Customer Reviews

Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read several personal-point-of-view books about Iran recently, and I have a lot of respect for this one. I rate it as an honest book because Ms. Bird is very clear about her personal standards, background and feelings and where they come from. She doesn't pretend to be objective; she's giving one person's perspective. In particular, she includes her own reactions even when she knows that readers will find them unsympathetic. How much more can you ask?

I enjoyed reading it very much, and I think many others will find it an interesting view of an interesting country

I am Persian and I found this book to be very informative, although it's not an easy read. It could use a considerable amount of editing and I found a lot of the things she said to be somewhat inaccurate. Other times it's as if it goes on rambling. She mentions over and over again how little farsi she knows and how the Iranians know even less english, so I found that while writing her conversations, she probably had to improvise a lot and I wonder if she really understood what people were trying to tell her. Overall, it's not a bad book. I did learn some more stuff about my own culture, but I think her frame of mind is still very "American"- you know what I mean. She wrote several times about how frustrated and irritated she would get with some of the culture clashes there, but if you are going to do something like this, you just have to accept things the way they are- thus not becoming frustrated or irritated. I was surprised that she travelled alone for parts of it. I'm Iranian, and even I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that.
I would recommend Terrence Ward's Searching for Hassan before this.

One of my favorite books, I would love to follow the authors footsteps in Iran...very interesting view of Iran from a western woman's point of view. kudos Miss Bird!

I am facinated with Iran, and am reading everything that I can get my hands on. I first read Honeymoon in Purdah, and enjoyed that much more. This account is still interesting, but I find lacks the flavour of other novels I have read on travel to Iran. That being said, the novel is interesting, an offers a glimpse of Iranian life that I had not seen before, proof that everyone's experience of a country is unique. Chrisitane offers a unique and revealing view of Iran, both modern and ancient. She encounters many wonderful, colourful characters along the way, and has many different experiences. Excellent reading.

In some ways this might be described as a middle class travel guide to Iran. I say this because of the obvious differance between this book and one endorsed on the review page earlier called Honeymoon in Purdah (please see my review of that book) which to me was a more informal expedition/book. I feel in some ways Ms. Bird got a more realistic impression of Iran and Iranians, though I can't really fault either author. These are a very complex people whom I felt after 3 1/2 years of intimate association with them that I knew a LITTLE bit about, so am impressed that these two women learned so much about them in so little time. This book is very well researched and written and is a good source to learn about Iranian history, culture and it's people. I was very gratified to learn that Amrikayeh is not a univeral swear word in Iran, reading these books makes me want to go back.

I was surprised how much the author talked about
her "blondness", or "tallness" and how afraid
she was of her "blond hair" showing from the sides
of her head covering. It makes you think these
Persians must be such awful people they are going
to harm her because of blond hair peeking through
her chador. Of course that was not the case rather
it was the author who was fixated on her
own "blond" hair. Ms Bird also kept talking
about her "Western face" which made me wonder
what an Eastern face is. Persians are Aryans
(Iran meaning Aryan) and though darker than
Americans they are Caucasians. I felt she was too hung
up on whatever physical differences there were
and this did not allow
her to get close to her subjects or to her reader.
Persian Mirrors author Elaine made the same
mistake and kept talking about the chador throughout
her book (thank God she wasn't blond!!) which makes these
books on IRAN written by American women have a very narrow

focus.

I picked this up off the shelf because I am fascinated by Iran and I was looking for something beyond the traditional travel guide. What a worthy investment! Like Elaine Sciolino's Persian Mirrors, this book really illustrates the complexity of contemporary Iranian culture and makes us appreciate the beauty of its people and landscape. Ms. Bird also does an excellent job of explaining some of the history and cultural mores that many people do not understand about Iran. Even if you're not interested in Iranian society so much, pick this up as a lover of travelogues, and you won't be sorry!

"I went to Iran to flirt with my childhood. I went to Iran to court the unknown. I went to Iran to see the effects of the Islamic Revolution for myself." Thus, begins Christiane Bird's engrossing journey through today's Iran. As Bird notes, "Pre-or post-Islamic revoution Iran has always been a cipher to the West." Indeed, much of what Americans know about Iran is from the political headlines of the 1980s and the dour picture that emerged from them. In this very readable book, Bird demystifies this fascinating country. Bird, who spent some of her early childhood in Iran in the 1960s, returned to view this politically changed land through adult eyes. She walks us through the streets filled with shrouded women, through bazaars where merchants wield financial and political power, through religious shrines teeming with pilgrims, and through cities and small villages where we glimpse the everyday lives of Iranian families. As she travels around this complex country, we learn about how Iranians have adapted to some of the more restrictive changes brought about by the revolution. For example, we learn how they cope with and often circumvent the "Big Brother" watchfulness of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance which monitors the media, tourism, education, and just about all aspects of Iranian life. As Bird points out, "Every Iranian lives in two worlds--the public and the private. The public is for wearing dark colors, obeying the laws of Islamic society and generally presenting a serious and pious face to the world. The private is for wearing bright colors, laughing and socializing with family and friends, and quiet contemplation and prayer." It's interesting to note that the private, particularly in middle and upper class families in large cities, sometimes includes watching banned TV shows, wearing miniskirts, drinking alcohol and even criticizing the government. Along the way, Bird introduces us to the variety of Iranians--shopkeepers, housewives, university students, ayatollahs, religious pilgrims, bathhouse keepers. As she explores the historical, political and cultural landscape, she paints vivid pictures--a congested downtown Mashad, the "gray, worn town" of Sanandaj, a colorful wedding in a Kurdish village, the religious center of Qom. Neither East Nor West offers insightful glimpses into Iran, well beyond the stereotypes we've all been accustomed to think in. It's a great read for the traveler, the armchair traveler, and anyone who is interested in this part of the world.

I loved this book on Iran. It was like going on a leisurely trip to a fascinating place with the best of travel companions. Christiane Bird is a thoughtful, witty, extremely well-informed writer who filled in exactly what I wanted to know of the backstory for every event of the trip: the history and politics, the philosophy, the poetry and architecture. She notices and muses about the nuances and diversity of Iranian culture in a way that made me feel smarter and more perceptive just for having read her book (as if her intelligence and human warmth could be contagious!) She gets my vote for "Author I'd most like to have dinner with".

Ms Bird's easy style of writing combined with her warm personal touch made the book extremely enjoyable. This is as close as one can get to travelling to Iran. I have not visited Iran in 24+ years and always wondered about the country after all these years. Her approach was very unique and most preferrable to all the more indepth and political books.

She convinced me that it is worth travelling to Iran and visiting it again. I had completely given up on the country after all these years of "one-sided" press coverages.

Thank you for sharing with all of us your great trip.