Azar Nafisi

Every Thursday morning in a living room in Iran, over tea and pastries, eight women meet in secret to discuss forbidden works of Western literature. As they lose themselves in the worlds of Lolita, The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice, gradually they come to share their own stories, dreams and hopes with each other, and, for a few hours, taste freedom. Azar Nafisi's bestselling memoir is a moving, passionate testament to the transformative power of books, the magic of words and the search for beauty in life's darkest moments.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Prof. Nafisi resigned from her job as professor of English Literature at a university in Tehran in 1995 due to repressive government policies. For the next 2 years, until she left Iran, she gathered 7 young women, former students, at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss works of Western literature forbidden by the new regime. They used this forum to learn to speak freely, not only about literature, but also about the social, political, and cultural realities of living under strict Islamic rule.

a memoir in books

Okay it took me like a year and a half to read this book and that makes me feel it needs a real review. I wanted to learn more about this period of Iran in which the Islamic Republic began, which I did. I learned a lot. But this book’s structure makes it extremely hard to stay with it. The loose thread running through this memoir is the secret book club / class Nafisi leads at her house with a group of young women, so she divides the book into four sections, by author — Nabokov, Fitzgerald, James, and Austen — which is clever, given the premise, but makes it very confusing to follow the book’s events, especially if you’re less familiar with the timeline of this period of Iran (like me!!). The book is not linear and often skips back to when Nafisi was teaching at the University of Tehran. She’s also a very academic writer, which can sometimes make it a dry read, although there is still a lot of very affecting prose. I really loved the Gatsby trial, and the book’s final section (Austen), though the James section maybe offers the most upsetting accounts of brutality under the regime. I also, am not gonna lie, do not understand the whole thing with the magician.

Margo Koss

Ditipriya Acharya

Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fairy tale offers you freedoms that reality denies.

I picked this book at a library sale in my college and while I was doing that a classmate mentioned that she didn’t enjoy the book. Apprehensive at first, I still bought the book (frankly who can resist buying second-hand copies of hardbound books) but that unfavourable review did make me wait a while before I started reading it. During this lockdown, as I try to make a dent in by huge tbr-pile, I decided to finally read the book. Two chapters in I was reminded once again how two people could have such different experiences with the same book and how much of an impact timing can have on one’s reading experience. If I had read this book during any other I may not have enjoyed the slow-paced and reflective memoir as much as I did.

We in ancient countries have our past—we obsess over the past. They, the Americans, have a dream: they feel nostalgia about the promise of the future.

Reading Lolita in Tehran is ‘a memoir in books’ by Azar Nafisi, Ph.D, an Iranian professor. But the book is so much more than that. It is also a memoir of a revolution, the story of a country and its women and an exploration of fiction, its impact on society and society’s impact on it. The book starts out as the story of the classes Nafisi conducted in her own home after she left her job as a professor at the university. It goes onto talk about her experiences of teaching the works of great literary minds like Nabokov, Fitzgerald, Austen and James, while exploring what it means to read these works in a country torn because of an ideology. It is also about the Islamic Revolution in Iran and how the rise of the Ayatollah changed life for the women in the country. An important and interesting aspect of this change that Nafisi delves into is: what is more difficult losing the rights that you have or not knowing what it means to have those rights at all?

This is Tehran for me: its absences were more real than its presences

I can see why a lot of people may not enjoy the book. The book consists mainly of Nafisi’s dissection and thoughts about the books that she teaches at University and then later in her class/book club. But hidden in these analyses is the story on how each book that she reads and teaches connects to the changing world that they were living in. As the revolution changes day-to-day life for the men and women of the country, Nafisi attempts to understand her situation through fiction. She looks at the heroines of books like Lolita, Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller, etc., and compares them to the women she is surrounded by. The book also explores the extent of moral policing of fiction and brings to the forefront the question: can these books be judged on the basis of the moral codes imposed on them? 

Do not, under any circumstances, belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; what we search for in fiction is not so much reality but the epiphany of truth.

The book also explores the comfort and solace that one can find in stories. Nafisi’s recollections of withdrawing into books while her city is under attack are scary and relatable. After all isn’t that what a lot of people are doing in these times of uncertainty, looking to books for answers and comfort? The book gives us a cast of female characters, different in not only their looks and backgrounds but also their ideology and way of living. Through their discussions about the books that they are reading, Nafisi gives us an insight into what a restricted life women led during the revolution. Her exploration of the rules and regulations imposed on women, the inability to rebel against them and the suffocation they felt because of them were exceptionally intertwined throughout the story. Some of the incidents related in the story of all that she and the women around her had to endure were difficult for me to even imagine. She questions the love for home when it is no longer the home you recognise, the life we lead and the one we build for ourselves in our heads and the extent to which one can run away from one’s past. We end the book with Nafisi set to move to the United States of America, where she currently lives, and in that departure, she talks about what it means to leave her people behind. 

You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, I told him, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be this way ever again.

To me the book was a reminder of how comforting fiction can be and how literature has the ability to transcend time and borders, creating parallels and making it possible to understand the world we live in. [A] novel is not moral in the usual sense of the word. It can be called moral when it shakes us out of our stupor and makes us confront the absolutes we believe in.

Amelia C 

Lara Engle

This book would make an excellent base for a book club. Club members could read all of the books referenced in this book and wrap it up with Reading Lolita in Tehran. I think if you haven't read any of the books Nafisi references, it would be more difficult to extract meaning from the long passages making use of them. I know I felt like I got more from the portions about books I have read and recall well than from the portions going on about books I have never read. Overall, this is an interesting glimpse into life inside post-revolutionary Iran.

Savindi Jinasena

Synopsis: Iran…a country blessed with beautiful architecture, poets, gorgeous mountain terrain, yet none of that is helpful in the struggle to survival tyrannical regime that has befallen this nation. Azar Nafisi a professor in English Literature opens the doors to her house to a select group of girls to discuss the forbidden western works of Fitzgerald, Austen, Nabokov and James. Through the eyes of Professor Nafisi and her girls we see the oppression, fear, anger of a regime that is determined to wipe out any traces of ‘western civilization’ from the people. Yet the one solace among these women and Professor Nafisi is the forbidden literature. The discussions and debates among the girls and their mentor bring life to these great works, most of all it brings a sense of hope and belief that there might be some light at the end of the tunnel.

Cover Gushing Worthiness: I think the cover of this memoir is beautiful. The image of the two girls looks as if they’re looking at something in secret. The downward stares that both girls depict makes more sense as you read the book. I also like the colour combinations. I think they’re a wonderful contrast to the image of the girls.

I don’t remember exactly how I found Reading Lolita In Tehran. I think I was looking for some books to read about the Middle East. Then one of my friends who studied Islamic History with me bought a copy of it from Chapters and was telling me about it. In the end we both decided that we’d read it and discuss it. Our mini book club like read, even though it’s only the two of us. However we’ve got a phone conversation arranged to discuss it tomorrow :). Also even though I’ve studied Islamic History, I don’t know much about Iran since it’s unfortunately hidden to the rest of the world. This book brought to life the horrors of the Iranian Revolution and the conditions it placed upon its population. But it also painted a picture of what life was like for intellectuals.

Professor Nafisi’s memoir is divided into four sections where each chapter discusses specific works of literature. It is not a chronological memoir. It goes back and forth and sometimes I found myself getting a bit confused in terms of the year the discussions took place, but in the end I honestly didn’t care because I was so absorbed in the lives of Nassrin, Mitra, Sanaz , Azin and the other girls. I felt like I was witnessing their lives unfolding in front of me. At times I felt their hope, joy, anger, frustrations and all I could think of at that moment was how lucky I am to not have to go through such hardships. More than that I enjoyed how English literature came to life before me. I was formerly an English Major before I switched to History and I can honestly say that if Professor Nafisi had been one of my English profs, I would have continued to be an English major. Reading this book, I learnt a lot about certain works that I never knew existed. I had never heard of Lolita until I read this book. At first when I saw the title, my immediate assumption was that it was about Lolita fashion, how wrong was I? It’s the furthest thing from that, but I want to read it. I read The Great Gatsby when I was in Grade 11. I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I should have, but after reading this book I have a new appreciation for Gatsby and would love to read it again. Henry James’ was a new encounter and again Professor Nafisi has made me want to read all the great classics discussed in this book.

Through this book I learned a lot about the Iranian Revolution that I would not have known. I learned about the treatment of women, the controversy over wearing the Veil, the universities becoming a battle ground for political ideologies. I think what shocked me the most was the attitudes of some of the students. I had to keep reminding myself that these people were living in a different time than mine, still there was a part of me that was horrified by some of the things they said. How seriously they took fictional characters and how they tried to use them as an accurate representation of the west and it’s immorality. This book was also are a reminder of how powerful words can be, especially in the Islamic Republic. Words seem to have more power over the population than physical intimidation itself.

I don’t want to refer to the individuals in this book as characters, but I felt like I related to all of Professor Nafisi’s girls . I think I saw myself in all of them and I honestly felt for them. I was angry at their situation, upset that there seemed so little hope which was enough to make you lose faith in humanity altogether. But I admired their dedication to literature and education despite the dangerous times they lived in. Mostly I admire Professor Nafisi for conducting such a class in her home despite the risks. I admire her courage to continue teaching after being expelled from the University. Like I said I would have loved to be one of her students. The only disappointment that I had with the book was that I didn’t find out what happened to Professor Nafisi’s Magician. Through her descriptions of him. I began to care for him and I wanted him to be alright in the end. I hope he is.

Overall Reading Lolita In Tehran was a powerful read for me. I learned a lot about Iran, the revolution and the hardships that came with it. Mostly I learned about the triumph of the human spirit. It is also a tribute to literature. It shows the importance of the great classics and why they will always be timeless works. I also enjoyed Nafisi’s writing style. It flowed quite smoothly and I could tell that she was an English Professor! I honestly don’t know if a review can do the book justice, but I did my best!

My Rating: 5/5

Would I recommend it? Absolutely

Mennatallah Moustafa 

Just a fervent neo -Orientalist author and advocate of Western liberalism !!!

Jaymie Lemke

Sarah Escorsa

What impressed me most about this book was the contrast between the absolute repression of the Iranian regime and the freedom of thought & behavior within the walls of Nafisi's apartment. It was also very interesting to read about the different perceptions of the regime, depending on whether the women had experienced the revolution. I enjoyed the way the book is written very much, and especially how the stories about the students and Nafisi come together with the classes (and the topics discussed in them) in a very natural way.

Kerry Gibbons

If you would like to read a first-hand account of the Revolution in Iran, the Iran-Iraq War, and life under the Ayatollah, this book is for you. If you would like to read about other people enjoying books, this book is for you. I don’t know what I expected of this book but it wasn’t really what I was looking for - it was very slow-paced - which is the only reason I a) couldn’t finish it sooner and b) didn’t give it 5 stars.

Meniah

This book has touched me in so many ways. I found its relevance to what the world is currently experiencing yet it deeply related to me in a personal way. I'm glad I picked this book to read at this time.

window

Azar Nafisi starts off strong, priming the reader for a good story about the effects of religious totalitarianism and the erosion of personal freedoms on the lives of a small group of women and how those women take back some of their power through the covert study of literature. And then it kind of falls apart. 

Nafisi, an English professor, decides to invite a select group of female students to her home to study literature since the university is no longer a place where students can freely exchange ideas and opinions. She introduces us to the entire group at once and from that point on, I had a hard time remembering which one was the fat one, the unhappy one, the one with the abusive brother, the married one, the pretty one, the petty one, the engaged one, etc. The structure of the book doesn‚Äôt make things easy on the reader either. It hops around chronologically, ideologically, and thematically to the point where at times, I had a hard time keeping straight what time period she was covering, who was in power, and who the good guys and bad guys were. I also did not like the lack of quotation marks when people were speaking. With multiple speakers, it was often hard to determine whether it was dialogue or narration and which person said what. 

What was lost in all of this was what I had hoped to get out of the book: a glimpse into the inner lives and emotions of women living under this repressive regime. The author talks about the veil, for instance, and her objection to it but the reader doesn‚Äôt really get a sense of how it feels for her to wear it or exactly why she objects to it. She touches on the double standard of women being inspected for propriety before entering the university while men are freely admitted, but doesn‚Äôt really go beyond the surface of this or other similar humiliating practices. She references a male student with whom she frequently clashes and how she is able to use her position to shut him down when he is particularly strident in his views. But she doesn‚Äôt talk about how it feels to suddenly lose the upper hand when she is forced to depend on him to use his connections to grant her the privilege to teach certain books.

On a positive note, there were many details that were interesting, including the ways that Nafisi‚Äôs students asserted their individuality even under their veil or chador. Also interesting was the section on Nafisi‚Äôs classroom putting The Great Gatsby on trial. Ironically, Lolita didn‚Äôt seem to stir as much excitement as The Great Gatsby. I think less literary criticism and more focus on the lives, thoughts, and emotions of the women would have made this memoir much less academic and much more impactful.

Mahasin S Ameen

Before reading this you should make sure you've read not only Lolita, but Nabokov's "An Invitation to a Beheading".

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Reviews