The Septembers of Shiraz - Dalia Sofer

Title: The Septembers of Shiraz
Author: Dalia Sofer
Date Finished: April 2, 2009 #16
Published: 2007 Pages: 338
Rating: 4.25/5

I first heard about this book from Bethany and Dar and immediately after reading their reviews I put the book on my wishlist and shortly after ordered it from Amazon. And on my floor this book has patiently been sitting for months. Oh the life of a book addict. :) Gotta have it now so that I can read it later...you know you do it too...

The Septembers of Shiraz takes place in the early days of the Iranian Revolution (1981) and is centered around the Amins, a wealthy Jewish family. Parvis, the elder son, is living in New York City to attend school, but the rest of the family is trying to survive among the political and religious upheaval in Tehran. Isaac, the patriarch, is arrested and taken away to a terrible prison. It seems his crime is living a prosperous life and possibly his Jewish connections to Israel. In his absence, Farnaz, his wife, and Shirin, his young daughter, do what they can to protect their family and safeguard their lives.

I was truly swept away by this book. It is incredibly fast-paced and easy to read, but at the same time Sofer forced me to slow down and really take in what was happening to the Amin family. Each chapter focuses on one of the four characters--Parvis in New York, a non-practicing Jew who falls in love with a Hassidic neighborhood girl; Isaac in prison, not knowing what his crime is or if he will ever see his family again; Farnaz trying to hold together the household when her life has become so uncertain and she doesn't know who she can trust; and little Shirin who doesn't quite understand the new rules of her new world.

Sofer gives her readers a lot to contemplate in this debut novel. I dont' think I've read any accounts of Jewish people in Iran, so it was an interesting perspective--especially while imprisoned, Isaac is trying to come to terms with the differences in his beliefs and the Muslim beliefs. Last year I read My Father's Paradise, a non-fiction book about the author's Jewish family in Iraq. The book talked a lot about the treatment of Jews after Hussein's rise to power, and I would highly recommend to those interested in the topic. Along with different religious themes, Sofer also tackles the subjects that the revolutionaries grappled with--education, treatment of women, wealth--what makes a person worthy and who decides what is worthy.

The simple and flowing style of Sofer's writing made it a pleasure to read, and while the subject matter is oftentimes heartbreaking I didn't feel like the events were ever sensationalized. For the most part the book is very introspective and contemplative, something that I look for in books. If I had a complaint about this one, it would be that it was too short. It seemed that everything happened so quickly and I only got to know the characters a little bit; the story of Parvis in New York was especially underdeveloped. All in all, though, I would definitely recommend this book. I'll definitely be looking forward to future books by Sofer.

Also read by:
~ Lesley ~ Bethany ~ Dar ~ Literary Feline ~ Amanda ~
(If I missed your, I apologize--please provide me with a link and I'll include it)

My Father's Paradise - Ariel Sabar (and some finished challenges)

Title: My Father's Paradise
Author: Ariel Sabar
Date Finished: Sept 30, 2008 #56
Pages: 326
Published: 2008
Rating: 4.5/5

I'm not sure if this book would classify as memoir, biography, or history, but regardless it was the perfect ending to this year's Non-Fiction Five Challenge. I received this ARC from Algonquin Books and at first I was a little reluctant to read it because I was afraid it would be heavy--definitely not what I'm looking for right now! This book, though, was a perfect blend of history and personal narrative.

My Father's Paradise is perfectly summed in the subtitle of the book: "A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq." Ariel was a self-centered youth growing up in Los Angeles. All he really wanted was to be able to fit in with his friends, but he felt that his father's strangeness prevented that. He grew up resenting the fact that his father, who immigrated to the US in the 1960s, didn't ever fit the mold of The American Dad. One day, though, he realized how special and unique his heritage is and so he embarked on the journey to learn about his past--a journey which became this book--and a journey that Ariel recognizes is no where close to being finished.

The book is basically comprised of three different parts that are all woven together to create this narrative (I call these sections but it isn't defined this way in the book). First, Sabar gives the history of where his father, Yona, was born--the history of Kurdish Iraq. This section was a little dense and it took me longer to read, but it is a history that I am not very familiar with and it is absolutely fascinating. I really want to give tidbits about the history and what makes this part of the world so unique, but then this review would go on and on and on... :) Second, Sabar discusses the mass exodus of Jews from Iraq to Israel in the 1940s and 50s. Yona, then just 12 years old, went with his family to Israel to start a new life. The bulk of the book explains Yona's transition into adulthood and the trials he faced both in Israel and then in the US where he attended college. Finally, the last section is Ariel's own personal narrative of growing up with an immigrant father and also his journey to learn about his father, his culture, and his family.

This is definitely one of the best books I've read this year. I learned so much about the Jewish culture and faith, Zionism, Iraq, Israel, and linguistics (Yona is an Aramaic scholar--the language of Jesus that is almost extinct). Not only did I learn a lot from this book, but the story Sabar tells is deeply touching and one that perhaps many of us can relate to as we learn about our own personal histories. The characters that come along the way are endearing, funny, poignant, and best of all real. The narrative, while very detailed, never felt weighed down and I was always eager to learn what happened next. I think my only complaint is that at the beginning Sabar oscillates heavily between his father's story and the history of Kurdish Iraq and it was hard to keep track of everything. I finally began jotting down brief notes in the margins (I know...no no!) to help me remember key dates and facts. The latter half of the book, though, doesn't contain quite as much history and the story flows much more smoothly. If you haven't already--pick this book up! I hope you'll be glad you did.

I'll leave you with Sabar's own words and perhaps what he is trying to accomplish with this book:

"Who is my father? How did he wind up so far from home? I wrote this book in part to answer those questions. I wanted to conjure the gulfs of geography and language he crossed on his life's journey from the hills of Kurdistan to the highways of Los Angeles. But I also had other, bigger questions: What is the value of our past? When we carry our languages and stories from one generation to the next, from one country to another, what exactly do we gain?" (5).

*********************************************************************************
NON-FICTION FIVE CHALLENGE FINISHED!

I really liked all the books I read this year--but what the heck...all male authors? Definitely didn't plan that. My least favorite is probably The Innocent Man, my favorite either My Father's Paradise or A Rumor of War. Thanks Joy for hosting such a great challenge!!

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
The Innocent Man - John Grisham
My Father's Paradise - Ariel Sabar
The Translator - Daoud Hari
A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo

Also, a while back:
END OF THE WORLD CHALLENGE FINISHED!

Thanks Becky for a great challenge! I loooove dystopia lit, so this was a fun challenge! The Road was definitely my favorite of the bunch.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Never Let Me Go - Ishiguro Kazuo

The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

Title: The Complete Persepolis
Author: Marjane Satrapi
Date Finished: August 22, 2008 #49
Pages: 341
Rating: 4.5/5

Dear Book Blogosphere Friends,

Thank you for reading such wonderful books and posting about them so that I can say that I want to read them in my comments to you until I leave enough comments saying that I want to read the book that I actually have to breakdown and get the book to read it so that I don't have to keep saying I want to read that book and instead I can say I read and loved that book, too!

Love,

Trish

I promise--no more intentional run-on sentences for the rest of this post. :) I admit it, I was really reluctant to read a graphic novel. I was incredibly prejudiced and shame on me! I really have no good excuse so I'm not even going to bother trying to make them up. After seeing them everyone on the blogosphere, I decided I need to stop being such a whiner and at least try one. So, I went to the bookstore, used my lovely gift certificate that I've been hording for months (I don't know why I will use cash when I have a gift card, but I do) and got The Complete Persepolis--taking the chance that if I liked the first book so much I'd probably want the second book as well.

What a surprise (and why should I be so surprised when my trusted book friends have all raved about this book! Silly me!). I read this during my trip to Toronto, mostly in the car to and from Niagara and downtown, and my sister was so intrigued that even she was reading over my shoulder most of the time and has asked to borrow it.

Persepolis is about a young girl, Marji, and her world turned upside down during the Islam Revolution in Iran during the late 70s and early 80s. When Marji is 14, she is sent to Austria to live, and the second half of the book focuses more on her time there and her struggles to come to terms with her true self. In many ways it is a classic bildungsroman, but what makes Marji's story so special is that we can also see how the revolution affected a little girl who doesn't really understand what is happening around her but wants to with such intensity. The first page (hopefully you can enlarge it to read the text):

The illustrations contain so much emotion that it was easy to laugh and cry along with Marji during the different events and trials of her life. And because there is so little room for words, everything written contains such a strong punch--nothing is wasted. While it seems as though it might be "easy" reading, I read this book very slowly, pouring over the pages and examining each illustration and re-reading and absorbing the words. It was such a different experience reading this book, but I highly recommed it. In terms of the actual book--the first half of the book was fantastic for me. There were a few sections of her teenaged years (I presume in the second volume?) that I didn't care for as much, but in the end the book came back around full-circle and ended strongly. Not only did I come to care so much for Marji, but I also learned so much about the Iranian culture and the revolution. This book has it all!

What do you think about graphic novels? What would you recommend next? Have you seen the movie?

They've also read it: I=first volume; II=second volume; I and II=both reviewed separately; Complete=both reviewed together (like my review)
Valentina (Complete)
Joy (I)
Bethany (I and II)
Corinne (I)
Raidergirl3 (I and II)
Nymeth (Complete)
Dewey (II--but contains link to I)
Rhinoa (Complete)
Marg (II--but contains link to I)

Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi: A Review

Title: Reading Lolita in Tehran
Author: Azar Nafisi
Date Finished: September 13, 2007
Pages: 343
Rating: 3.75/5

I'm wondering if I should give this one another day or two to soak in because I feel myself wavering between this rating and a higher one, but I think that is partially because I really loved the ending of this memoir. I'm not even sure what I accomplish with my ratings because I usually end up changing my mind later on anyway. It will be interesting to see at the end of the year how all the books stack up to what I initially thought of them.

Enough rambling! Reading Lolita in Tehran is the story of an expelled literature professor who takes in seven students for Thursday-morning discussions of the works of fiction they all love. The book is divided into four sections: Lolita, Gatsby, James, Austen. Nafisi's memoirs go beyond these teaching sessions, though. It seems to me as though her books is two-fold. First, she talks about literature - mainly in the context and with connection to the women's lives in Tehran. Second, Nafisi talks about the events and their effects on her and her teaching. Let me try it this way: in the first and last section, Nafisi focuses on her book group with the seven students. But then she regresses in the middle to sections to earlier events (about two decades) working her way back up to the book group. While in their own rights I appreciated all of these sections, the organization was confusing. We got to know these girls and their discussion of Lolita but then lose them except for vague references throughout the middle sections until they return in the final section. The point is, sometimes it felt as though Nafisi was trying to take on too much with this book OR that she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go with it.

For me the best parts of the book were when she was discussing the characters (of the book, not the fictional characters). Because I haven't read any of the James works discussed or Lolita, sometimes I felt as though I was reading literary criticism with a deaf ear--not really being able to understand the full meaning of Nafisi's words. The heart of the book was the Islamic Republic and how it shaped the lives of these women, but also how the fiction shaped their lives in different ways. I don't usually include quotes, but I found this one particularly striking:

"I said to him I wanted to write a book in which I would thank the Islamic Republic for all the things it had taught me--to love Austen and James and ice cream and freedom. I said, Right now it is not enough to appreciate all this; I want to write about it. He said, You will not be able to write about Austen without writing about us, about this place where you rediscovered Austen. You will not be able to put us out of your head. Try, you'll see. The Austen you know is so irretrievably linked to this place, this land and these trees...." (338).

And I love that quote because literature/fiction/reading is such a personal thing - something that is tied to our experiences, emotions, thoughts. But at the same time, literature/fiction/reading is also a social experience - sharing, collaborating, exploring. And I think that this is what Reading Lolita in Tehran tries to express. I would recommend this book with a little hesitation. I think some of it may be lost one those who don't have any experience with literary criticism or who haven't read the texts. Sometimes the reading was tedious, but the overall experience of the book was a good one. OH YA!! This is my final Non-Fiction Five. Whooopppeee!