“This book looked really promising and I was looking forward to reading it. However, I am one quarter into the book now and it's really starting to lose its grip on me. The narrative is quite disjointed and memoirs don't have to be so. I read Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi and loved it. I do not feel a sense of continuity in Reading Lolita in Tehran. Some parts are about the experiences of each of her students, some parts are about her own experiences, some parts are about the book they are reading and other parts are about literature in general. If I wanted to read about the experiences of a woman in revolutionary Iran, I would get a book specifically on that (I recommend 'Prisoner of Tehran' and 'Persepolis', a graphic novel). But then again, I am bias in my opinion of this book as I like only Austen among the four authors discussed. The intention of the book is appealing but the delivery falls short of my expectations. I shall tread on through the book, however and hopefully feel more motivated than I do now.”
“I picked up this book last year, at least, and carried around for a good four months. It is not an easy read; it is dense. But ...I loved it. I felt so connected with the women sitting in Azar's house. I loved the trial of Gatspy...we all should does this with books and characters. At the end, when one student leaves Tehran through smugglers, I felt a deep sense of sadness and hope. It is almost like a catharsis for me. What upsets me the most is that the author came to speak close to me, but I was too exahusted to go, so I didn't. I just moved across the country. I she comes somewhere close here, I will go. I need to meet her.”
“The women in the rest of the world are free of mens tyranny but in Iran all suffer - I read it in a book, it must be true.”
“One has to read this book back to back with "All the Shah's men" also a great read by: Stephen Kinzer”
“i read a review of and excerpts from this book over a year ago from a literary folio. it ignited my interest in the lives of Muslim Iranian women. i am going back to the bookstore where i found it to buy it when i finally have enough money.”
“Great book that shows the real life of Iranian women and their sufferings...”
“i picked up this book about a year ago. it was fairly interesting for about 1/2 the book, but kinda dragged on and i never quite finished it. a much better recommendation about life in iran, from the perspetive of a young woman born in iran, but left at about age 5 and was raised in california, went back as a journalist to see what her family had talked about all her life: lipstick jihad (5 stars)”
“I agree with Maria G. I really saw the reason why she was comparing the two.”
“Isn’t it interesting that now, with “Soldier’s Heart,” we have a genre of teachers writing books about people who read? Has reading literature now become so rare we’re starting to memorialize the act?”
