The Globe book club asks: What are you reading this summer?
What will you take the beach? To the cottage? What's been your ultimate summer read? Chat with The Globe's Book Club on best picks for good reads
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Tough to make a choice from this smorgasbord of titles, but I’m going to opt for The Sense of an Ending. After the great discussion we had about Half-Blood Blues – highlighted by the virtual visit of author Esi Edugyan – I think there might be some parallels with Barnes’s book, albeit in an entirely different setting.
Next time I will definitely vote for non-fiction, though, as I’m curious to see what kind of conversation that would be! -
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Having already voted for The Sense of an Ending, I’d love to support some of the other great choices too … but unfortunately “vote early, vote often” isn’t an option in our modern democracies!
I think it’s exciting that this is turning into a real horse race between fiction and non-fiction. Whichever wins, I hope we can consider the runner(s)-up for future discussions. -
This is turning into an exciting race to choose the second book.
Yesterday The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat were neck and neck. Barnes pulled ahead overnight with 29 per cent of the vote, followed by Nemat with 25 per cent and The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje at 10 per cent.
It is true that you can only vote once, as Pollyanna lamented, but there is still time to spread the word for your favourite book. There are seven more titles on the list that would make for great reading and great discussing. -
I vote for Prisoner of Tehran because of its continuing relevance. It is much much more than a good read - which it is. It is the horrible reality of thousands upon thousands of people today, including Hamid Ghassemi-Shall or Toronto, who went visiting his brother in Iran in 2008 and was arrested, seemingly to "get at" his brother, and who is on death row right now. The author, Marina Nemat, has been tirelessly supporting this man's wife in Toronto and organizations like Amnesty International.
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Yes Judy, we’re all keen to learn which book has made it into the final round. Of all the excellent choices presented, though, I think any one would be appropriate for our on-line book club discussion. The next step is to embrace the "winner" -- whichever it is -- and engage in a really great discussion. Looking forward to that!
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Good choice! I voted for Sense of an Ending, because I wanted another reason to read a book I haven't already read. I read P of T a couple of years ago and have had the privilege of meeting and talking with Marina a couple of times. I wonder if Anne France Goldwater will be following this discussion? I double dog dare her!
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@John The discussion starts here on Monday at 2pm with an online discussion with Canada’s former ambassador to Iran. Details have been posted at www.theglobeandmail.com
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Yes, Anne-France Goldwater will be at least following the discussion, peachyteachy. That comes from a VERY reliable source. Whether she'll jump in or not, let's wait and see. This might be a good time to remind all literature fans that this is supposed to be a literary discussion, not a flaming site or a love-in. Here we will have no Jian Gomeshi slapping his hand on a bell because the discussion has to fit into a 45 minute radio show. This means there will be REAL room for dialogue and expressing opposing points of view - hopefully with respect and thoughtfulness. Thanks Sandra. I am looking forward to it.
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How effective do you expect sanctions to be against Iran? What is the precise objective? What would be the exact internal politial process inside Iran that would lead to the West's desired result? What is the West's real objective? To what extent can Iran circumvent sanctions via Russia or China?
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Sanctions are creating increasing economic pressure on Iran and must be having some effect on its leaders. That said, sanctions are a blunt instrument and do not have a good track record of forcing rapid
change on other countries which have been sanctioned in the past. I think a sanctions policy will have to be combined with active diplomacy to convince Iran that its best course is to clearly renounce nuclear weapons and rejoin the international community. -
Hi everybody. Welcome to the book club discussion of Marina Nemat's Prisoner of Tehran. I'm very glad to introduce John Mundy, former Canadian Ambassador to Iran. He is answering our questions for the next 45 minutes.
Hi John, Welcome to the book club.
Let me start by asking you this:
The recent history of Iran is so turbulent. Has it always been that way? -
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Iran has had a very turbulent history during the past century. As the old Qajar dynasty decayed, Imperial Russia and Great Britain moved into the power vacuum and began dismembering the Persian empire. During the second world war the country was occupied by both powers and afterwards suffered a coup when nationalist leaders tried to nationalize its oil resources which had been developed by the British. There was relative stability under the Shah during the 1960s and 1970s but the pace of modernization and the level of repression by the Sha againist his political opponents led to the 1978 revolution.
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The revolution was led by conservative Shia clerics but they alone did not have enough power to overthrow the Shah. Clerics were joined by traditional merchants from the Iranian Bazaars, the urban poor who had moved off the land during the Shah's land reforms and, most crucially, urban intellectuals and students who had become disenchanted by the Shah's luxurious lifestyle and political repression.
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Prisoner of Tehran bridges two very distinct era and leaders in Iran--the pro-Western regime of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Can we talk first about life under the Shah as Nemat describes it? How democratic was life under the Shah?
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The Shah tried to modernize the economy and society of Iran but maintained strict political control. He undertook land reform and industrialized the economy using oil revenues. This benefited secular society but alienated conservative groups. When the later began to organize and push back the Shah increasingly resorted to political repression to maintain control. He created a a state security service known as SAVAK which was responsible for many human rights violations and set the stage for the revolution.
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Its not that useful to grade repression. When I was living in Iran in 2007 there did not seem to be any evidence of nostalgia for the Shah. The Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini were extraordinarily popular when the Revolution began. But as a full-fledged theocratic state was created many groups that hoped for a freer and more just society were disappointed. There was extensive suppression of all groups who dared to criticize clerics and particularly in 1988 many thousands of poliitical prisoners were executed. Today, I think most Iranians are tired of the revolution and their clerical leaders The educated urban middle class revolted en masse in 2009 after fraudulent Presidential elections and the regime had to use a massive show of force to maintain power.
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Prisoner of Tehran book club opens with John Mundy discussion today at 2 p.m. ET
The online Book Club is back.
Readers chose the book Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat. We’ve had two weeks to read and think about it. Discussion starts on Monday with a special guest.
I’ve invited John Mundy, an expert on the modern history and culture of Iran, to help us explore the background to Nemat’s bestselling and controversial memoir.
Mundy, Canada’s former Ambassador to Iran, will take your questions on the book club blog beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Monday March 5.
A senior diplomat, Mundy was in Iran during a very troubled time in Canada’s relations with that country. After his appointment in 2007, he travelled throughout the country, meeting Iranian people from all walks of life. At the end of that year, when attempts to agree upon a reciprocal exchange of ambassadors between Iran and Canada failed, he was expelled by President Ahmadinejad. Diplomatic relations between our two countries were down-graded.
Mundy worked for the Federal Public Service for more than 30 years. Before retiring in 2008, he held senior diplomatic appointments in Trinidad and Tobago, Iran and Australia. A frequent commentator in The Globe and Mail and other media outlets, Mundy is writing a book about his experiences in Iran.
In addition to reading Nemat’s memoir, Mundy suggests seeing the film A Separation for a look at how the contemporary legal system affects ordinary people’s lives in Iran. The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards last Sunday.
Here are links to commentaries by John Mundy, a review of A Separation and earlier stories about Marina Nemat.
Tone down the rhetoric on Iran
A Separation: A criminal investigation in which nothing is clear
Marina Nemat on Canada Reads controversy: ‘I live to testify’
Canada Reads caught in fact-fiction divide
Canada Reads judge accuses authors of terrorism, lying on popular CBC contest
After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed, by Marina Nemat
Happy reading and watching. I’m looking forward to our conversation on Monday. -
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What went wrong with the revolution? Good question. Fundamentally I think the revolution concentrated power in only one major group in Iranian society, conservative clerics, who appropriated most of the Shah's wealth and did not hesitate to use force and repression to maintain control. This group has tried several times in the last decades to reform itself but the leadership of the country has decided that reform is too dangerous and they are now willing to crush virtually any form of dissent, even if it originates from within the revolutionary elite itself . The leaders of the the Iranian Green movement who are either in prison or under house arrest all have impeccable revolutinary credentials and yet they are not allowed to have any influence
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