PTPI Blog

Our staff readers have prepared this list of discussion questions for those reading Reading Lolita in Tehran.  Use these if you are starting your own book club, or just keep the questions in mind as you are reading the book.  Starting next week, our staff readers will be posting their own thoughts on these questions…and we hope you will join the conversation!

Would you recommend this book to others?  Discuss your reasons.

What were your initial reactions to the book?  Could you relate to the author or did you more closely relate to one of her students whose lives we became more involved with as we progressed through the narrative?  What were your impressions of the correlation between famous works of literature and the daily struggles of life in Iran?  Would you have joined the book club knowing the risks involved with being a part of this club?

Many people in the world take basic freedoms for granted.  What conversations or topics about freedom surprised you the most?

Discuss some of the prominent themes in the book, which was published in 2003, and the relevance to what you read in the news today about life in Iran.  Did you feel more of a connection to the struggles they face?  What are your thoughts when you read about some of the current events?  Do you wonder if any of the book club members are involved in any current day protests?

One prominent topic throughout the book was the wearing of the chador and the personal struggle between wearing it by choice or by force.   The decision to wear the veil or not to wear the veil could result in jail time and or the loss of a job. What do you think you might have done if you had been in the same situation?

Our book club members found several events/topics in the book which gave us pause.  What did you find most profound and/or shocking?   Will you explain why?  Throughout the book, there were many quotes – whether by Nafisi – or by one of the giants of literature.  What stood out the most for you and why?

Who did you find to be the most memorable character in the book and why?

Life in the Islamic Republic as described by Nafisi was burdened with censorship, fear and anti-west propaganda.   Discuss how this affects individuals and societies collectively.

Is the dream sometimes better than the reality?  (On Page 144 Nafisi, after discussing Gatsby, writes, “Was this not similar to our revolution, which had come in the name of our collective past and had wrecked our lives in the name of a dream?”)

Did you find any parallels between the characters in the book and your own life?  What kind of parallels or lessons did you learn from the book?

What do you believe is more important – happiness or self-respect?  (P. 225 “Their reward is not happiness – a word that is central in Austen’s novels but is seldom used in James’s universe.  What James’s characters gain is self-respect.)

What lessons can be learned from the book?  What is your take-away?

If you could meet the author, what questions would you ask her?

Nafisi teaches that the novel is a sensual experience of another world which appeals to the reader’s capacity for compassion. Do you agree that “empathy is at the heart of the novel”? Why is empathy important?  How has this book affected your understanding of the impact of fiction and the novel?

This entry was posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Global Book Club. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.