Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi

"I wanted to write a book that would help correct Western stereotypes of Islam, especially the image of Muslim women as docile, forlorn creatures."

I've long been interested in Middle Eastern perspectives on the West, Western perspectives on the Middle East and the Muslim experience. I think it started with Persepolis and grew from there. In any case, I think it's important to learn about, or at least expose oneself to the ideas of Middle Eastern culture, history - modern and otherwise - and religion. With that in mind I picked up Shirin Ebadi's Iran Awakening; One Women's Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country.

Ebadi won the Nobel Prize in 2003 "for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children." Iran Awakening is Ebadi's memoir, with a focus on her struggles with political prosecution during the Iranian Revolution. Ebadi's persepctive is a unique one; she grew up in Tehran and prior to the Islamic Revolution, became the first female judge in Iran. Four years later, as a result of the 1979 Isalmic Revolution, Iran's view of women changed and Ebadi was demoted to a clerk and eventually "retired" early. Ebadi stayed in Iran as she watched her many of her friends flee. She managed to eventually earn herself a professional and political role in the emerging theocracy and worked to promote equality and human rights, going above and beyond to help and defend those in need.

Iran Awakening is less a political or historical memoir and more an account of one women's struggles and ability to overcome persecution. Ebadi's prose is smart and fluid, welcoming and eloquent. Her story is one of brutality and triumph, of faith and hardship.

When the gravity of death first touched me, I'd found preoccupation with the minutiae of daily life meaningless. If we ultimately die, and turn to dust in the ground, should it ever truly upset us if the floor hasn't been swept quite recently enough?

Edabi's story speaks to the power of one voice to make a difference. While Ebadi hopes for a free and democratic future for Iran, she still speaks of her country with loyalty and admiration. If you are interested to learn more about Iran's modern history and its struggle for democracy and equality from a unique and relevant perspective, I urge you to read this book.

Publisher: Random House, 2006

Congratulations, Mario Vargas Llosa

It was announced today that Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa has won the Nobel Prize in literature. I am not familiar with this author (nor have I been with any laureate since 2003 when J.M. Coetzee was awarded - what kind of reader am I?!) but NPR says he's a "phenomenal" choice:

"What makes him significant, though, is not this backbone of steel or his shape-shifting political ideas - he was once a supporter of Castro, later a disillusioned communist, later still a center-left candidate - but the restless, searching way in which he has crabwalked across history and genres."

In the words of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize in literature is awarded to the author, from any country, who has written "the most outstanding work in an ideal direction". Rather than be upset that I have never heard of Vargas Llosa I am going to celebrate it. That's the thing about Nobel laureates in literature; it's basically pointing out a fantastic author to the whole world, whether we have heard of him or not.

CNN tells me Vargas Llosa teaches at Princeton and his best-known novels are The Green House and The War of the End of the World.

Also, here is a lovely review Vargas Llosa did with the Paris Review that everyone who is interested in learning more about this Nobel laureate should read.