"None of us can avoid being contaminated by the world's evils; it's all a matter of what attitude you take towards them",
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Have you ever imagined what it would be like to read the autobiography of a person that loves literature, has studied it, and is able and willing to share her passion and knowledge with others? Someone that appreciates books as much as you do, and has the talent to express herself fluently and flawlessly? And what if that person had lived under difficult circumstances, facing complicate decisions regarding her personal and academic life? "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is that book, and I promise, it makes for very interesting reading material, the kind you enjoy while you are reading it and afterwards.
On the one hand, you enjoy this book while you are reading it because Nafisi's prose is magnetic, allowing you to imagine that you are with her, while she teaches Literature in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. You are also at the Tehran University defending Gatsby, during the "Gatsby trials", and when Azar decides to quit teaching in order not to wear the veil. You try to understand with her what has happened to her country, and how the situation there can be better understood through literature. You are also with the author during her long walks with her "magician", when she tries to decide whether to teach again or not, and why. And of course, you will be part of her secret classes with selected female students, meetings that made books and plots come to life, and fiction become a space of freedoms reality denied them.
On the other hand, you enjoy "Reading Lolita in Tehran" after reading it because this is a book about a person and part of her life, but also a book about books. It teaches you as you read it, but also afterwards, specially if you pay attention to the list of suggested reading material included at the end.
On the whole, I can say that "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is an outstanding book that happens to be the best one I read in 2006. I believe that most people will like it, because it is well-written and engaging, delves upon serious matters but also makes you laugh. All the same, I think that the kind of reader this book is waiting for are those zealous readers that simply cannot conceive their lives without good books, and imagine -like Borges- Paradise in the shape of a library. They will realize just how good "Reading Lolita in Tehran", and appreciate its worth. Highly recommended!
Belen Alcat
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