Marina Nemat

Namešteno hapšenje. Iznudeni brak. Bekstvo u novi život. Prica o izgubljenom detinjstvu, detaljan i uverljiv portret Irana uzburkanog revolucijom, dirljiva pripovest o ženi koja se bori za život i slobodu. „Dva naoružana cuvara revolucije, s bradama i u tamnozelenim vojnickim uniformama, stajala su u dovratku. Jedan od njih je uperio pušku u mene. Osetila sam se kao da izlazim iz vlastitog tela, i da gledam film... Majka se tresla, lice joj je potpuno pobledelo. Otac je zurio u mene. Suze su mu se slivale niz lice. Nisam ga videla da place još otkako je baka umrla. – Kuda je vodite? – pitala je moja majka. – U Evin – odgovorili su. Evin je bio tamnica za politicke zatvorenike još iz vremena šahove vladavine. Vec je i samo to ime uterivalo strah u svacije srce: ono je znacilo torturu i smrt. Njegove brojne zgrade rasute su na velikoj površini severno od Teherana. Ljudi nikad nisu govorili o Evinu; obavijala ga je užasnuta cutnja.“ Zarobljeni snovi „Poput uzbudljivih pripovesti iz Hiljadu i jedne noci, ova je knjiga prica o Marini Nemat – njenoj istinskoj i nesumnjivoj hrabrosti, njenoj neustrašivoj mudrosti, njenoj borbi da sacuva svoj ljudski integritet... Napisana umešnom spisateljskom rukom, ova knjiga je portret, mada previše stvaran, jednog sveta u kome je život žene jeftin. Ali ne i ove žene...“ Džeklin Micard, autorka knjiga The Deep End of The Ocean i Cage of Stars „Ovo je izuzetno snažna knjiga... Prikazuje represiju koju sprovode ljudi srednjovekovnih nazora, i opisuje užas života u zatvoru u kome se nedužni rutinski i hladnokrvno muce i ubijaju. Autorka Marina Nemat govori s hrabrošcu i moralnim autoritetom nekoga ko je preživeo pokolj.“ Ken Makgugan, autor knjige Lady Franklin’s Revenge… (mais)

I truly don't know what to think about this book. I'm in a strange place, because I actually met the author and heard her speak, and what she said was bold, impassioned and horrifying. She spoke well and seemed extremely genuine.

In fact, that's the reason I picked up the book.

Then, I read the book. And I'm not sure if it was the narrative voice she used, the way she phrased things, but overall, I found the book...well, to be honest, I found it a touch self-serving. In several different instances, she relates conversations where others told her she was brave, she was tough, she was beautiful. Maybe they happened, who am I to say they didn't, but even still, it seems a little conceited to toss them all in the story.

Spoilers:

And then there's the story. To be honest, if this had been presented as fiction, I would have hated it and torn into it for being far too coincidental. Why? She's imprisoned in a cruel place, but one of the overseers seems to take a shine to her. She's about to die and, with seconds left, she's spared due to this same person's impassioned pleas to the Imam. She's forced to marry the man, and, though he forcibly rapes her, she feels...not love, but at least something for him. She ingratiates herself into his family by relating a dream to her barren sister-in-law who, using a Christian prayer in an Islamic home, finds herself pregnant. Then,just when her husband manages to set things in motion to get her freed, she gets a full reset: he's killed and she loses his baby. Her murdered husband's family carries out his dying wish and gets her released. Her one true love waits for her and marries her, even though that's a crime punishable by death.

End of spoilers.

Again, maybe it all happened, who am I to say it didn't? But it's remarkably neat, isn't it?

Like I said, I don't know what to think about this book.
… (mais)

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12549014

I find memoirs by people from other countries interesting, as a rule. I especially like it when I can read two or three books about the same approximate time period from different perspectives, as it gives me a more rounded feeling for the country and the time. So this book interested me. I had read Reading Lolita in Tehran, which took place not long after the main events in this story. Both illuminate what Iran was like in the early days of the Islamic Republic of Iran (the country is still Islamic).

Marina Nemat was arrested at age 16 for activities against the state. She was in high school at the time, opposed to the new Islamic state and vocal about her objections. She was in the infamous Evin prison in Tehran for over two years.

Her story reads like a novel. Early on, she is rescued from the firing squad seconds before she would have been dead. Later, her rescuer, an interrogator at the prison, wants her to marry him, threatening harm to her family if she does not. He is assassinated, but lives long enough to ask his family to bring Marina back to her family.

I am not the only one who is skeptical about the details of this story. Several persons who were in Evin Prison around the same time have even written letters to the book publisher, saying she is not telling the whole story and is making some things up. For example, they say that anyone who would be permitted to marry an interrogator would have to be an informant. And they say the rescue from execution is simply not believable.

I would love to hear corroboration from some of the persons who were there, most particularly the family of the interrogator she married. Other prisoners who were in the same rooms with her might also be able to confirm some facts. I have not found this kind of information online, but I'm not saying it isn't there.

I found it a highly readable book with a lot of details about the regime and the prison. Worth reading, but with some skepticism.… (mais)

Autobiografische roman van een Iraanse jonge vrouw die in de Evingevangenis terechtkomt. Daar wordt ze gemarteld en bijna wordt ze geëxecuteerd. Maar de gevangenbewaarder is verliefd op haar geworden en redt haar op het nippertje. Om haar eigen leven en dat van haar familie te redden wordt ze gedwongen om met hem te trouwen en zich te bekeren tot de islam. Ze wordt op zich liefdevol opgevangen door de familie van haar echtgenoot. En hoewel ze dus eigenlijk gewoon gevangene blijft beseft ze dat haar man niet alleen maar slecht is, maar ook goede eigenschappen heeft.
Ik vind het moeilijk om een waardering toe te kennen aan dit boek; het verhaal is immers waargebeurd en hoe kun je daar een waardering aan hangen? Laat ik zeggen dat ik denk dat als deze schrijfster een fictieroman zou schrijven haar stijl mij hoogstwaarschijnlijk niet zou aanspreken....… (mais)