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.

Middle East oldest village found in Iran

...Research Centre. Archaeologists believe such findings prove that Iran’s dwellers moved out of caves around 11,800 years ago and settled in plains. Such discoveries strengthen the theory that with Iran being the main Neolithic center of the Middle East, the region was not only the centre of agriculture. «Cultural officials plan to introduce the oldest human dwelling to the UNESCO», Fazeli said adding «Opening the historical site for public viewing is a step to initiate the plan.»

1: Neither West Nor East-845
2: A Compendious Arabic-Persian Dictionary-848
3: Kant and Zarathushtra-849
4: The Indians in Susa-850
5: Staging Nezami’s Seven Beauties-851
6: Landlord and Peasant in Persia-852
7: The TATA Group-853
8: سفر ماه گل-854
9: Ayatollahs’ Iran: a Nationalistic Theocracy as Freemasonic Machination-855
10: Jahrom: Down History Lane-856
11: Iranian elements in the ancient culture of the Eastern Slavs-857
12: Webmaster-859
13: نامۀ دانشگاه شیراز به امیر مهدی بدیع - شمارۀ ۱۴۳۸۹ مورخ ۲۸/۱۱/۱۳۴۷-860
14: Les tétradrachmes d'Orodès II et de Phraate IV-861
15: خاطرات اردشیر خاضع-862
16: Islam and Mazdaeism-863
17: The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran-864
18: My Bombay Kitchen-865
19: من دختر هراتم-867
20: Habib Qaderi-868
21: The two eyes of the Earth-869
22: Hegel et les origines de la pensée contemporaine-871
23: Iranica Antiqua-872
24: Luristan Excavation Documents (VOL. III) -873
25: The Martin Luther King of Zoroastrianism-874
26: L’encerclement de l’Iran à la lumière de l’histoire du “Grand Moyen-Orient”-875
27: فرنگ و فرنگی‌مآبی-876
28: 1967 secret Senate hearings on CIA made public -877
29: چاپ دو کتاب فارسی در اسرائیل-878
30: Rostam and Sohrab by Hyperwerks-879
31: تولد و استقلال دانشگاه تهران فرخنده باد-880
32: Ces Barbares calomniés-882