Prisoner of Tehran
May 19th, 2007 by City boy
Prisoner of Tehran is a new book that I really recommend reading. The author, Marina Nemat, was only a teenager when the Islamic Revolution took place in 1979. She was a good student from a Christian Iranian family who was brought up to speak her mind, which got her in to trouble in a new repressive society that was in the making during the revolution. Where no one was allowed to disagree with what was happening to their beloved country.
Twenty five years after her arrest by the Islamic revolutionary guards, she speaks of the horror she experienced in Evin prison during a period of time which she calls the Iranian holocaust. This 16 year old girl was taken to Evin and tortured by not much older revolutionary guards and then taken to a cell built for 6 people, which was now used as a new home for 60 people, left with no food or water. She describes how everyday they took some of the prisoners out and only a few came back..and soon it was her turn. She was taken to middle of the Evin complex in an open space with only gallows to see. This poor starved Iranian teenager was not sure if this was really happening to her..
This book is a very detailed first hand account of the horror that took place under the name of revolution. One that promoted oppression, inequality, religious dictatorship, theocracy… 190 years after the French revolution.
Great job. I had a post on this book too.
thanks for introducing the book. I did not know about it.
thanks for mentioning the book. I did not know about it.
Serendip, your inspiration blog covers everything
Frieda the author is doing a tour promoting the book I think.
I only heard her interviews, what a fictional story…
let me think… oh, ya I was in prison too. 6 f…years. guess who were the eyes & the ears of torturers (like Ali- his husband) inside the prison, ya some one like her, who decided to marry her torturer. we had some betrayers like her who had a privilege of going outside of prison, or Friday’s prayer (and propagandized the prison as a “university of Evin” & promoted the regime’s good will !!! & intension of imprisoning every one). her Ali was assassinte, because he was a torturer & he sent so many prisoners to the execution field.she better shut the hell up.
She didn’t “decide to marry..” him, she claims that she was forced to, as it was the only way out. How can you connect the crimes of man who forced her to marry him, to the woman? she clearly says she was forced to do it and she was repeatedly raped by him.
Take your personal grudge elsewhere, sister Taraneh.
Sounds like a good book. Have you read Mehdi Zand’s Exordium? Fascinating. Second volume is due out in late July…
Best regards,
Ntb
Taraneh is right City Boy, we were born and raised in Iran and know the personalities like Marina. It is not a personal grudge Taraneh has; many other inmates share her view.
I think she (Marina) clearly lies; it is her word against whole slew of other Evin prisoners. Lies of a non-fiction writer becomes top 10 best seller and eye witness account of solid individuals like Taraneh (who suffered not only the brutality of the interrogators, but betrayal of an opportunist) is a personal grudge? Now that is not fair.
You as a blogger and CBC as broadcaster should do some research and find out who Marina Nemat (aka Moradbakht) really was and what was her relationship with her parents.
A Brief Note on Samad Behrangi’s Life
Samad Behrangi was born in the city of Tabriz, Azerbaijan province. He received his early education in Tabriz and graduated from high school in 1957. After that, for eleven years, he taught in the rural districts of Azerbaijan, familiarizing villagers, especially children and youth, to books and libraries.
Behrangi’s native tongue was Azeri Turkish and, personally, preferred writing in Azeri over Farsi. He was not, however, allowed to publish in Azeri; he, therefore, made his writings available by translating them into Persian.
More than anything, Behrangi was a social critic whose major effort was concentrated on bringing about change in the educational system of the country. This is evident from the themes of his works that contrast the rich and the poor, the village and the town, and the educated and the illiterate.
He criticized both the methodology and the contents of the state-sponsored textbooks. He found the methodology to be outdated and the materials inappropriate. “‘Postal service, congratulatory notes, telephone conversation, and sitting at the table,’ although common place concepts in a western society, are alien to Iranian village children,” he said. Rather than spending precious time explaining these concepts, he normally took the pen and replaced words and phrases that were inappropriate for village children.
Behrangi believed that children should be confronted with the realities of their own lives. Furthermore, he believed that the system, which had served his generation, must be abolished even at the expense of taking arms against its supporters and promoters.
Behrangi wrote for children. “The Little Black Fish” (1968) is his most well-known work. Two of his other works were published in 1969. They are “One Peach, A Thousand Peaches” and “24 Restless Hours.” Some of his concerns regarding the Iranian system of education are outlined in an essay entitled, “Investigations into the Educational Problems of Iran.” He also published “Tales of Azerbaijan,” in two volumes. The “Tales” were translated from Azeri Turkish into Farsi. In 1968, Behrangi died in a swimming accident in a river in Azerbaijan, an accident which, generally, is understood to have been an act of the SAVAK (the Shah’s secret police).
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