#72: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

DNF...yet

Happy Friday Readers,

I have a few books to write about in the coming weeks, but before I do, I wanted to talk about a recent DNF (bookish parlance for Did Not Finish).
(Author’s note: Sometimes I’ll finish a book because the discomfort caused by having a “DNF” is greater than the discomfort of reading the book that isn’t working for me. I just don’t like not finishing!)*

Reading Lolita In Tehran by Azar Nafisi proved to be, for a few reasons, a tough read. First, I struggled with the format/structure. The narrative jumps around as the author reminisces about her time in Tehran. This might work well for some, but I never found a groove.

As a memoir in books, it’s organized around landmark works of fiction by Nabokov, Fitzgerald, James, and Austen. I liked that aspect, but the stories from the Nabokov section didn’t suck me in. The Fitzgerald section went much better and gives me hope. During her time at the university, she held a mock trial of The Great Gatsby where some of her students attacked it for being amoral while she and others defended it. I actually loved this section. Even so, I stopped reading at the start of the James section.

The second reason it’s tough is the Nabokov section was a downer. I have no interest in reading Lolita now that I’ve heard Dr. Nafisi talk about it. She discusses her exit from teaching at the university in Tehran and the gathering of a handful of her former students (mostly female) at her home to discuss Lolita. For those who don’t know, Lolita is, in part, about an old guy’s obsession/fixation/oppression of a 13 year old girl named Lolita. To the women in Tehran, their situation mirrored Lolita’s with the Islamic Republic of Iran as their oppressor. Dr. Nafisi says:

We were all victims of the arbitrary nature of a totalitarian regime that constantly intruded into the most private corners of our lives and imposed its relentless fictions on us.

That’s good writing, but dreary.

I intend to finish this book. I would even say that I want to finish. It’s a perfect fit for this year’s reading project. It’s insightful. So for now, let’s invent a new term and call it a DNFY.

Did not finish yet.

Yeah, that feels better.

Any DNFYs on your list? Any acclaimed books that didn’t work for you?

Thanks for being here,
Kyle

*I know what you’re thinking: “Kyle, you should talk to someone about that.” To which I would reply “What do you think I am doing?!” Please leave comments of how to come to peace with DNFs.