Synopses & Reviews
I started making a list in my diary entitled “Things I Have Been Silent About.” Under it I wrote: “Falling in Love in Tehran. Going to Parties in Tehran. Watching the Marx Brothers in Tehran. Reading Lolita
in Tehran.” I wrote about repressive laws and executions, about public and political abominations. Eventually I drifted into writing about private betrayals, implicating myself and those close to me in ways I had never imagined.--From Things I Have Been Silent About
Azar Nafisi, author of the beloved international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a countrys political revolution. A girls pain over family secrets; a young womans discovery of the power of sensuality in literature; the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by political 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).
Nafisis intelligent and complicated mother, disappointed in her dreams of leading an important and romantic life, created mesmerizing fictions about herself, her family, and her past. But her daughter soon learned that these narratives of triumph hid as much as they revealed. Nafisis father escaped into narratives of another kind, enchanting his children with the classic tales like the Shahnamah, the Persian Book of Kings. When her father started seeing other women, young Azar began to keep his secrets from her mother. Nafisis complicity in these childhood dramas ultimately led her to resist remaining silent about other personal, as well as political, cultural, and social, injustices.
Reaching back in time to reflect on other generations in the Nafisi family, Things Ive Been Silent About is also a powerful historical portrait of a family that spans many periods of change leading up to the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79, which turned Azar Nafisis beloved Iran into a religious dictatorship. Writing of her mothers historic term in Parliament, even while her father, once mayor of Tehran, was in jail, Nafisi explores the remarkable “coffee hours” her mother presided over, where at first women came together to gossip, to tell fortunes, and to give silent acknowledgment of things never spoken about, and which then evolved into gatherings where men and women would meet to openly discuss the unfolding revolution.
Things Ive Been Silent About is, finally, a deeply personal reflection on womens choices, and on how Azar Nafisi found the inspiration for a different kind of life. This unforgettable portrait of a woman, a family, and a troubled homeland is a stunning book that readers will embrace, a new triumph from an author who is a modern master of the memoir.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
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).
Synopsis
"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
Synopsis
In this stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, Nafisi shares her memories of living in thrall to a powerful mother against the backdrop of a country's political revolution. This beautiful memoir reminds us of why we read in the first place ("Newsday").
About the Author
Azar Nafisi is a visiting professor and the director of the Dialogue Project at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She has taught Western literature at the University of Tehran, the Free Islamic University, and the University of Allameh Tabatabai in Iran. In 1981 she was expelled from the University of Tehran after refusing to wear the veil. In 1994 she won a teaching fellowship from Oxford University, and in 1997 she and her family left Iran for America. She has written for
The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and
The New Republic and has appeared on countless radio and television programs. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children.
From the Hardcover edition.
Reading Group Guide
1. What are Nafisi’s “things I’ve been silent about”? Are there things you have been silent about, and why?
2. In this memoir, Nafisi candidly describes the positive and the negative aspects of her childhood relationship with both her father and her mother. Looking back, which parent ultimately had the most influence on the author’s life? How did the relationships change and develop over time? In what ways do you feel that they were healthy or unhealthy, and why?
3. In many ways the most powerful relationship in the book is the mother- daughter relationship between the author and her own mother, and the struggles they face in adjusting to each other’s personality and expectations, both personal and cultural. Do you think this tension came from the two women’s similarities or differences? Do you see any parallels to relationships within your own family?
4. Nafisi writes that “as a family we were fond of telling stories.” Describe the different kinds of stories her father and mother embraced. How were these “fictions” similar or different, and what purpose did they serve? In what ways do you see the author continuing this family habit, or in what ways do you see her breaking from it?
5. Talk about the theme of silence in the book. Is silence either always a bad choice or always a good one? How does it relate to personal and cultural repression? Do you consider silence a freedom or a constraint?
6. Nafisi talks about the personal becoming the political. Name three examples of this theme from the book, and discuss the implications of the intersection of public and private in each case.
7. In the Prologue, Nafisi writes, “Approval! My parents taught me how deadly this desire could be.” What do you think she means by this? Do you agree that the longing for approval can be dangerous, and if so, in what ways?
8. Nafisi describes the different social, cultural, and religious atmospheres in Iran that shaped the experiences of four generations of women in her family. How were Azar’s grandmother’s experiences similar or different from her daughter Negar’s? What about Azar and her mother? Discuss the ways in which each woman’s experience may have shaped her personality and approach to life. Do you see historical comparisons to women’s experiences in your own family?
9. Aunt Mina frequently uses the phrase “Another intelligent woman gone to waste.” What does it mean for these women to have “gone to waste”? Can you list five women in Things I’ve Been Silent About who fall into this category? Was there anything, in your opinion, that they could have done to prevent themselves from going “to waste”? Are there public figures, or women in your own life, who might also fit this description? How are their experiences similar to or different from those of the Iranian women in the book?
10. The stories of the Shahnameh play a large role in this memoir. Who are the Persian literary heroines with whom Nafisi identifies most closely, and why? What relevance do these fictional women have to her own life and to the lives of the women around her?
11. “My father used to say half jokingly that his years in jail were his most fruitful.” How did those four years in jail affect the arc of Father’s life, and life for the whole Nafisi family? Metaphorically, what other jails are there in the book, and what are the effects on the lives of those trapped inside them? Father found a way to flourish artistically and intellectually during his incarceration. Could it be argued that this kind of confinement is actually beneficial, in some ways, for the development of personality and ideas? Why or why not?
12. Nafisi says her mother “knew my father would be unfaithful to her long before he even considered it.” Are there conditions that justify infidelity, do you think, or is it always indefensible? Would you consider marriage without love as a form of infidelity?
13. When parents divorce, the children are always deeply affected; in what ways did the tension between Nafisi’s parents influence her experience and development? How different do you think her life experience might have been had her parents remained together?
14. Discuss the ways in which places—the different houses, cities, and countries in which Nafisi lives over the course of the book—affect Nafisi’s perception of herself, her family, and Iranian politics and culture.