In spite of all the praise for this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm not a fan of Lolita or of some of the other books the author reveres. I wanted to experience her portrait of Iran during those years after the revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power, but I wasn't sure I would like all the English-literature-professor trappings.

Well, I needn't have worried about that. Azar Nafisi did a wonderful job of weaving together the hopes and aspirations of her students (mostly young women, who sat in her classes and then later continued their reading adventures in her home) and the plots and characters of the English-language novels she loves. (She even made me consider giving Gatsby another try — I'm not a fan.) Throughout, Nafisi is relentlessly opposed to religious extremism and autocratic laws and the morality squads that roam the streets of Tehran and persecute women for having a lock of hair escape from underneath a scarf.

Now and then I felt a little disheartened because nothing was going to change, except of course Nafisi eventually leaves Iran, probably forever, and some of her students do too. The writing and the depth are consistent from start to end, but sometimes I just wanted things to speed up a bit.

Overall this book made me appreciate (again) that the United States is (even in 2019) so much freer and more open than a country like Iran — although events of the past two years here have brought us dangerously closer to the kind of soul-crushing society Nafisi left behind.

I marked it "read" but really I can't get into it and stopped a few chapters in.

If I had been an English major or someone who loved Nabokov, I might have found this memoir more engaging. I really wanted to.

I was expecting a memoir mostly about the author's life and experiences in Iran, but while her college reading group is technically the focus of this story, Nafisi pontificates for pages on end about Nabokov's meaning in his various novels, and loosely ties his themes with the closed and paranoid atmosphere in Iran.

Sadly, I found it boring. I have mild concern/interest in her real-life students and the constrictions in their own lives, but not enough to slog through this book.

Wow! I read this after a fellow book club member had us to read Lolita because she was so impressed with this book. It almost made my head explode! I think of Azar and this book whenever I hear news from Iran. Reading about events from her perspective changed my views so much even though I had had an adult second language student from Iran who had already told me about her life there. Anyone who is reading this review and wondering whether to read this book, please do. It is such an eye-opener.

Finally finished this fantastic book! It had taken many years as half way through I was distracted and then forgot all about it but to get back into it was a real treat and eye opener and I was surprised at myself for ever putting it down. A really intriguing insight into Iranian life and history - especially for women living under such an oppressive regime. This book proves the importance of the arts and literature in finding solace, comfort and connection in this difficult world.

Irritating over-hyped book. Felt like she turned her dissertation into a novel.

a beautiful, important book that sometimes drags.

This book was both fantastic, and terrible. The author tells her experiences in Tehran as a literature teacher to bright young women under Kholmeini's reformation, and while there are a few jewels of outstanding insight and cultural surprises, the author gets far to sidetracked with her discussions of books, and constantly gives away all of their endings. I recommend you read all of Nobokov, James, Fitzgerald, and Austen before trying this book.

This book is 80% entirely-too-detailed American Literature lectures and 20% actual interesting memoir about living through the Iranian revolution and the conflict with Iraq. Hence 2 stars.