Rose W. (rhodyreads) reviewed on 2/9/2009 + 11 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I was really excited to get this book, couldn't wait to read it. "A memoir in books you haven't read in years or never will", should have been it"s title. The story was compelling enough. The literature references were too many and overwhelmingly boring, and I've read most of the things the author mentioned. I didn't want a memoir in books, I like my memoirs in people. The characters in this book were so many and so scattered between the ongoing literature class, it was hard to feel the reality of them until the book was nearing it's end. By then I knew it wouldn't get any better but at least I had some empathy for the characters. What kept me reading was knowing these people were real, deserving my attention and respect for what they had lived. I also learned more about the politics of the times in Iran. But here too I sometimes wasn't sure what side the people were on. Or maybe that was the point, the Iranian people were as confused then as I was now reading this book. I think the author Nafisi is probably a very good teacher and maybe even saved the lives of these women in some way. For this she deserves to be honored, for this book, not so much. Sorry.

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