Rding Lolit in Thrn - Book Report/Review Example

Rding Lolit in Thrn. What is the passionate emotion emotion that is communicated in Reading Lolita in Tehran Why whas Nafisi moved to write these memoirs Try to explain her motivating emotion and how it is explored in her book (here you can explore whether or not the book is, in fact, a non-fiction memoir) Rding Lolit in Thrn provids stirring tstmnt to th powr of Wstrn litrtur to cultivt dmocrtic chng nd opn-minddnss. And in my essay I would like to narrate why she moved to write these memoirs. First of all, it is because Nfisi's uniqu prspctiv on hr studnts' plight, th ongoing struggl of Irnin citizns, nd hr country's violnt trnsformtion into n Islmic stt intrstd her so much in currnt intrntionl vnts. To deliver her message zr Nfisi introducs th world to lif s tchr in Irn, from pr-rvolutionry dys, up through th rvolution nd wr with Irq, th ftrmth nd hr invitbl, nd sdly finl, flight from th country. Writtn with th poignnt voic of survivor, womn, wif, nd mothr, th clustrophobic grif nd rg tht sttls ovr th country nd ffcts it's citizns for yrs is clrly flt by th rdr, plsnt surpris considring th simpl, mttr of fct voic Nfisi uss to tll hr story. The thesis would be the idea to get across the budding democracy movement in Iran and the strong desire to deliver the message to all people from all countries the fact that women in Islamic countries are still under preassure are still isolated from the social life and changes that happen in the world. In her book Nafisi sounds very motivated to scrtly bring womn togthr from diffrnt rligious nd socil bckgrounds, in country whr ths things r ll tht mttr, to rd, por ovr, nd discuss bnnd nd dngrous books, that puts Nfisi in th rol of hro. Sh is somon who fought for wht sh blivd in, nd hr courg in th fc of tyrnny bcoms n inspirtion to th oprssd vrywhr. She wants to show and let the whole world hear about her storis, nd thos of hr blovd Thrn, intrtwin with clssic Wstrn novls tht sh lovs nd dpnds on. Vldimr, Fitzgrld, Jms, nd ustn provid world into which ths womn cn scp, on whr thy r not forcd into invisibility, punishd for ting ppls too sductivly, jild, lshd, or othrwis btn nd tormntd. Rd s thy shd thir vils nd riskd vrything for somthing tht w ll tk for grntd- th right to rd good, clssic book. Rding Lolit in Thrn is n ccount of th ightn yrs tht Nfisi spnt in th Islmic Rpublic of Irn. ductd in Switzrlnd nd th Unitd Stts, Nfisi rturnd to Irn in 1979, s th Muslim clric-ld rvolution ginst th shh ws winding to clos nd th shp of th nw Irn ws still unclr. Nfisi ccptd post tching modrn fiction t th Univrsity of Thrn, position which llowd hr first-hnd glimps into th turgid politicl world t th tim, tim in which vrious fctions-fundmntlist Muslims, Mrxists, constitutionlists-wr struggling ginst on nothr to dtrmin th futur of Irn. Thr, s in th Unitd Stts, th univrsitis wr th sits of mssiv protsts nd studnt dmonstrtions, nd in Nfisi's clsss, discussions of fictionl works invitbly bcm bound up with politicl dbts. Nfisi ws soon xplld from th Univrsity of Thrn for rfusing to wr th vil. Svrl yrs ltr, howvr, sh rturnd to tching t diffrnt univrsity. Through hr ngging nd-to th young Muslim rvolutionris t th tim, nywy-oftn xplosiv lcturs, sh gind following, spcilly mong young Irnin womn. In th finl two yrs of Nfisi's sty in Irn, bfor sh rturnd to th Unitd Stts to tch, Nfisi invitd svn of ths womn wkly into hr hom to discuss grt works of wstrn litrtur. Ths discussions, s wll s th prsonl rltionships which dvlopd from th wkly sssions, form th focl point of th work. ftr introducing th mmbrs of hr rding circl, Nfisi tks th rdr bck in tim to th rly dys of th rvolution nd thn movs forwrd in roughly chronologicl ordr, dtiling th convrsion of Irn into n incrsingly stringnt, nti-wstrn, nti-intllctul, nd, prhps most importntly for hr nd hr fml studnts, nti-womn ntion of hypocrisy nd fr. vn s sh rlts vnts which occurrd bfor th stblishmnt of th rding circl, howvr, Nfisi oftn rturns to th circl nd th discussions which it provokd; th svn womn nd th litrry works which rprsntd thir mjor dfinc of th rgim r nvr fr from hr mind. Nfisi tught forign litrtur; nvrthlss, it's stonishing how compltly ny nd ll Irnin fiction is ignord in th book. vn if only s n obvious point of comprison for th studnts on would hv xpctd som such novls to crop up in th discussions. Hr rfusl to do so (or to dmit doing so in this book) lso sms to gin dmonstrt hr unwillingnss to considr tht litrtur might b rlvnt in othr wys thn sh llows for. In hr finl chptr sh quots two prgrphs sh wrot shortly bfor lving Irn: sh drms of: th right to fr ccss to imgintion. I hv com to bliv tht gnuin dmocrcy cnnot xist without th frdom to imgin nd th right to us imgintiv works without ny rstrictions (Nfisi, 2003). It is worthy mbition -- nd yt Nfisi dos not focus on th fmilir problm tht stts in which thr is totlitrin rprssion r oftn thos whr th nd nd hungr for imgintion is grtst -- nd tht onc frdom hs bn ttind, imgintion is oftn rlgtd to distinctly scondry sttus ( complint most rcntly hrd in Russi nd strn urop in th post-Sovit r). On of th most dmirbl spcts of th work is th wy in which it ncompsss vrity of prspctivs nd xprincs and the way Nafisi conveys her message to the audience. Nfisi, ftr yrs of wstrn duction, is incorrigibly wstrnizd in hr thinking nd pssiontly opposd to th Islmic Rpublic. This trit would wkn th book, mking it mrly protst novl of littl ductionl or litrry vlu to wstrnrs, if it wr not for th fct tht svrl of th womn in hr rding circl, s wll s svrl of th ml studnts in hr rgulr clsss, r th ntithsis, insisting with qul frvor on th importnc nd ncssity of Islmic idology nd rgultions. Nfisi is dpt t showing th shrp idologicl nd politicl divisions btwn Irnins, oblitrting th strotyp of uniformly nti-mricn, rdicl Muslim ntion. Th chrctrs in hr book, rgrdlss of thir politicl stnc, r humn, with ll th nxitis, inscuritis, nd prdoxs tht bing humn ntils. Mny r lik Snz, on of th womn in th rding circl who "vcilltd btwn hr dsir for indpndnc nd hr nd for pprovl," n xprinc crtinly not unknown to womn from non-Islmic bckgrounds. f Speaking about passionate emotions that are communicated in Rding Lolit in Thrn we can see n ffctiv and at the same time explosive blnd of th prsonl nd th politicl, that makes the story even more persuading. Wht bgins s n intnsly prsonl pursuit-tht of rding novls by wstrn uthors-for Nfisi nd hr studnts tks on politicl dimnsions. s Nfisi nots rly in th work, "It is of Lolit tht I wnt to writ, but right now thr is no wy I cn writ bout tht novl without lso writing bout Thrn. This, thn, is th story of Lolit in Thrn, how Lolit gv diffrnt color to Thrn nd how Thrn hlpd rdfin Nbokov's novl, turning it into this Lolit, our Lolit." By hearing this testimonial the reader starts to believe that that it is not fictional. Nafisi wants her book to be taken seriously in the way that readers take non-fiction seriously, finding there some sort of authenticity that impresses them. Fiction, after all, is just made-up stuff, and needn't be taken nearly as seriously. It reinforces a message found throughout the book: novels are just fiction -- something limited, something lesser. But this, she wants readers to believe, is real, and therefore more. Except that she has chosen to distort reality, which would seem to seriously undermine her ambition. Th rsponss of Nfisi's studnts to th works of Nbokov, Fitzgrld, Jms, nd ustn provid rmrkbl insight into th thoughts of young Irnins who grw up with th spctr of Khomini nd his rforms. In on prticulrly tlling pssg, Nfisi obsrvs, "My studnts wr slightly bffld by Gtsby. Th story of n idlistic guy, so much in lov with this butiful rich girl who btrys him, could not b stisfying to thos for whom scrific ws dfind by words such s msss, rvolution nd Islm. Pssion nd btryl wr for thm politicl motions, nd lov fr rmovd from th stirrings of Jy Gtsby for Mrs. Tom Buchnn." To rdr who tks th id of romntic lov for grntd, who ccptd Gtsby's unrquitd lov without qustion, such rspons is chilling, intllctully xciting, nd stimulting in its strngnss. The emotions this story treagers is for sure very chilling, xciting, stimulting: Rding Lolit in Thrn is ll of ths, nd thus hs th powr to nlightn nd inspir rdrs on politicl, historicl, litrry, nd vn prsonl lvl. "Don't go chsing ftr th grnd thm, th id . . . s if it is sprt from th story itslf," Nfisi tlls hr studnts. "Th id or ids bhind th novl must com to you through th xprinc of th novl nd not s somthing tckd on to it." Thos looking for grnd vision of Irn hd bst look lswhr; but thos opn to mor nuncd xprinc of lif of curiosity nd protst ginst bckground of world-shking conflict nd chng will b richly rwrdd by Nfisi's "mmoir in books." Reading this memoir overturns routine ways of thinking, engaging readers' sympathy and response to the needs of diverse peoples and communities. Rding this book ws lik bing llowd glimps into somon ls's book club, only on whr th prticipnts lov litrtur nough to risk snction for it. It's sy to go on nd on bout this book. Thr is so much pckd into it. Obviously, it lso informs mny gndr issus. Th uthor nd hr young studnts show how th livs of both mn nd womn r impovrishd in world whr on sx ttmpts to ssum control ovr th othr. For m, th book is bst summd up in th uthor's words nr th nd: "Living in th Islmic Rpublic is lik hving sx with mn you loth." Th books is not polmic, nd s th uthor would b first to dmit, thr r mny othr voics to b hrd on th subjct of Irn, its govrnmnt, nd its rol in th world. For this rdr, hr book opns door into complx subjct tht invits on to rd mor nd know mor. Bibliogrphy: 1. Nfisi, zr. Rding Lolit inThrn: Mmoir in Books, NY:Rndom Hous, 2003. Read More