Between Iraq and a Hard Place: On “Reading Lolita in Tehran”

It’s not easy to escape the harsh reality of a modern world where fanatical religious beliefs can get one killed by suicide bombing. The nation of Iran still seems unable to breakaway from the international limelight, remaining there for all the wrong reasons. While most Americans are more preoccupied with how to survive the madness without giving up yet another portable luxury from our carry-on at airport security screenings, one can only imagine what the people of Iran must have been enduring since the early 1980’s. Professor Azar Nafisi’s remarkable book Reading Lolita in Tehran offers a glimpse into the lives of a handful of Iranian souls in a way that is both inspiring and disturbing.

As the title of this article alludes to in a tongue-in-cheek manner, the people of Iran have struggled between a murderous war with their Iraqi neighbors and a pervasive religious oppression from within their own government. Faced with a choice between two unsatisfactory options for existence and no means of affecting either, it’s no surprise that any opportunity for even the smallest “escape” takes on significant meaning. In Nafisi’s book, the only “escape” possible for her and her female students was to meet privately to discuss the parallels between the world of characters from literature, and the young Iranian women seeking intellectual refuge from a male-dominated Islamic state.

To be honest, I was skeptical about the book at first even though I have had some knowledge of the plight of women in under strict Sharia Islamic Law. For women, it spells certain doom to individualism and creative expression. Basic freedoms go out the window. I simply could not imagine how such a premise for a book, especially one based on the memoirs of an Iranian scholar, could be fulfilling to a Westerner who’s life might be turned upside-down by the actions of a state-sponsored terrorist from Iran. At best I expected a self-pitying and depressing read about the brutal oppressiveness of Sharia Law from a women’s perspective. What I got was an entertaining and eye-opening discovery that we are more alike than different.

The book’s narrative is not always an easy or likeable read given it episodic structure. It tends to be non-linear, and I prefer a more linear narrative. But it doesn’t take long to become immersed in Nafisi’s world as she paints such a vivid picture of her transformed post-revolutionary home. As one reads on, one discovers a very personal evocation of a woman's complex, terrifying, and often contradicting experience during a very challenging time in Iranian history. It’s fascinating to witness how Nafisi is only able to survive the intellectually stifling rituals of her society through private studies of banned literally classics with other women. Interestingly, one doesn’t feel as though one has just read a book about Iran, but has actually “met” a very unique and surprisingly Westernized Iranian woman.

Nafisi's book paints a dark but compelling portrait of the most turbulent period for Iran's history by a person from a privileged position. She cleverly reflects on her private lessons to groups of young women about literary classic such as The Great Gatsby and Lolita while sipping cups of tea as though chatting in a New York literature club. Meanwhile, the professor’s lessons also reflect on life in Teheran following Khomeini's religious revolution where a woman must hide her bodies from head to toe - or face severe punishment. She also interjects many key moments in recent Iranian history such as the troubles at Tehran University, the destruction of "dangerous" books, and even the mass funeral of the late Ayatollah Khomeini that Nafisi describes with documentary-like clarity.

Although Reading Lolita in Tehran isn’t quite a masterpiece, in my opinion, it has been one of the most inspiring and heartfelt books I have had the pleasure of reading in a long while. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an open-mind.

JM