Feb 26 2009
Thoughts on Being American and the book I am currently reading
I am proud to be an American and in my heart of hearts I know that America is a wonderful place. No matter what other countries think of us, there are still millions of people clamoring to get here and even risking their lives to do so. Therefore, America must be a pretty darn good place otherwise why wouldn’t all these people go somewhere else. I am not political and I do not know the answers to the simmering questions like illegal immigration or foreign policy nor do I even attempt to pretend that I do but I do know that I am grateful to have been born in America. So far in my 47 years of life there have been no civil wars, no ethnic cleansings, no mustard gas spewed out over my neighborhood. We all know that these things happen though, in other places…but, thankfully, they have not happened here. Okay, okay…so I am getting a little sappy but this book I am reading brings to mind the things I have mentioned here. It is called Things I’ve Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi.
Azar Nafisi was born and raised in Iran and this book is about her personal memories as they relate to her parents and her life caught in the middle between them. A rock and a hard place you could say. But even though it is not solely about Iran or government or politics when you read this book you will quickly see how much those things are enmeshed with every day life there. As I read this book it occurs to me that being Iranian and being political can not possibly be separated. I, of course, have never been to Iran but I was amazed, shocked, saddened and enchanted with the author’s descriptions of her country, her family and her life.
Being an American I can not possibly know what it is like to come from a place so steeped in history and tradition but neither do I know what it is like to live in a city that is being bombed, or to have my basic human rights taken away simply because I am a woman, or beaten and stoned because my hair was not covered properly.
At any rate I will stop rambling now just wanted to introduce you all to this book.
Also if you would like to learn more about Iran check out the following link.
