Book Review: Reading Lolita in Tehran

Memories live in smells, sounds, and sometimes books. Author Azar Nafisi recalls her time in Iran through the novels of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. She read their books in secret with seven of her most dedicated female students.

Each book opened new feelings about abuse, oppression, and required conformity—ideas that shaped their everyday reality. They were physically and emotionally beaten down by the political regime and stifled by cultural expectations.

Each book also taught perseverance and resilience. As the girls began to share their personal stories, they found strength together. They found their voice. They found a happiness and freedom they had not known before.

For Western readers, revisiting these classic characters through the perspective of these girls brings a new weight to the stories and their lessons. Daisy’s flashing green light at the end of the dock gains a much greater significance when you consider the individual freedoms and happiness that green light, just out of reach, represents to them.