Prisoner of Tehran
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Nemat tells of her harrowing experience as a young Iranian girl at the start of the Islamic revolution. In January 1982, the 16-year-old student activist was arrested, jailed in Tehran's infamous Evin prison, tortured and sentenced to death. Ali, one of her interrogators, intervened moments before her execution, having used family connections with Ayatollah Khomeini himself to reduce her sentence to life in prison. The price: she would convert to Islam (she was Christian) and marry him, or he would see to it that her family and her boyfriend, Andre, were jailed or even killed. She remained a political prisoner for two years. Nemat's engaging memoir is rich with complex characters—loved ones lost on both sides of this bloody conflict. Ali, the man who rapes and subjugates her, also saves her life several times—he is assassinated by his own subordinates. His family embraces Nemat with more affection and acceptance than her own, even fighting for her release after his death. Nemat returns home to feel a stranger: "They were terrified of the pain and horror of my past," she writes. She buries her memories for years, eventually escaping to Canada to begin a new life with Andre. Nemat offers her arresting, heartbreaking story of forgiveness, hope and enduring love—a voice for the untold scores silenced by Iran's revolution. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
scraps of thoughts scribbled in journal during reading this book:
Revolutions that happen overnight rarely spell the peace and prosperity that it originally meant. Religion and politics is a bold mix. Any deterrent to freedom of expression beyond what is reasonable is to be feared, and the standards ow what is reasonable should not be dictated by any one religion.
If the western civilization has any core merits, it lies in the recognition of the individual and his rights.
Why are muslims so afraid of sexuality? For it certainly has played a vital part in their myths (i.e.: arabian nights). And yet some who say they follow the creed can still act in contradiction to what they are taught because 'new rules' and exceptions can be made for certain rules to be able to function.
Can some rules be more important than others? To the extent that they can even overshadow them?
Starred Review. Nemat tells of her harrowing experience as a young Iranian girl at the start of the Islamic revolution. In January 1982, the 16-year-old student activist was arrested, jailed in Tehran's infamous Evin prison, tortured and sentenced to death. Ali, one of her interrogators, intervened moments before her execution, having used family connections with Ayatollah Khomeini himself to reduce her sentence to life in prison. The price: she would convert to Islam (she was Christian) and marry him, or he would see to it that her family and her boyfriend, Andre, were jailed or even killed. She remained a political prisoner for two years. Nemat's engaging memoir is rich with complex characters—loved ones lost on both sides of this bloody conflict. Ali, the man who rapes and subjugates her, also saves her life several times—he is assassinated by his own subordinates. His family embraces Nemat with more affection and acceptance than her own, even fighting for her release after his death. Nemat returns home to feel a stranger: "They were terrified of the pain and horror of my past," she writes. She buries her memories for years, eventually escaping to Canada to begin a new life with Andre. Nemat offers her arresting, heartbreaking story of forgiveness, hope and enduring love—a voice for the untold scores silenced by Iran's revolution. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
scraps of thoughts scribbled in journal during reading this book:
Revolutions that happen overnight rarely spell the peace and prosperity that it originally meant. Religion and politics is a bold mix. Any deterrent to freedom of expression beyond what is reasonable is to be feared, and the standards ow what is reasonable should not be dictated by any one religion.
If the western civilization has any core merits, it lies in the recognition of the individual and his rights.
Why are muslims so afraid of sexuality? For it certainly has played a vital part in their myths (i.e.: arabian nights). And yet some who say they follow the creed can still act in contradiction to what they are taught because 'new rules' and exceptions can be made for certain rules to be able to function.
Can some rules be more important than others? To the extent that they can even overshadow them?
posted by Mignon Chang at 9:59 PM
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