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rachel_izabeth's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
3.0
eviereads124's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely brilliant story of an Iranian man who immigrated to Canada at a young age and subsequently settled in London, and who went to cover Iran’s presidential election in 2009, leaving behind his pregnant fiancee. Little did he know, as he kissed her good-bye, that he would spend the next three months in Iran’s most notorious prison, enduring brutal interrogation sessions at the hands of a man he knew only by his smell: Rosewater. This book shows the ridiculousness and paranoia surrounding Iran at the time (and still now) towards journalists and westerners, mistaking them for spies (thinking of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe). It has also been made into a film if you would rather watch that as the book is a hard read with a lot of history and politics.
shailydc's review against another edition
4.0
A really interesting look into Iran's history and political issues.
hesticht's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Minor: Child death
elenajohansen's review against another edition
4.0
I regret that it took me so long to read this book, as I remember when its events were current. I was a huge Daily Show fan and watched the story unfold through that lens. It was strange to go back to that time.
The book itself comes across as an honest, forthright account of Bahari's experiences surrounding his imprisonment, with a strong emphasis on family as the title suggests. The discussion of his (and others') physical torture is minimized but not ignored. The psychological torture is more present but less gruesome to read about from this safe distance.
I didn't find it quite as gripping as I expected, whether from the years' removal from the story's immediacy, or from the lack of a certain spark to the narration. I don't wish for this story to be sensationalized and I'm certainly not clamoring for lurid details, but somehow the style of this felt flatter to me than it should. Perhaps because so much of it felt like a textbook, when Bahari capably explained Iranian politics to non-Iranian me; that context was necessary for much of his ordeal to make sense, but it was relatively dry and factual compared to his own personal account.
Because I waited so long to read this, though, I saw unpleasant similarities to government behavior towards the press here in the US. Not that things have progressed that far--journalists have been beaten in the streets by police for covering this year's protests, but as far as I know, not imprisoned--but I couldn't help feeling chilled at seeing a possible future based on the current efforts to delegitimize the free press.
The book itself comes across as an honest, forthright account of Bahari's experiences surrounding his imprisonment, with a strong emphasis on family as the title suggests. The discussion of his (and others') physical torture is minimized but not ignored. The psychological torture is more present but less gruesome to read about from this safe distance.
I didn't find it quite as gripping as I expected, whether from the years' removal from the story's immediacy, or from the lack of a certain spark to the narration. I don't wish for this story to be sensationalized and I'm certainly not clamoring for lurid details, but somehow the style of this felt flatter to me than it should. Perhaps because so much of it felt like a textbook, when Bahari capably explained Iranian politics to non-Iranian me; that context was necessary for much of his ordeal to make sense, but it was relatively dry and factual compared to his own personal account.
Because I waited so long to read this, though, I saw unpleasant similarities to government behavior towards the press here in the US. Not that things have progressed that far--journalists have been beaten in the streets by police for covering this year's protests, but as far as I know, not imprisoned--but I couldn't help feeling chilled at seeing a possible future based on the current efforts to delegitimize the free press.
kristy_k's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book everyone should read. Bahari, a journalist who was raised in Iran but became a Canadian citizen and later worked in London, goes to Iran to cover the 2009 elections. There, while reporting on the post-election protests, he gets arrested and accused of being a spy. He then endures months of harsh and vicious interrogations in an Iranian prison.
Bahrari alternates between telling of his time in prison and talking about his family and upbringing in Iran during the regime change. So many of what he said was hard to fathom and grasp as it is so far removed from what we here in America have ever had to deal with. We are not tortured for voicing our opinions; we do not live in fear of a family member being taken simply because they sat alone with the opposite sex or owned a book the government deemed evil.
It is truly saddening, infuriating, and eye-opening to hear about what he, and many other Iranian citizens endure. So many of them do not agree with their government but when the alternative is imprisonment, torture, or death, what else can they do but try to live under its rule?
Bahari is able to give a voice to many of those citizens, to shine a light on the dark practices inside those Iranian prisons, and show how hard it is to break the human spirit.
Bahrari alternates between telling of his time in prison and talking about his family and upbringing in Iran during the regime change. So many of what he said was hard to fathom and grasp as it is so far removed from what we here in America have ever had to deal with. We are not tortured for voicing our opinions; we do not live in fear of a family member being taken simply because they sat alone with the opposite sex or owned a book the government deemed evil.
It is truly saddening, infuriating, and eye-opening to hear about what he, and many other Iranian citizens endure. So many of them do not agree with their government but when the alternative is imprisonment, torture, or death, what else can they do but try to live under its rule?
Bahari is able to give a voice to many of those citizens, to shine a light on the dark practices inside those Iranian prisons, and show how hard it is to break the human spirit.
dcox83's review against another edition
4.0
A powerful memoir about the author's imprisonment and torture under the Iranian government for covering the 2003 presidential election. It's hard to believe that something like this can happen in modern society, which makes it that much more important that we read it.
debi246's review against another edition
4.0
Another informative and heart-breaking look into Evin prison. This book had the perfect balance of personal memoir and historical background. It makes me wonder if, and when, we will have the opportunity to hear about personal experiences of Abu Ghraib prison.