Reading Lolita in Tehran

One of our two books for June 2009 was “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi.  The riots over the election results keeping President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power were happening as we read this book. The passage quoted below from the book struck me as particularly enlightening about Iranian culture.
When reading this book, I thought time and time again [...]

George Orwell is in the news again! (with Evelyn Waugh)

Some people just can’t keep out of the news.  I recently wrote in this blog about George Orwell’s new blog, which is on the blatherblog blogroll – that’s a tongue twister! 
Now Orwell is the subject of a new book along with Evelyn Waugh.  The book, The Same Man: George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh in Love and [...]

George Orwell is a Blogger!

George Orwell’s diaries are now available in blog form.  A prolific writer, Orwell wrote about everything, including everyday life, writing, and, of course, politics.  The blog posts mirror his diary entries from seventy years ago.  On Sept. 7, his political entries from 1938 begin on the blog.  We all know what terrible events were happening in Europe [...]