We suspect it’s the fear of every memoirist — just after the story ends, things in real life get all interesting. Such seems to be the problem for Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Iranians who have read the book say it’s good, but not reflective of life as it is now. Yeah…well, if you keep spinning out the end to capture the world as it changes, you’ll never finish the darned book. In fact, there’s an excellent chance you’ll die first. Such things have been known to happen.
We appreciate the press looking for a new angle on the story, but it would be sort of cool if they could also point out that books such as Reading Lolita are, by definition, slices of life, not life itself. Such an omission creates the impression that the author chose to ignore reality, when it’s more of a case of telling a specific story.
- Sorry, Wrong Chador: In Tehran, ‘Reading Lolita’ Translates as Ancient History (Note: registration required)
