Azar Nafisi Knihy

The inspirational tale of eight women who defied the confines of life in revolutionary Iran through the joy and power of literature.

The New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran returns with a guide to the power of literature in turbulent times, arming readers with a resistance reading list, ranging from James Baldwin to Zora Neale Hurston to Margaret Atwood.What is the role of literature in an era when the president wages war on writers and the press? What is the connection between political strife in our daily lives, and the way we meet our enemies on the page in fiction? How can literature, through its free exchange, affect politics?In this galvanizing guide to resistance literature, Nafisi seeks to answer these questions. Drawing on her experiences as a woman and voracious reader living in the Islamic Republic of Iran, her life as an immigrant in the United States, and her role as literature professor in both countries, she crafts an argument for why, in a genuine democracy, we must engage with the enemy, and how literature can be a vehicle for doing so.Structured as a series of letters to her father, Baba, who taught her as a child about how literature can rescue us in times of trauma, Nafisi explores the most probing questions of our time through the works of Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, James Baldwin, Margaret Atwood, and more.

Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi's living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature.

From the author of the bestselling memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran comes a powerful and passionate case for the vital role of fiction today. Ten years ago, Azar Nafisi electrified readers with her million-copy bestseller, Reading Lolita in Tehran, which told the story of how, against the backdrop of morality squads and executions, she taught The Great Gatsby and other classics to her eager students in Iran. In this exhilarating follow-up, Nafisi has written the book her fans have been waiting for: an impassioned, beguiling and utterly original tribute to the vital importance of fiction in a democratic society. Taking her cue from a challenge thrown to her at a reading, she energetically responds to those who say fiction has nothing to teach us today. Blending memoir and polemic with close readings of her favourite novels, she invites us to join her as citizens of her 'Republic of Imagination', a country where the villains are conformity, and orthodoxy and the only passport to entry is a free mind and a willingness to dream.

"Absorbing . . . a testament to the ways in which narrative truth-telling—from the greatest works of literature to the most intimate family stories—sustains and strengthens us.”—O: The Oprah Magazine In this stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, Azar Nafisi shares her memories of living in thrall to a powerful and complex mother against the backdrop of a country’s political revolution. A girl’s pain over family secrets, a young woman’s discovery of the power of sensuality in literature, the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by upheaval—these and other threads are woven together in this beautiful memoir as a gifted storyteller once again transforms the way we see the world and “reminds us of why we read in the first place” (Newsday). Praise for Things I've Been Silent About “Deeply felt . . . an affecting account of a family’s struggle.”—New York Times “A gifted storyteller with a mastery of Western literature, Nafisi knows how to use language both to settle scores and to seduce.”—New York Times Book Review “An immensely rewarding and beautifully written act of courage, by turns amusing, tender and obsessively dogged.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A lyrical, often wrenching memoir.”—People

In the first anthology of its kind, Lila Azam Zanganeh argues that although Iran looms large in the American imagination, it is grossly misunderstood-seen either as the third pillar of Bush's infamous "axis of evil" or as a nation teeming with youths clamoring for revolution.This collection showcases the real scope and complexity of Iran through the work of a stellar group of contributors-including Azar Nafisi and with original art by Marjane Satrapi. Their collective goal is to counter the many existing cultural and political clichés about Iran. Some of the pieces concern feminism, sexuality, or eroticism under the Islamic Republic; others are unorthodox political testimonies or about race and religion. Almost all these contributors have broken artistic and cultural taboos in their work.Journalist Reza Aslan, author of No God But God, explains why Iran is not a theocracy but, rather, a "mullahcracy." Mehrangiz Kar, a lawyer and human rights activist who was jailed in Iran and is currently a fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, argues that the Iranian Revolution actually engendered the birth of feminism in Iran. Journalist Azadeh Moaveni reveals the underground parties and sex culture in Tehran, while Gelareh Asayesh, author of Saffron Sky, writes poignantly on why Iranians are not considered white in America, even though they think they are. Poet and writer Naghmeh Zarbafian expounds on the surreal experience of reading censored books in Iran, while Roya Hakakian, author of Journey from the Land of A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran, recalls the happy days of Iranian Jews. With a sharp, incisive introduction by Lila Azam Zanganeh, this diverse collection will alter what you thought you knew about Iran." My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes aims to corrode fixed ideas and turns cultural and political clichés on their heads . . . Iranians themselves live in a complex and schizophrenic reality, at a surreal crossroads between political Islam and satellite television, massive national oil revenues, and searing social inequalities."--From the Introduction by Lila Azam ZanganehContributors Azar Nafisi, author of the best-selling Reading Lolita in Tehran , Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis , Shirin Neshat, internationally acclaimed visual artist, Abbas Kiarostami, award-winning filmmaker of Taste of Cherry , Shohreh Aghdashloo, Oscar nominee for House of Sand and Fog , Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad

The great national epic of Persia—the most complete English-language edition and definitive translation by Dick Davis, available in a deluxe edition by Penguin Classics .Wherever Persian influence has spread, the stories of the Shahnameh become deeply embedded in the culture, as amply attested by their appearance in such works as The Kite Runner and the love poems of Rumi and Hafez. Among the greatest works of world literature, this prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi in the late tenth century, tells the story of pre-Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century. The sweep and psychological depth of the Shahnameh is nothing less than magnificent as it recounts classic tales like the tragedy of Rostam and Sohrab.Now Dick Davis, “our pre-eminent translator from the Persian” ( Washington Post ), presents a comprehensive translation of Ferdowsi’s masterpiece in an elegant combination of prose and verse, allowing the poetry of the Shanameh to sing its own tales directly, interspersed sparingly with clearly-marked explanations to ease along modern readers.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Ein kämpferischer Appell für Literatur als Mittel des Widerstands und Empowerment: New-York-Times-Bestsellerautorin Azar Nafisi (»Lolita lesen in Teheran«) mit einem aufrüttelnden Text über die Macht der Bücher. In Form von Briefen an ihren verstorbenen Vater (früherer Bürgermeister von Teheran und politischer Gefangener des Schah-Regimes), der ihr in ihrer Kindheit die Augen dafür öffnete, wie Literatur uns in Zeiten der Krise retten kann, stellt Nafisi die brennenden Fragen unserer Zeit – mit ihrer Lektüreliste bewaffnet Nafisi die Leser*Innen für den Widerstand. Sie greift dabei auf ihre persönlichen Erfahrungen als Frau, als Leser*in und Lehrende in Teheran zurück, die von der Universität verwiesen wurde, als sie sich weigerte, den Schleier zu tragen, und schließlich in die USA emigrierte, wo sie als Professorin Literatur unterrichtete. Nafisi ist überzeugt: Für das Überleben der Demokratie weltweit ist das Lesen unabdingbar. Ob James Baldwin oder Margret Atwood, ob Platon oder Salman Rushdie, Lektüre ist immer ein Weg in Richtung Freiheit: persönlich und politisch.

Nach dem weltweiten Erfolg von „Lolita lesen in Teheran“ erzählt Azar Nafisi nun die bewegende Geschichte ihrer zerrissenen Familie. Die junge Azar ist gefangen zwischen ihrer eindrucksvollen, aber komplizierten Mutter und ihrem liebevollen, literaturbegeisterten Vater. Diese Familiensaga entfaltet sich vor dem Hintergrund der Unruhen im Iran während der Schah-Zeit. Azar reflektiert über ihre Kindheit in Teheran, geprägt von der schwierigen Beziehung zur Mutter, die wenig Liebe zeigt, und dem Vater, der ihr die Leidenschaft für Literatur vermittelt und sie gegen die Mutter unterstützt. Die Erzählung umfasst ihre Schul- und Studienjahre im Westen, die Zeit ohne ihren inhaftierten Vater, ihre erste hastige Ehe mit einem Mann, den sie nicht liebt, und ihre Rückkehr in den Iran nach der Islamischen Revolution, wo sie ihre akademische Laufbahn beginnt. Auch ihre zweite Ehe und die schlussendliche Auswanderung in die USA sind Teil ihrer Geschichte. „Die schönen Lügen meiner Mutter“ bietet persönliche Einblicke in eine Kindheit, die von einem autoritären Regime geprägt ist, und beleuchtet die kleinen und großen Geheimnisse einer Familie.

„Czy powinno nas dziwić, że niektórzy znów cytują Baldwina, kiedy na ulicach tłumy domagają się sprawiedliwości?” – pyta Azar Nafisi w książce, której nadała formę listów do ojca wprowadzającego ją przed laty w świat literatury. Autorka „Czytając «Lolitę» w Teheranie” powraca tu do swoich doświadczeń akademiczki w reżimowym Iranie i emigrantki w Stanach Zjednoczonych, ale przede wszystkim pisze o życiu w epoce Trumpa. Wtedy to ulice amerykańskich miast zapełniły się tysiącami kobiet w strojach nawiązujących do „Opowieści podręcznej”, a potem tłumami protestujących przeciwko policyjnej przemocy i rasizmowi. Zdaniem Nafisi właśnie wtedy też swoją moc po raz kolejny zademonstrowała literatura – jako katalizator gniewu wymierzonego we władzę, jako złowieszcza przestroga czy wreszcie jako subtelny instrument poznania, umożliwiający wyjście poza schemat własnego myślenia. Nafisi przygląda się najbardziej palącym problemom współczesności przez pryzmat powieści takich autorek i autorów, jak Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Ray Bradbury, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, David Grosman i Iljas Churi. Tworzy dla nas swoistą listę lektur na ciężkie czasy, pokazując, dlaczego warto podjąć ryzyko i przeczytać je na poważnie.