Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.72 You Save: $8.28 (69%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Veil of Roses
Book Review: an Unreal and unfair depiction of Iranian culture and Iranian women
Summary: 1 Stars
This is such a stereotype of Iranian culture and Iranian women. Apparently the author has not done her research right and doesn't know what she's talking about. I was in Iran 4 years ago and what she's saying is not true. Women there wear more makeup, do more plastic surgery, are more up to date with latest European fashion, date, have outside marriage sex, get divorce and are very strong and educated than most women in U.S. Not that I consider most of these as praising attributes, but this is what's happening in Iran. Also, another thing is the author has such discrepancy in her story. First she mentions Tami was in U.S. till age of two and then when she arrives to U.S. as a 27 year old woman she's looking for a husband so she can get her residency?? Wasn't she born in U.S.?? This book is irritating and is truly a fiction with no sense of reality. Book Review: The poorest understanding of Iran and Iranian women
Summary: 1 Stars
This was one of THE MOST PAINFUL BOOKS I've ever had to read. It was SO BAD that I stopped after I reached the middle mark, despite a continuing urge from page 7 to return the book.
What's so painful about this book - ***and I'm glad to hear this echoed in reviews done by those who have been to Iran*** - is that the author has the most stereotypical image of Iran and Iranian women. From the very beginning we learn that the main character of the story comes from a good and educated background, with her parents having met the first time somewhere in the U.S. while they were doing their studies. She seems to be from a middle-income class (if not higher-income) and relatively well-off. Yet (and here's the painful part) everything that she does in the book is a description of a lower-income, non-educated, very religious and rural woman, from the way she avoids eye contacts with men to the way both her and her sister get married based on practicality (how deep the husband's pocket is, U.S. citizenship, and so forth). Nothing, and I can't repeat this point often, NOTHING in this book about this women accurately reflects that of those women living in Iran with a decent education and a middle and higher income. I'm even going to say that not even those rural Iranian women with minimal education behave like this!
If inaccurate depiction of an entire nation is not enough to give someone a headache, the insensitivity of the author during such turbulent times will. Like many others, Laura Fitzgerald has taken advantage of an increased interest in the US on Iranian topics, be it politics or social issues, due the current status of US-Iran relations, and she has allowed herself - and I think she find this justified solely based on her marriage to an Iranian-American - to draw what she thinks describes the life and thoughts of an average Iranian woman both in Iran and in the US. Instead, and like a painter trying to draw the Grand Canyon without ever having seen it or a picture of it, she draws the stereo-typical image of an Iranian woman; one who is too shy to look in the eyes of men, one which has never had any meaningful relationship (even a minimal one) with the opposite sex, one who becomes a product for sale in the "marriage market" after having reached a certain age, and other false depictions. In these sensitive times, she manages to portray Iranian women in such a false sense for them to receive pity from the average Western reader, and perhaps to even dangerously urge a sense of "let's rescue those poor Iranians" as well.
I do not claim that Laura Fitzgerald's descriptions of the Persian women are completely and universally false. There are some, mostly the lower-income and uneducated rural women belonging to the previous generations, who behave exactly like Fitzgerald's understanding of Iranian women. Yet hers is not the story of those women, but an educated one, a Western one, and a middle-high income one. Whether she did it based on poor knowledge and information or lied her way through for because she's an opportunistic individual, it makes no difference: THIS BOOK IS NOT EVEN WORTH A DIME, and the worst thing I've ever spend my money on. The fact that those who have actually traveled to Iran and know how the average Iranian family and woman live their lives have given negative reviews of this book is only a confirmation of everything that I have said so far in this review.
Book Review: "little freedoms" through Literature
Summary: 5 Stars
Best book I have read in a LONG TIME!!!
If you are looking for a truly moving book that is still classified as Chick Lit, this is a GREAT READ! I was moved to tears and laughter in this absolutely fabulous debut book by Laura Fitzgerald! I read it in two days and that is super fast for me.
It is about a woman named Tamaila Soroush, who lives in Iran. She gets a chance to move to American and she discovers the "little freedoms" of our life that we take for granted as Americans. I never traveled in someone esle's shoes quite so well. We get to see her struggle between family tradition/heritage and a way of life where a woman has a choice to do and say as she pleases.
This novel will truly touch your heart and will keep you turning pages as Tami fights the days she has left until she may be deported from the wonderful world she had grown to love in the short amount of time she spent in America.
READ IT...YOU'LL LOVE IT!
Book Review: Charming
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a truly delightful book that I read in 2 days. There were many funny, laugh out loud moments when 27 yr old Tami is brand new to Tucson and is finding her way around and meeting new people. The cultural differences are fascinating and gave me new insight. A really quick, fun read. Highly recommend.Book Review: Really Delightful!
Summary: 5 Stars
Tamila's parents have sent her to the U.S. to stay with her sister and husband on a 3-month visit in hope of their finding her a suitable Iranian-American husband so that she can stay in the U.S. and escape the utter repression of women in Iran. They once lived in the U.S. as college students, have fond memories of it, and are no longer allowed to go back themselves so are gifting it their daughter in their stead. Tamila, not fond of the concept of marriage otherwise, finds it a small price to pay for the almost unbelievable freedom and opportunity she sees in the U.S. She tries to go along with her pushy but loving sister's attempts to find her a quick husband. Meanwhile, however, she falls in love with an American and tries to ignore her feelings. After all, Americans only marry for love and then only after long courtships she's heard, so there's no way a relationship with him is anything but doomed. The trouble is, he's terribly hard to resist... I loved this story! Also, having once been the American girl trying to fit into Iranian society, it was rather fun for me to see things from the perspective of an Iranian girl trying to fit into American society.