Reading Lolita In Tehran

Reading Lolita In Tehran is a towering achievement. There is absolutely no doubt about that, nor about the brilliance of the amazingly gifted woman who wrote it. It tells the story of Dr. Nafisi -- an educator in Iran -- who has an unmatched passion for literature and reading and who chooses to teach a select group of her female students a sampling of world's greatest literature;ones that are currently banned in Iran (like works of Nabokov, James, Austen, etc.) If you read the books discussed, you are sure to appreciate the discussions and analyses that much more. But even if you haven't, it will make you want to.

… my readings, I continued to attend movies. And the movies -- write in the heart of the year end awards and the Oscar season -- continue to thrill. Memoirs of a Geisha is probably one of the prettiest movies you will ever see. It is based on the blockbuster book, and is getting, if not ringing endorsements, but good reviews. A criticism has been levied against it by some folks -- not necessarily the critics -- that the lead actresses should have been Japanese and not the Chinese/Hongkong superstars. But my problem with that criticism is an obvious one. Why don't the same folks complain that the book was written by an American and not by a Japanese?!! The movie tells the story of how a very young girl is sold to a geisha house for a better life. As she becomes an adult, she herself becomes a geisha and experiences life among the priviledged -- a far cry from her poor beginnings in a fishing village. Then World War 2 changes everything for Japan and the Geisha World.

Did Libya try to kill Reagan?

...rting at the time, suggested a complex plot. The Libyans alleged plan was to infiltrate a team of assassins into the United States from either Canada or Mexico, the former official said. Once in the U.S., the hit men were supposed to link up with Libyan students already inside the country. These students would help the men stage the murder, and then help them flee. The intercepted information was not clear as to whether Reagan or one of his top aides were intended to be the principal target.

1: Neither West Nor East-283
2: A Compendious Arabic-Persian Dictionary-284
3: Kant and Zarathushtra-285
4: The Indians in Susa-286
5: Staging Nezami’s Seven Beauties-287
6: Landlord and Peasant in Persia-288
7: The TATA Group-289
8: سفر ماه گل-290
9: Ayatollahs’ Iran: a Nationalistic Theocracy as Freemasonic Machination-291
10: Jahrom: Down History Lane-292
11: Iranian elements in the ancient culture of the Eastern Slavs-293
12: Webmaster-295
13: نامۀ دانشگاه شیراز به امیر مهدی بدیع - شمارۀ ۱۴۳۸۹ مورخ ۲۸/۱۱/۱۳۴۷-296
14: Les tétradrachmes d'Orodès II et de Phraate IV-297
15: خاطرات اردشیر خاضع-298
16: Islam and Mazdaeism-299
17: The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran-300
18: My Bombay Kitchen-301
19: من دختر هراتم-302
20: Habib Qaderi-303
21: The two eyes of the Earth-304
22: Hegel et les origines de la pensée contemporaine-306
23: Iranica Antiqua-307
24: Luristan Excavation Documents (VOL. III) -308
25: The Martin Luther King of Zoroastrianism-309
26: L’encerclement de l’Iran à la lumière de l’histoire du “Grand Moyen-Orient”-310
27: فرنگ و فرنگی‌مآبی-311
28: 1967 secret Senate hearings on CIA made public -312
29: چاپ دو کتاب فارسی در اسرائیل-313
30: Rostam and Sohrab by Hyperwerks-314
31: تولد و استقلال دانشگاه تهران فرخنده باد-315
32: Ces Barbares calomniés-317