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msgtdameron's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This is an autobiography that tells many of the horrors of the Iranian regime. But, Ms. Abdei is a lawyer who instead of leaving Iran after the revolution she stayed. She has fought for women's and children's rights against a regime that wants her dead. She knows that as she read her name on a hit list while legally researching another case for a client. She has won a Nobel Peace Prize. She shows that if the U.S. conservative politicians would get over Regan being outed by the Revolutionary Guard, and actually negotiate in good faith: maybe the U.S. and Iran could come to a peace deal that would benefit both nations. I hope that even today 20 years after the work was published we can. Also Thank you Ms. Abdei for getting the U.S. Treasury to change their rules for your work. By doing so you lifted the same rules for many other authors who publish works that show Iran in a light other than religious fanaticism and evil folk. Another thing that U.S. conservatives don't want Americans to see. Maybe we the people should demand that our government negotiate with Tehran?
imadmad's review against another edition
5.0
و هنا تنتهي الرحلة مع شرين عبادي ، و يالها من رحلة
احداث قصتنا تبدا من صعود الشاه للحكم الى سقوطه بعد احداث ثورة 1978 و تاسس الجمهورية الاسلامية ثم تختم بستلام شرين لجائزة النوبل للسلام.
في هذا الكتاب ارتنا شرين معاناة المراة الايرانية من وجهة نظرها هي التي كانت تشغل منصب قاضية قبل الثورة و التي كانت من اشد مناصري الحراك الثوري لتصبح بعد ذلك وضفة مكتبية عادية و تمنع من ممارسة القضاة، تحكي هنا شرين كل الاحداث الكبيرة التي مرت بها ايران و كانت شرين جزء منها بكونها من اشهر المحاميات التي تستلم قضايا اغلبها لمعتقلين سياسين او عائلة ضحايا النظام....
كما ان الذي جعل تتبع قصة شرين ممتع هو انها لم تكن ترى المشكل في الدين نفسه بل في التفسيير المتطرف الذي يتبعه اصحاب السلطة و الذي يقوم باقصاء النساء مماجعلها محبوبة من فئة اكبر من الناس لكن هذا ايضا اكسبها معارضين اكثر سوء من المتشددين او العلمانيين الذين يرون المشكل بالاسلام بحد ذاته
احداث قصتنا تبدا من صعود الشاه للحكم الى سقوطه بعد احداث ثورة 1978 و تاسس الجمهورية الاسلامية ثم تختم بستلام شرين لجائزة النوبل للسلام.
في هذا الكتاب ارتنا شرين معاناة المراة الايرانية من وجهة نظرها هي التي كانت تشغل منصب قاضية قبل الثورة و التي كانت من اشد مناصري الحراك الثوري لتصبح بعد ذلك وضفة مكتبية عادية و تمنع من ممارسة القضاة، تحكي هنا شرين كل الاحداث الكبيرة التي مرت بها ايران و كانت شرين جزء منها بكونها من اشهر المحاميات التي تستلم قضايا اغلبها لمعتقلين سياسين او عائلة ضحايا النظام....
كما ان الذي جعل تتبع قصة شرين ممتع هو انها لم تكن ترى المشكل في الدين نفسه بل في التفسيير المتطرف الذي يتبعه اصحاب السلطة و الذي يقوم باقصاء النساء مماجعلها محبوبة من فئة اكبر من الناس لكن هذا ايضا اكسبها معارضين اكثر سوء من المتشددين او العلمانيين الذين يرون المشكل بالاسلام بحد ذاته
david611's review against another edition
4.0
The writing of this memoir was truly one of the most important undertakings in the World Current Affairs of this time. It is very, very well written!! The book also reminded me of reading [a:Khaled Hosseini|569|Khaled Hosseini|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1359753468p2/569.jpg]'s [b:A Thousand Splendid Suns|128029|A Thousand Splendid Suns|Khaled Hosseini|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345958969s/128029.jpg|3271379] because of some similarity of themes, although this one contains events that really happened and the characters mentioned in the book did or do exist.
Divided into twelve chapters, they are dedicated to certain times in Shirin's and Iran's history. Chapters deal with Shirin's childhood; herself getting involved with the Justice System in Iran, and then becoming a judge, during the time of the Shah; the Revolution in 1979; life and times in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War; life and times in Tehran while it was being bombed; the morality police and its effects on the citizens; her fight for the Defense of Children's, Women's and Human Rights in court; the dark days during which the intellectuals, writers, translators, poets, etc. were executed; hoping for reforms in the theocratic regime; about and during the time of Mrs. Ebadi serving some time in the jail as a political prisoner; her Nobel Prize winning return to Tehran and its reactions.
Although a small book, but still important, I feel that everyone should read it to understand what the people of Iran have been going through in the last sixty-five years. They have been under an un-wanted rule of the Shah before; and now forcibly under a theocratic rule of the Islamic Republic by the clerics, been repressed, restricted, forbidden, forced, and laid to a lot of injustice in the land.
Much recommended !!
Divided into twelve chapters, they are dedicated to certain times in Shirin's and Iran's history. Chapters deal with Shirin's childhood; herself getting involved with the Justice System in Iran, and then becoming a judge, during the time of the Shah; the Revolution in 1979; life and times in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War; life and times in Tehran while it was being bombed; the morality police and its effects on the citizens; her fight for the Defense of Children's, Women's and Human Rights in court; the dark days during which the intellectuals, writers, translators, poets, etc. were executed; hoping for reforms in the theocratic regime; about and during the time of Mrs. Ebadi serving some time in the jail as a political prisoner; her Nobel Prize winning return to Tehran and its reactions.
Although a small book, but still important, I feel that everyone should read it to understand what the people of Iran have been going through in the last sixty-five years. They have been under an un-wanted rule of the Shah before; and now forcibly under a theocratic rule of the Islamic Republic by the clerics, been repressed, restricted, forbidden, forced, and laid to a lot of injustice in the land.
Much recommended !!
ginnycady's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Murder, and War
readrrck's review against another edition
5.0
Truly one of the best books I've read in quite a long time! This memoir keeps the reader's attention from the first page until the last.
To be honest, upon reading the first chapters I anticipated a memoir focusing on bashing the USA from an Iranian point of view, however the ending result is anything but that. Ebadi details her personal experiences growing up under the last Iranian Shah and going through the Iranian Revolution of 1979. She holds nothing back and gives an open option of both the government and the movement (included even criticizing her past choices as she sees how they have affected her life). This book has inspired me to learn more about Iran both before and after the revolution. I'd highly encourage anyone looking for a personal account of Iran in the latter 20th century to consider reading this account of both Iran and Ms Ebadi's fascinating life!
To be honest, upon reading the first chapters I anticipated a memoir focusing on bashing the USA from an Iranian point of view, however the ending result is anything but that. Ebadi details her personal experiences growing up under the last Iranian Shah and going through the Iranian Revolution of 1979. She holds nothing back and gives an open option of both the government and the movement (included even criticizing her past choices as she sees how they have affected her life). This book has inspired me to learn more about Iran both before and after the revolution. I'd highly encourage anyone looking for a personal account of Iran in the latter 20th century to consider reading this account of both Iran and Ms Ebadi's fascinating life!
relf's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent short memoir by an Iranian woman lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work for the rights of women and children in Iran. She spoke this spring at
Western Michigan University as part of the Peace Jam celebration--very inspiring and perhaps the most substantive speaker they've had--and signed my book.
Western Michigan University as part of the Peace Jam celebration--very inspiring and perhaps the most substantive speaker they've had--and signed my book.
allisonnoelle's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting, well-written account of Shirin Ebadi's life and the concurrent political changes taking place in Iran. She starts the book on August 19, 1953, when Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh— a leader beloved by many who recently nationalized Iran's oil— was toppled by a coup backed by the US and led by the shah. It was during this time that Ebadi attended post-secondary education and developed a political consciousness. Along with many other women, she protested the shah's corrupt regime. These protests eventually culminated in the 1979 revolution, in which the shah was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini transformed Iran from a secular democracy to an Islamic Republic.
Unfortunately, Khomeini's regime also implemented discriminatory laws against women (e.g., stating that a woman's life was worth half of a man's). Ebadi and some of her friends were demoted from judges to clerks. Opposition to the regime was violently subdued at this time.
On September 22, 1980, Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Iran. The Iraq-Iran war lasted from 1980-1988, and during this time resistance to the Khomeini administration was placed on the back burner by most. A revolutionary group which opposed Khomeini called MKO fought alongside Iraq against Iran in hopes of gaining power, but this decision was not popular among the public. Ebadi recounts how many people decided to leave Iran after a few years of war.
After the war, the morality police became more belligerent than ever, but Ebadi was able to return to work as a lawyer. She and other women were allowed a greater role in the workplace because Iran's economy suffered without their contributions. As a pro-bono lawyer, Ebadi advocated for a more progressive interpretation of the Koran on behalf of women, poor people, and children. In 1997, a reformist named Mohammed Khatami was elected president of Iran. There was more freedom of speech at first under this new regime, but soon repression regressed to its old ways. In the end of the book, Ebadi discusses the moment she found out she won the Nobel Prize and how hopeful she felt by the majority-female crowd celebrating upon her return to Iran.
While I enjoyed the book, I was a little bit uncomfortable with the way that Ebadi went to so much effort to distinguish herself from "criminals" and sex workers when she was spending time in jail as a political prisoner. Rather than seeing incarcerated people and sex workers as fellow oppressed members of Iranian society, she rejected any sort of solidarity with them. Further, I wish she would have talked a little bit more about other oppressed groups, such as religious minorities and queer/trans people.
One other quarrel I have with the book is Ebadi's complete dismissal of the Iranian / broader Middle Eastern diaspora's activism. I certainly agree that her decision to stay on the ground in Iran allowed her greater opportunity to do certain sorts of political activism, but I don't think she should have dismissed the potential of Middle Eastern people around the world to make a change, especially when they would meet certain death in Iran for protesting in some circumstances. Like I mentioned in the above paragraph, I think her political thinking would benefit from solidarity with people with different identities and living in different geographical locations.
Unfortunately, Khomeini's regime also implemented discriminatory laws against women (e.g., stating that a woman's life was worth half of a man's). Ebadi and some of her friends were demoted from judges to clerks. Opposition to the regime was violently subdued at this time.
On September 22, 1980, Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Iran. The Iraq-Iran war lasted from 1980-1988, and during this time resistance to the Khomeini administration was placed on the back burner by most. A revolutionary group which opposed Khomeini called MKO fought alongside Iraq against Iran in hopes of gaining power, but this decision was not popular among the public. Ebadi recounts how many people decided to leave Iran after a few years of war.
After the war, the morality police became more belligerent than ever, but Ebadi was able to return to work as a lawyer. She and other women were allowed a greater role in the workplace because Iran's economy suffered without their contributions. As a pro-bono lawyer, Ebadi advocated for a more progressive interpretation of the Koran on behalf of women, poor people, and children. In 1997, a reformist named Mohammed Khatami was elected president of Iran. There was more freedom of speech at first under this new regime, but soon repression regressed to its old ways. In the end of the book, Ebadi discusses the moment she found out she won the Nobel Prize and how hopeful she felt by the majority-female crowd celebrating upon her return to Iran.
While I enjoyed the book, I was a little bit uncomfortable with the way that Ebadi went to so much effort to distinguish herself from "criminals" and sex workers when she was spending time in jail as a political prisoner. Rather than seeing incarcerated people and sex workers as fellow oppressed members of Iranian society, she rejected any sort of solidarity with them. Further, I wish she would have talked a little bit more about other oppressed groups, such as religious minorities and queer/trans people.
One other quarrel I have with the book is Ebadi's complete dismissal of the Iranian / broader Middle Eastern diaspora's activism. I certainly agree that her decision to stay on the ground in Iran allowed her greater opportunity to do certain sorts of political activism, but I don't think she should have dismissed the potential of Middle Eastern people around the world to make a change, especially when they would meet certain death in Iran for protesting in some circumstances. Like I mentioned in the above paragraph, I think her political thinking would benefit from solidarity with people with different identities and living in different geographical locations.