Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

Book: Reading Lolita in Tehran: A memoir in Books
Author: Azar Nafisi
Paperback: 384 pages
Fame: New York Times bestseller list for over one hundred weeks and has been translated into thirty-two languages
Challenge: OT Challenge 2009 (Iran)

The cover of the book which has two young women wearing head scarves, bent over something sets the perfect context. The title of the book suggests they are reading Lolita - which is about an older man's obsession with a 12 yr old girl (nymph) and the ensuing sexual assault - in Tehran (Iran) which is perceived to be a conservative Islamic. The cover of the book actually resulted in a lot of controversy in that the actual picture was of the two girls reading a reformist news paper which was cropped and misrepresented.

The book to me had very minimal to do with what the cover and the title suggested. It highlights the power of literary fiction and its ability to take people to this imaginative land and let their mind free.

Azar Nafisi has divided her memoir into 4 sections, Lolita, Gatsby, James and Austen - four of her favorite authors and draws parallel to their works with her life and life of people surrounding hers during different phases. She was born in Iran before the Islamic Revolution when it was lauded to be one of the most progressive nations. Her mother was one of the first elected to the parliament. Azar herself was educated in England and then obtained her doctorate from University of Oklahoma. But after the Islamic Revolution, people and women especially go through a huge culture change in the name of religion. Legal age of marriage comes down from 18 to 9. This is where the irony of Lolita where the sexual assault of a 12 yr old is termed as 'rape' and in Iran a child is eligible to be married long before that.

Drawn to her country, Azar returns back to Iran after 18 years and is unable to accept the rules of the law. She goes into self-exile (where she hides herself inside the huge kimono like robe and pretends to be invisible because she is forced to veil) and quits teaching. Later she forms a book reading group with her former students.

'Lolita' gives glimpses into the lives of these young women and critiques various other works of Vladimir Nabokov. In 'Gatsby' and 'James' Azar Nafisi gives us her perspective of how the Iran-Iraq war began, how it affected her and the people around her and abruptly how it ended. In 'Austen' we see the post war inner conflicts she goes through and her decision to move back to US. Through this journey, she highlights her 'girls' journey as well. One is imprisoned and later released, one is killed, one lives with an abusive husband, one goes through a broken engagement etc.. things that happen to people in other countries as well. But she highlights the inner conflicts they go through because they have never been taught to love themselves hence do not know where to start.

After I read the book and googled it out of curiosity, I learned that it has some criticism by Columbia Professor Hamid Dabashi, who sees the book as basically being propaganda for the Bush administration to attack countries like Iran and Iraq. Literature professor Fatemeh Keshavarz wrote a book entitled Jasmines and Stars: Reading more than Lolita in Tehran. She believes that Nafisi's book presents "many damaging misrepresentations" of Iran and its people, relying more on stereotype and easy comparison than on an accurate portrayal of the country and its people.

Despite the criticism the book might have received, Nafisi also calls for self-criticism. In her speech at the 2004 National Book Festival, Nafisi said: "It is wrong to put all the blame on the Islamic regime or...on the Islamic fundamentalists. It is important to probe and see what...you [did] wrong to create this situation."

Bottom Line: It is a great book for any book lover, much more so for literature lovers. The way the authors are debated ('Gatsby' is put on trial) and analyzed it a treat.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Book: The White Tiger
Author: Aravind Adiga
Paperback: 304 pages
Fame: Man Booker Prize Winner
Challenge: OT Challenge 2009 (India)

The backdrop of the book is one long letter written by a driver called Balram Halwai to the Premier of China over 7 long nights. On learning through news channels that the Premier of China is going to visit India, Balram sets out to educate him on Indian's entrepreneur abilities. It is a very dark humorous novel that describes Balram journey from the son of a rickshaw puller in Laxmanbargh to a driver in Delhi to an entrepreneur in Bangalore. It drives home the differences between the rich and the poor in India. The gulf between the two has widened with India's growth in the global economy.

If I'd read this book 2 years ago while I was still living in USA, my opinion would have been that the author is trying to cash in with portrayal of India when the country is trying to make its presence felt in the world. But now, I feel most of what he has written is true. The rich aka Light do live a very privileged life and the poor aka Darkness do actually live in the dark. They do have the 'rooster coop' mentality of wanting to stay that way as well. There are more than a few 'White Tigers' who do break out it though (not by killing their masters as how Balram does it though). But I do disagree on some points the author makes but I can understand that he has used his writer's privilege to exaggerate a little to drive his point home.

Back to the book, it essays Balram's journey as a kid who is bright in school but is pulled out because his family owns money to the landlords and they need an additional worker in the tea shop. He is deeply affected by his father's death due to TB (Tuber colosis) and his death due to negligence which he believes only the poor have to endure, in fact he later tells his boss that he has a skin disease and its the kind of disease that only the poor get. He progresses from a tea boy to a driver and somehow wheedles in a job as a driver to the village landlord and deviously blackmails to land the job of a driver to the landlord's son to Delhi (the capital of India). Delhi is set as a backdrop to drive home the differences between the Light and the Darkness. Where the rich urban elite live in satellite cities like Gurgaon and the poor Buffalo market in Old Delhi.

In Delhi, Balram transforms from a country-mouse to a city driver, learning all the devious ways from other fellow drivers but stays outside their camp, 'rooster coop'. He is driven mad by his life inside the cage and decides to drive his own destiny by murdering his boss and fleeing to Bangalore to become and entrepreneur , knowing full well that his family will not be spared by the landlords in his village. Balaram is unapologetically selfish and he believes it is the only way to break out of the shackles. But also portrays sensitivity 'when it suits him' by giving money to the family of the boy who dies at the hand of his taxi driver.

According to Aravind Adiga "At a time when India is going through great changes and, with China, is likely to inherit the world from the West, it is important that writers like me try to highlight the brutal injustices of society (Indian). That's what I'm trying to do -- it is not an attack on the country, it's about the greater process of self-examination.".

Bottom Line: I personally do not believe the urban elite of India is that arrogant nor the poor that naive as portrayed. But the exaggeration aside, this book is a very good read. Easy prose that keeps the reader captive through Balaram's journey. Even though certain crude text does cause repulsion, the narrative keeps you going.