Reading Lolita in Tehran
I'd been half intending to read this book for a while. It seemed like one of those books I should read, even though it only half interested me. Then I read this fantastic essay titled Men Explain Lolita to Me , and shortly after that I came across this book at a library sale. And that was that. I ended up liking this book much more than I expected to, for the most part. I entered into it worried that I would miss most of the literary references. I've only read 2/3 of Lolita , after all. But the book stretches far beyond Nabakov's most famous work, encompassing not only his other work but a wealth of classic Western authors. Most of the references are explained well enough that I was able to understand them even if I hadn't read the source material. Though the book was much more interesting when I was familiar with the work being discussed and could compare my own interpretation to that of Nafisi and her students. The book is divided into four sections. Lolita concer...