the work was completed in 1844. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.

The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through to the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. It is primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, forgiveness and death, and is told in the style of an adventure story.

One Of The Greatest Classics
I am not a type of person who reads ‘classics’ because I want to understand and appreciate fine literature. I have no intention of broadening my literary, historical or philosophical knowledge to impress other people so here is a review from a guy who just happen to read it because this book was on sale for $1 at the local library clearance.

I read a lot. Most of books I read are popular paperbacks I see on best seller list. One day I was at the library and saw this thick book for a $1 and I thought I would give it a try. Even if I don’t like it, I am out of a $1 so no big deal. I won’t bore you with the story or the translation because that’s not why you are reading these reviews on Amazon website. You are looking for a reason to pick up this yellowpage thick book that you already know the plot so allow me to give you several.

Story in this book is not what you expect as it is much more detailed and insightful to the movies and young adult versions. Story is darker than what you expect so that’s a good thing. Also, finding a good book about revenge is difficult enough so stick with a proven winner. Certain lines in this book adhere to your brain like it’s been spread liberally with crazy glue. I sometimes write “.. now the God of Vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked.” on my forearm whenever I have a business meeting with some jerk I cannot stand. Lines like this sticks to your head and it lingers like a noxious fart in public toilet.

Let me leave you with this. After I finished this book, I bought Les Miserables, Brothers Karamazov and David Copperfield because I finally understood why people are so high on some of these so called ‘classics’.

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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas [Pere]

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by ALEXANDRE DUMAS (PERE) – Revenge Taken To New Lengths

Dumas, père. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas most popular work. The writing of the work was completed in 1844. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.[1]

The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through to the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. It is primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, forgiveness and death, and is told in the style of an adventure story.

Revenge Taken To New Lengths
I am not a type of person who reads ‘classics’ because I want to understand and appreciate fine literature. I have no intention of broadening my literary, historical or philosophical knowledge to impress other people so here is a review from a guy who just happen to read it because this book was on sale for $1 at the local library clearance.

I read a lot. Most of books I read are popular paperbacks I see on best seller list. One day I was at the library and saw this thick book for a $1 and I thought I would give it a try. Even if I don’t like it, I am out of a $1 so no big deal. I won’t bore you with the story or the translation because that’s not why you are reading these reviews on Amazon website. You are looking for a reason to pick up this yellowpage thick book that you already know the plot so allow me to give you several.

Story in this book is not what you expect as it is much more detailed and insightful to the movies and young adult versions. Story is darker than what you expect so that’s a good thing. Also, finding a good book about revenge is difficult enough so stick with a proven winner. Certain lines in this book adhere to your brain like it’s been spread liberally with crazy glue. I sometimes write “.. now the God of Vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked.” on my forearm whenever I have a business meeting with some jerk I cannot stand. Lines like this sticks to your head and it lingers like a noxious fart in public toilet.

Let me leave you with this. After I finished this book, I bought Les Miserables, Brothers Karamazov and David Copperfield because I finally understood why people are so high on some of these so called ‘classics’.

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THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by ALEXANDRE DUMAS (PERE)

Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America by Brigitte Gabriel – A Warning For All Freedom Loving People

Brigitte Gabriel lost her childhood to militant Islam. In 1975 she was ten years old and living in Southern Lebanon when militant Muslims from throughout the Middle East poured into her country and declared jihad against the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was the only Christian influenced country in the Middle East, and the Lebanese Civil War was the first front in what has become the worldwide jihad of fundamentalist Islam against non-Muslim peoples. For seven years, Brigitte and her parents lived in an underground bomb shelter. They had no running water or electricity and very little food; at times they were reduced to boiling grass to survive.
 
Because They Hate is a political wake-up call told through a very personal memoir frame. Brigitte warns that the US is threatened by fundamentalist Islamic theology in the same way Lebanon was- radical Islam will stop at nothing short of domination of all non-Muslim countries. Gabriel saw this mission start in Lebanon, and she refuses to stand silently by while it happens here. Gabriel sees in the West a lack of understanding and a blatant ignorance of the ways and thinking of the Middle East. She also points out mistakes the West has made in consistently underestimating the single-mindedness with which fundamentalist Islam has pursued its goals over the past thirty years. Fiercely articulate and passionately committed, Gabriel tells her own story as well as outlines the history, social movements, and religious divisions that have led to this critical historical conflict.

Eyeopening
My wife and I felt very fortunate to have heard the story of Brigitte Gabriel. The author narrates the audio book and does a great job, you can hear her conviction and emotion that only she could give.Her story had some very sad and changing moments in it, yet it is from that experience that she is the person she is today. Because of her experience she is a very valuable asset to America and should be listened to at the highest levels in Washington DC.

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Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America by Brigitte Gabriel

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – Revenge Taken To New Lengths

This book presents a tale of love and revenge in the post-Napoleonic era. Edmond Dantes, a nineteen-year-old sailor from Marseilles, is soon to be captain of his own ship and to marry his beloved, the beautiful Mercedes. But spiteful enemies provoke his arrest on his wedding day, and he is condemned to life in prison. His sole companion is the crazy priest Faria, who shares with Edmond a secret escape plan, and a map to hidden riches on the island of Monte Cristo. When Faria dies, Edmond attempts the incredible escape alone. finally he is free and rich beyond imagination after 14 years in prison. Keeping his true identity a secret, he enters society as Count of Monte Cristo, a polite, refined nobleman determined to reclaim his lost love, and to avenge his accusers. This is a story of suspense, intrigue, love and the triumph of good over evil.

Revenge Taken To New Lengths
I am not a type of person who reads ‘classics’ because I want to understand and appreciate fine literature. I have no intention of broadening my literary, historical or philosophical knowledge to impress other people so here is a review from a guy who just happen to read it because this book was on sale for $1 at the local library clearance.

I read a lot. Most of books I read are popular paperbacks I see on best seller list. One day I was at the library and saw this thick book for a $1 and I thought I would give it a try. Even if I don’t like it, I am out of a $1 so no big deal. I won’t bore you with the story or the translation because that’s not why you are reading these reviews on Amazon website. You are looking for a reason to pick up this yellowpage thick book that you already know the plot so allow me to give you several.

Story in this book is not what you expect as it is much more detailed and insightful to the movies and young adult versions. Story is darker than what you expect so that’s a good thing. Also, finding a good book about revenge is difficult enough so stick with a proven winner. Certain lines in this book adhere to your brain like it’s been spread liberally with crazy glue. I sometimes write “.. now the God of Vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked.” on my forearm whenever I have a business meeting with some jerk I cannot stand. Lines like this sticks to your head and it lingers like a noxious fart in public toilet.

Let me leave you with this. After I finished this book, I bought Les Miserables, Brothers Karamazov and David Copperfield because I finally understood why people are so high on some of these so called ‘classics’.

For More 5 Star Reviews and The Lowest Price Visit:
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Blind Assassin: A Novel by Margaret Atwood – Outstanding Craftsmanship (4.5 Stars)

The Blind Assassin is a tale of two sisters, one of whom dies under ambiguous circumstances in the opening pages. The survivor, Iris Chase Griffen, initially seems a little cold-blooded about this death in the family. But as Margaret Atwoods most ambitious work unfolds–a tricky process, in fact, with several nested narratives and even an entire novel-within-a-novel–were reminded of just how complicated the familial game of hide-and-seek can be: What had she been thinking of as the car sailed off the bridge, then hung suspended in the afternoon sunlight, glinting like a dragonfly, for that one instant of held breath before the plummet? Of Alex, of Richard, of bad faith, of our father and his wreckage; of God, perhaps, and her fatal, triangular bargain. Meanwhile, Atwood immediately launches into an excerpt from Laura Chases novel, The Blind Assassin, posthumously published in 1947. In this double-decker concoction, a wealthy woman dabbles in blue-collar passion, even as her lover regales her with a series of science-fictional parables. Complicated? You bet. But the author puts all this variegation to good use, taking expert measure of our capacity for self-delusion and complicity, not to mention desolation. Almost everybody in her sprawling narrative manages to–or prefers to–overlook whats in plain sight. And memory isnt much of a salve either, as Iris points out: Nothing is more difficult than to understand the dead, Ive found; but nothing is more dangerous than to ignore them. Yet Atwood never succumbs to postmodern cynicism, or modish contempt for her characters. On the contrary, shes capable of great tenderness, and as we immerse ourselves in Iriss spliced-in memoir, its clear that this buttoned-up socialite has been anything but blind to the chaos surrounding her. –Darya Silver

Best Book I’ve Read Since College
For no reason in particular, I hadn’t read anything by Margaret Atwood until this novel. That was a big mistake because The Blind Assassin is wonder of precision and craftsmanship.

It is difficult to describe the plot without ruining the experience for those who haven’t read it. There are twists and hidden connections that are slowly revealed to the reader.

This is a very ambitious piece of writing that, in the wrong hands, would have been a disaster. Atwood masterfully executes multiple stories within stories while flipping back and forth between different times and settings. It’s quite an achievement to so successfully pull of this structure in a coherent way.

The basic story line is of an 83 year old woman, Iris, looking back on her past from riches to rags to riches to rags. A lot of the main story line takes place in the 1920s and 30s as she grows up as part of the prime family in a small industrial town where the depression ultimately hits.

Iris’ sister Laura has written one novel which has become very famous. Her sister dies mysteriously in a car accident and has left only the novel behind. A second main branch is in the form of excerpts from Laura’s novel appropriately called The Blind Assassin. In the fictional novel, one character also tells tales to his lover and one of these stories actually has a blind assassin as a main character.

I realize I’m making this sound like a mess because I lack the ability to describe it as clearly as Atwood.

Each branch of the story has hidden connections to the others and there is intrigue, betrayal, class struggle, philosophy and several twists that are very weel written.

The only real criticism I have of the novel is that once all of the twists and connections are hinted at enough for the reader to sort everything out, it continues on a bit too long. The last 40 pages or so are just wrapping everything up though the pretense still exists that all has not been fully revealed. I wish Ms. Atwood had not dragged out the ending as much as she did. This point lowered my rating to 4.5 stars but it really is a minor criticism.

I highly recommend this to people despite how silly my plot description made the book sound. It is a very finely crafted novel and I very much admire Margaret Atwood’s skill in producing it.

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The Blind Assassin: A Novel by Margaret Atwood

To Ride A Silver Broomstick: New Generation Witchcraft by Silver RavenWolf – Very Good Material

Silver RavenWolf is one of the most widely recognized names in circles of witchcraft, and with good reason; she has written some of the best guides to contemporary Witchcraft available. To Ride a Silver Broomstick is a handbook aimed at the beginner, and doesnt get bogged down in history, dogma, or gender roles. It is a workbook for the individual, whether one is a solitary practitioner or part of a coven, that covers the basics of the craft–from useful vocabulary to setting up an altar–and briefly delves into more advanced concepts such as astral projection and telepathy. To Ride a Silver Broomstick may not be the most comprehensive single volume on the subject of witchcraft, but RavenWolf focuses on the aspects most important to a beginner, and keeps her introduction to the craft approachable and easy to follow. –Brian Patterson

To Ride A Silver Broonstick
This book is pretty amazing. When I first bought it I was thinking that it was going to be step by step boring instructions. Actually its quite fun and interesting to read.wi

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To Ride A Silver Broomstick: New Generation Witchcraft by Silver RavenWolf

For One More Day by Mitch Albom – Absolute Wonder !!!

Mitch Albom mesmerized readers around the world with his number-one New York Times bestsellers, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie. Now he returns with a beautiful, haunting novel about the family we love and the chances we miss.

For One More Day is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one?

Charley Benetto, his life ruined by alcohol and regret, returns to his hometown with plans to kill himself. There, he makes an astonishing discovery: His mother, who died eight years ago, is still living in their old house, and she welcomes him back as if nothing had ever happened.

For One More Day follows the one ordinary day so many of us yearn for: a chance to make good with a lost parent, to explain family secrets, and to seek forgiveness.

Through Alboms inspiring characters and masterful storytelling, readers will newly appreciate those whom they love – and may have though theyd lost – in their own lives. For One More Day is a book for anyone in a family, and will be cherished by Alboms millions of fans worldwide.

Great Author!
An inmate, Douglas Burgess, who writes to me and whose stories we’ve published in our books, read “For One More Day” and shares the following: “I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I’ve wished for just one more minute with my father, let alone a day. Albom knows how to expose raw nerves, capture intense sorrow, and turn it into something beautiful. This book has had a tremendous emotional tug on my heart.” – Tom Lagana, co-author “Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul,” “Chicken Soup for the Volunteer’s Soul,” “Serving Productive Time,” and “Serving Time, Serving Others.”

Serving Productive Time: Stories, Poems, and Tips to Inspire Positive Change from Inmates, Prison Staff, and Volunteers

Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit of Hope, Healing and Forgiveness (Chicken Soup for the Soul)

Serving Time, Serving Others: Acts of Kindness by Inmates, Prison Staff, Victims, and Volunteers

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For One More Day by Mitch Albom

The Firm: A Novel by John Grisham – The Firm

Hard to believe, but there was a time when the word lawyer wasnt synonymous with criminal, and the idea of a law firm controlled by the Mafia was an outlandish proposition. This intelligent, ensnaring story came out of nowhere–Oxford, Mississippi, where Grisham was a small-town lawyer–and quickly catapulted to the top of the bestseller list, with good reason. Mitch McDeere, the appealing hero, is a poor kid whose only assets are a first-class mind, a Harvard law degree, and a beautiful, loving wife. When a Memphis law firm makes him an offer he really cant refuse, he trades his old Nissan for a new BMW, his cramped apartment for a house in the best part of town, and puts in long hours finding tax shelters for Texans whod rather pay a lawyer than the IRS. Nothing criminal about that. Hed be set for life, if only associates at the firm didnt have a funny habit of dying, and the FBI wasnt trying to get Mitch to turn his colleagues in. The tempo and pacing are brilliant, the thrills keep coming, and the finish has a wonderful ironic flourish. Its not hard to see why Grisham changed the genre permanently with this one, and few of his colleagues in a very crowded field come close to equaling him. –Jane Adams

Still Grisham’s Best!
I wonder if the somewhat unknown Grisham felt a shot of adrenaline shoot through his veins as he conceived this plot? I wonder if he hit the computer early every morning, knowing the story was a winner? I wonder if he was tempted to tell his wife of every step as the manuscript began to take shape? I wonder if the submission process was genuinely exciting for him, knowing that publishers might be fighting over the manuscript? I wonder if he knew the book would become a runaway bestseller, and he would hit the ground running and never stop for decades to come?

Well, whether he did or not, the book is arguably the best he’s ever written and he’s one of the lucky 1-2 percent of writers who made it big–real big, and he deserves it.

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The Firm: A Novel by John Grisham