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    The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books
    Unavailable
    The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books
    Unavailable
    The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books

    Written by Azar Nafisi

    Narrated by Mozhan Marno

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Ten years ago, Azar Nafisi electrified readers with her multimillion-copy bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, which told the story of how, against the backdrop of morality squads and executions, she taught The Great Gatsby and other classics of English and American literature to her eager students in Iran. In this electrifying follow-up, she argues that fiction is just as threatened-and just as invaluable-in America today.

    Blending memoir and polemic with close readings of her favorite novels, she describes the unexpected journey that led her to become an American citizen after first dreaming of America as a young girl in Tehran and coming to know the country through its fiction. She urges us to rediscover the America of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and challenges us to be truer to the words and spirit of the Founding Fathers, who understood that their democratic experiment would never thrive or survive unless they could foster a democratic imagination. Nafisi invites committed readers everywhere to join her as citizens of what she calls the Republic of Imagination, a country with no borders and few restrictions, where the only passport to entry is a free mind and a willingness to dream.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 21, 2014
    ISBN9780698179882
    Unavailable
    The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books
    Author

    Azar Nafisi

    AZAR NAFISI is the author of the multi-award-winning New York Times bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, as well as Things I’ve Been Silent About, The Republic of Imagination, and That Other World. Formerly a Fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute, she has taught at Oxford and several universities in Tehran. She lives in Washington, D.C.

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    Reviews for The Republic of Imagination

    3.5/5

    54 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This was a Goodreads First Reads giveaway as well as an advanced uncorrected proof. Reading Lolita in Tehran has been on my to-read list for a while, so when I saw The Republic of Imagination on the giveaway list I figured it would be worth entering. And I'm so glad I did!Nafisi uses her love of literature and experiences in Tehran and America to define what she considers the quintessential American experience through three novels: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, and The Heart is A Lonely Heart by Carson McCullers. Part memoir, part literary critique; Nafisi tries to show that fiction will always have something to teach us.I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Long live the Republic of Imagination!
    • 2/5
      Described by the publisher as "[a] passionate hymn to the power of fiction to change people's lives," Azar Nafisi's The Republic of the Imagination sounded like it would be just up my alley. Unfortunately, I did not pay sufficient attention to the warning that Nafisi would be "blending" her "close readings" of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Babbitt, and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter with "memoir and polemic." Far from a "blending," The Republic of the Imagination is a disconnected hodge-podge which I had to force myself to finish. I usually read a book in a couple of days; in this case, however, I started at the beginning of December but got so bogged down within the first 20% (after three days) that I abandoned it until late March, taking another three days to finish a not particularly long 352 pages.When Nafisi focused on the three American novels she selected, she had some insightful observations, which earned her two stars. The interpolation of memoir, however, was so fragmented and distracting that I actually was several chapters into the Twain section before I realized I had left the introduction. I could have done without Nafisi's tirades against American consumerism and the Common Core entirely.Nafisi's editor apparently rejected her plan to include a section on James Baldwin; she states that in September, 2013, she was "thinking of what [she] had taken to calling '[her] Baldwin chapter,'" to which "[her] editor would only say, 'Let's see.'" Accordingly, Nafisi disingenuously concludes The Republic of the Imagination with an "epilogue" which is not an epilogue in the true sense of a comment on or conclusion to the preceding work; it is, in fact, an independent discussion of Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain with some superficial comparisons to Twain thrown in for show. Strangely, despite my irritation at being introduced to a new work in the purported epilogue, I found Nafisi's discussion of Baldwin in the context of America's current hysteria over race relations and trigger warnings to be the most interesting and thought-provoking section of the book. I only wish the previous sections had been as relevant to Nafisi's stated purpose of exploring "America in Three Books."I received a free copy of The Republic of the Imagination: America in Three Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      Nafisi considers America through the lens of Huckleberry Finn, Babbitt, and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. As she did in Reading Lolita, personal stories are woven with literary criticism. Made me want to do some re-reading of these important books.
    • 1/5
      I am frankly disappointed in this book. I loved Reading Lolita in Tehran, and was put off by the preachiness in this book. For the record, I agree that our education system needs fixing and the humanities are dying, but I am not the person Nafisi needs to convince. I am the choir she's preaching to--stop telling me what Common Core is, and tell me how to work around it in my classroom, for Pete's sake!!!

      On a petty note: does she not read books past 1960? I can think of so many contemporary examples that are critiquing the things she's critiquing...and doing a damnfine job of it. DeLillo's White Noise, just as a starting point.

      In short: my hopes were high and crushed by polemics.
    • 4/5
      Every bookworm and in particular, high school literature teachers should read this book about the importance of books in a democracy. I'm just read this book, in the age of Trump, when facts and reading don't count. So sad. Nafisi has hit the nail on the head, and this book made as much of an impact on me as her _Reading Lolita in Tehran.
    • 4/5
      As a person who has been privileged to live a blessed life in The United States of America, I was looking forward to reading the author’s book, ‘The Republic of Imagination’. I was anxious to see the viewpoints of a person that had lived in a country riddled with tension and war. The book did not disappoint in some aspects on her struggles in Tehran, but it was not entirely what I was expecting. The book is a combination of both biographical writings and essay writings. On one hand the first half of the book is a fascinating contrast and comparison of her life and struggles versus the characters in Mark Twain’s story ,’Huck Finn’. The author gives a passionate argument on the true meaning of Twain’s story and how it can represent the America today. She reminds the readers that in other countries people are dying for simple rights such as reading and writing. In the United States of America there is a gradual decline in the standard of education and the love of literature. People are no longer reading classics such as ,’Huck Finn’, ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’, ‘Tom Sawyer’, and ‘The Lord of the Flies’. There seems to be a dumbing down in America, which is tragic in a way. Those that have fled totalitarianism societies have begun to see similar symptoms of corruption in their newly established home. The second half of the book is more essay like and covers works by Babbitt and Carson. I found the author focusing more on political issues such as Obama and making statements that really had nothing to do with the subject at hand. I found it reduced the quality of her work when she insulted republicans or made off hand remarks on certain politicians. I was confused by her support for the common core program, yet I found it fascinating that she berated the founder when he degraded the English area of common core. Education is now more focused on mathematics and science and the author seems disappointed that there is a loss of focus on the liberal arts. This part of the book was very difficult for me to read. Logically I had a hard time with it due my own belief systems. I did stick it out and I have a huge amount of respect for this author, but I am now hoping that the author has come to understand that common core is a failed system that was enacted by a failed president. This book is well written and this author is very intelligent. I am happy that she is here in this country and this book demonstrates the deep respect that the writer has for it. I highly recommend this book and I must thank both the author and good reads for sending this book to me in a giveaway. It was much appreciated
    • 4/5
      Blending memories of her life and friends in the United States with the literary works of Mark Twain, Sinclair Lewis, and Carson McCullers, Nafisi looks at her adopted homeland through the lens of three books: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Babbitt, and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Part memoir and part literary criticism, professor Nafisi passionately defends the importance of fiction as a vital civilizing ingredient in human life. “The crisis besetting America is not just an economic or political crisis is wreaking havoc across the land, a mercenary and utilitarian attitude that demonstrates little empathy for people’s actual well-being that dismisses imagination and thought, branding passion for knowledge as irrelevant.”
    • 5/5
      Part memoir, part literary critique, and part imagination, Azar Nafisi’s third book, The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books is exquisitely written and Nafisi’s comparison between the three main books she has chosen to examine American literature and imagination is masterfully done. The first section references Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin; the second part examines Sinclair Lewis’ Babbitt, whereas the third delves into the world of Carson McCullers’ The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. In each section Nafisi draws parallels and contradictions between the characters and the behaviors of Americans, for better or worse. Nafisi is a passionate writer, I have immensely enjoyed her previous two books and while The Republic of Imagination appears at first to deviate slightly from her other two books, Nafisi does indeed discuss why she has written this book, the importance of literature, and particularly why she focuses on these three main works of literature. I highly recommend The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books, especially to book discussion groups.