From the back cover...

Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi's living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature.

This will go out in an international book ring. Please PM with your location and mailing preference.

The list so far:

sobergirl, Finland (can ship anywhere)
landrellec, France (prefers Europe)
Icila, France (can ship anywhere)
FiBe, England (prefers Europe)
Sternschnuppe28, Germany (can ship anywhere)
iguana-girl, Canada (North America)
czersk, Minnesota, USA (prefers US)
aylaeh, Georgia, USA (prefers US)
octoberskye, Massachusetts, USA (can ship anywhere)
MysteryMish, California, USA (prefers US)
(and anyone else who would like to join before it's returned to me!)

Standard bookring rules: PM the person after you for his or her address. Contact me if you have any questions or problems.

It's on it's way! Mailed to sobergirl on 01/26/2005 via surface mail (should take 4-6 weeks). Enjoy!

Thank you for the book and the postcard Mamikaem!
I will start reading this immediately!





Azar Nafisi

Author of Reading Lolita in Tehran converses with Robert Birnbaum

Moving stories: Azar Nafisi

I was afraid this would happen, this is not my kind of book.
I haven't read any of the books they discuss in the book, so it's pretty hard for me to understand what they're talking about.
I'm finding this book really tough to get into so I'll give up the struggle and send it on to landrellec in France.

Tuesday 12th April:
Sent it to landrellec in France!

I received this book a few days ago, but since my wanadoo access to bookcrossing has been rudely cut off, I've been very isolated.
I think I'm not the only person having this problem (Holland also I think).

Thank you for the book.
Looking forward to reading it.

19/07/2005 : I haven't read it all, so I won't comment. It took to much time to read all the rings. Sorry !

RELEASE NOTES:

To Icila. Enjoy !

I got this book yesterday, I had a cultural problem to read the BCID. (The 7 was a 1 for me) Thanks Landrellec ! ;)

At first I enjoyed the book with the description of the way of life in Iran but I gave up in the middle because I was bored with the going round in circles of the narrator.

I Pm the next on the list

Mailed today.

Received yesterday along with two other bookrings :o

Will get to it as soon as I can.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent on to the next person.

Thanks for sending! TBR soon.

a very interesting poetic read! I especially enjoyed the parts about the books I knew: Lolita and Jane Austen´s.

Catwoman already had another occasion to read through the book, so I send off "Reading Lolita in Teheran" to iguana-girl tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

This book has arrived! I'm very excited to start reading it!

This book is really terrific. It took me awhile to get into it, but left me feeling very moved. Before this book I really didn't know anything about Iran. At one point in the book she talks about how before the revolution Iranian women had essentially all the rights and freedoms as American women. It must have been so difficult for Iranian women to be so restricted after the revolution.

Along similar lines of not knowing anything about Iran, I just today watched a documentary about the American embassy in Tehran being stormed and 50 or so Americans being taken hostage in 1979 during the revolution. The documentary focussed on 5 Americans who escaped the Embassy and took shelter with the Canadian embassy for 3 months before Canada could extract them from Iran. Apparently it's one of the biggest capers in Canadian external affairs. I never knew.

Anyways, I have the address for the next person and will send this book off tommorrow. Thanks for sharing!

Oh it's here! I'm so excited! I've wanted to read this book for so long. It will be read soon.

Oh goodness, I can't believe I've already had this for a month! It was a slow read for me, as are most non-fiction books. I did enjoy it however, especially the parts centered around the Thursday literature class. I loved reading about the girls, learning about them and the trials of their everyday lives and then comparing them to my own which made me feel both blessed and ungrateful (unappreciating?) of my own freedoms at the same time. I truly wish I could have Azar Nafisi for a literature teacher. Just by reading her book she has instilled in me not only a greater love for the books I have already read that she discussed, but also an eagerness to read the others she wrote of so passionately that I have yet to dip my nose into; I cannot imagine what she would be like in person. She is inspiring. I learned so much from her.

I hope to pass this book along very soon. Before I give it up I still must copy down some of the passages I ear-marked in the book; it is a very quotable book, I think. And FYI: babykittysmama has asked to be skipped, so I will be sending it along to aylaeh. Enjoy!

I recieved this book in my mailbox yesterday. I have another book ring before it but i will get to this right after i finish that one. it really looks interesting!

i really liked this book but i have to say that since i am not very political some parts of the book were difficult to read. i loved to read about how dr nafisi's 'girls' changed throughout the years. i found it facinating to read about her magician. i can't imagine not wanting to keep in contact with friends as he said that he would not write to her once she left iran.

as i was reading the book a friend of mine who is not a bookcrosser asked me if she could read it. i told her that i would have to check to see if it would be allowed. mamikaem told me that i could go ahead and let her read it as long as i noted it here... so now i am :) this will be sent to my friend holly within the next week.

i'm going to pm the next person on the list and put this with the book so that my friend can send it right on to the next person when she is done.

Oooops! I signed up for this one so long ago I forgot about it and read the book in the meantime. It didn't thrill me because I hadn't read any of the books that are discussed. I also don't think I liked the author's style. But thanks so much for sending it on to me and I'll get it right off to the next person as soon as I get their address.

Received it in the mail - thank you so much for sharing!

I liked parts of this book and didn't like others. I really liked the parts where the author talks about life in Iran, her teaching, her in-home class and her struggles to be able to read and teach what she wanted. I thought there was way too much time spent in analyzing the literature. Many times, the book discussions was described in way too much detail to keep it relevant. I found she jumped topics without notice and I had to go back and figure out who she was talking about.

Will send along in the next few days.

YEAAA!!! This is my first bookring to make it back home after its world travels. Thanks to all who participated and kept it moving. Thanks to MysteryMish for sending it home. I'm looking forward to reading this myself now!