pickWow. This was a good one. It‘s heavy at times, as it should be with the topic of women‘s rights in Iran over the last several decades. But it has funny parts, a tremendous friendship, and some really good and decent human beings. I knew a tiny bit of Iran‘s history, but this opened up my view of it and I hope things get better there in my lifetime.
pickFriendship at its finest. Homa is a women after my own heart and so admirable. The author touched lightly on the history of Iran but mainly focused on the struggle of women.
He thought Tehran was also like an addict.
A city addicted to smoke, to humiliation, to poverty and torpor whose slightest effort to sober up gave rise to panic. Tehran was an addict that wanted to get clean but lacked the will, and after several days of sobriety would begin using again with even greater intensity. It was an addiction to oppression, an addiction to poverty, and an addiction to inhibition and nostalgia...
... the flames rippled over the pages, catching first the old books with the brown paper whose smell I loved so much. I vividly remember how Danko's Burning Heart was engulfed in flames that then licked at Luce's skirt who, desperately trying to protect herself from the fire in the pages of Romain Rolland's book, held Pierre tightly to her breast...
pickKim Ghattas is an Emmy Award-winning journalist born and raised in Lebanon who has spent 20 years covering the Middle East for the BBC and Financial Times. This well-researched book argues that 1979 set Saudi Arabia and Iran on a path that‘s shaped the Middle East. Ghattas has a readable style and I came away feeling but there are a lot of figures in play here and despite a useful list, I sometimes found myself confused about who was who.
pickOh my goodness! I loved it!
A story of two young girls of different backgrounds becoming best friends during the 1950s in Tehran, and growing up in different worlds. Along with the themes of friendship, forgiveness, women's freedom, and learning to love, we also learn the history of how women lost their rights in Iran. I grew to like Ellie (though she got on my nerves a few times) but I loved Homa. It was realistic and bittersweet. I give it 5 ⭐️
pickI‘m forever looking for books featuring lifelong female friendships that speak to me the way Elena Ferrante‘s books do. This comes close.
so-soI enjoyed the first few chapters of this collection of short stories loosely linked by the character of the book‘s title. From about halfway, the book feels like it‘s lost its way a bit - which in a way reflects the loss of a way of life due to “progress”, but always makes for a less interesting read.
Meanwhile, the feminist in me is grateful she doesn‘t live in a culture that doesn‘t treat women as chattels.
