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A review by alexblackreads
Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian
3.0
This was a really interesting look at growing up in a tumultuous time in Iran, and an interesting perspective because most of what I've read about Iran from this time has been from the perspective of Muslims. Hakakian is Jewish which changes a lot of what she personally went through. Would definitely recommend just for her own experiences and a lot of the stories of the personal relationships she had and the way the world changed them.
Her writing style was a little too flowery for me. Towards the end I started adjusting to it better, but it took a very long time. It just constantly felt like it was too much for my tastes.
I also struggled a little with how little of the revolution we as readers saw. I think had I not already read other books about Iran in the 70s and 80s, I would have been very confused by the political events. Perhaps it's because of how young Hakakian was at the time, but it was written in a very disjointed way. The book is much more about her personal life with the politics as a backdrop and catalyst for some of the events. I just wish it had felt a little more cohesive.
I would recommend this book, though. It was interesting and definitely worthwhile. I learned a lot of things from this that hadn't been present in other works and Hakakian has had such an interesting life. I just think I wanted something more or different from it.
Her writing style was a little too flowery for me. Towards the end I started adjusting to it better, but it took a very long time. It just constantly felt like it was too much for my tastes.
I also struggled a little with how little of the revolution we as readers saw. I think had I not already read other books about Iran in the 70s and 80s, I would have been very confused by the political events. Perhaps it's because of how young Hakakian was at the time, but it was written in a very disjointed way. The book is much more about her personal life with the politics as a backdrop and catalyst for some of the events. I just wish it had felt a little more cohesive.
I would recommend this book, though. It was interesting and definitely worthwhile. I learned a lot of things from this that hadn't been present in other works and Hakakian has had such an interesting life. I just think I wanted something more or different from it.