- Paperback
- Publisher: Raincoast Books (Nov 1 2005)
- ISBN-10: 155192871X
- ISBN-13: 978-1551928715
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.7 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#1,041,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #33 in Books > Travel > Middle East > Iran
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
A unique composite picture of what it's really like to live, work, love and blog in Iran 'This is not the first example of a book made out of blogs... It does, I think, count as the finest so far: an eye-opening collage of extracts from the (roughly) 64,000 Farsi-language bloggers now at work in Iran, threaded by Alavi's illuminating analysis.' Boyd Tonkin, Independent 'Incredibly heartening' Ian Hislop, 'Start the Week', BBC R4 'Every now and again a book comes along that first challenges any preconceived notions you may have about a particular subject, and then turns them completely on their head. We Are Iran is just such a book.' Metro 'This could very well be the nearest thing to a nation writing its own history.' Scotsman 'You won't get a better glimpse of the obsessions and frustrations that exist behind the imposed cliche of the black chador; ideas and passions that thrive despite the rule of what Alavi calls the mutant IslamistsA".' Christopher Dickey, Newsweek 'An eye-opening patchwork of Iranian voices - It would be hard to read We Are Iran without sensing you had glimpsed the affairs of ordinary people living in a cruelly restrictive regime.' Rosemary Goring, Herald 'The blogs are admirably articulate, brave, heartfelt, funny and sad.' New Statesman
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
As the U.S. asks the world to consider Iran a "rogue state" and major threat, here is an urgent, surprising and unprecedented book about what it really feels like to be Iranian today.
We Are Iran is a multi-voiced portrait of contemporary Iran, translated from Farsi, using that nation's weblogs as its primary source. Iran has more web diaries than Canada--only the U.S., U.K. and Japan have more--and in cyberspace many Iranians find a freedom of speech that is not available in print. This is not the Iran of the thuggish ayatollahs but a highly educated and literate country that finds Islamist fundamentalism antiquated, where 70 percent of the population is under 30 and keen to usher in a new Iran. Their voices--infused with Persian lyricism, full of wit, anger and optimism--are utterly refreshing, and utterly at odds with the grim vision of the country peddled by Western governments. Reading We Are Iran, one has the sense that a new Iranian revolution is inevitable, and the worst thing that could possibly happen would be a U.S. attack.
We Are Iran includes over 50 photos and cartoons and countless excerpts from Iranian weblogs. Fans of Persepolis and Reading Lolita in Tehran will love it.
Inside This Book
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eloquent and Moving,
By A Customer
This review is from: We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs (Paperback)
I read this book because of my interest in blogging and communications and was not quite prepared for the wonderful journey that I took. I'm not as eloquent and moving as the bloggers or the author of this book. So I don't know how to explain but I found the whole book somewhat startling. I'm ashamed to admit that a likely reason is that perhaps on some level I consider people of the Middle East and Iranians as less civilized. I know it's shocking and it's personally shocking to even type these words. But the Iranians I found on the pages of this book were clever, funny, intelligent, courageous dignified and much much more. I also learnt about a great civilisation and a recent unimaginable history. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to listen in on the conservations of this unknown nation behind closed doors. I agree with the author that worst thing that could possibly happen to this country now is a US attack. I actually came back here to buy a copy for a friend, and I don't understand why this book cannot be delivered for 3-5 weeks, when you can get next day delivery of this book on Amazon.com.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Who are these people?,
By A Customer
This review is from: We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs (Paperback)
I'm not an ardent supporter of the present government in Iran, but I have an issue with the cover of this book and its title: "We Are Iran, Today Real Iranians." If the people who are depicted on the cover of this book are Iran, then where are the rest of the population who do not live in the tony sections of northern Tehran, do not drink cappuccino and do not look so hip? What is this book trying to say: that Iranians actually look and act like Westerners; that they are actually a "civilized" nation and what's happening in Iran has nothing to do with the "real" Iran? That ordinary, everyday women of Iran who do not sip cappuccino and dress in traditional customs are not Iran? I don't think so. Iran is much more than these people. The people on the cover belong to La-la land.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
the spirit of modern Iran,
By
This review is from: We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs (Paperback)
I bought this book following this review in Financial Times (UK) by another Iranian author Kamin Mohammadi. Having now read it I think that the reviewer was spot on about the book. As I want more people out there to buy it and find out about the reality of Iran for our youth I'll just share with you a quote from her review about the book. "The discrepancy between Iran's image in the west and the reality of the country is so great that after every visit to Iran, I am shocked on returning to London to see archive footage of protesters burning the U.S. flag and chanting women veiled in voluminous black chadors. The reality that I see in Iran is so far from this -- and the issues that the Iranian populace struggle with daily are so much more complex than these simplistic images -- that I often feel defeated by the difficulty of trying to fill in the gaps for my friends in the West__ __Nasrin Alavi's dense book, We Are Iran, addresses this gap__ what makes this book special is the voice of the bloggers, the ordinary people of Iran who get to have their say at last. And they are eloquent, educated, poetic, charming, witty and brave. In the midst of the struggles of everyday life and the dangers that speaking your mind can bring, they display a unique courage and sense of humour that tells us more about the spirit of modern Iran than countless images ever can."
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