Time...

Amongst juggling time, a very busy and challenging job in London as well as studying, I have been reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Asar Nafisi.  If you haven't read it and are interested in other cultures its worth reading.  The backdrop is Iran around the time of the Iranian revolution.

 The book is a true story about a woman (the author) Asar Nafisi who is a lecturer  in literature particularly English literature. She starts a book club with a few selected female students, but this isn't any book club.  "Western" books such as Lolita have become forbidden books. Such books are discussed at the "club" as such books challenge and provoke debates and discussions, which most totalitarian regimes do not want.

While discussing books the lives and feelings of the women and Asar herself are opened up and literature provides a  way of trying to make sense of the happenings and to reflect.

Asar Nafisi sometimes mentions Pale Fire by Vladmir Nabokov.  I visited the British Library recently and browsed through the bookshop.  It is a beautiful bookshop.  I came across Pale Fire and picked it up a few times to nearly purchase it. I resisted.

 My room is too cramped at home, I have no space on my shelves. I need to sort out the room and myself before buying books. After all I believe books should be treated with respect.