Rat’s Reading

By no means am I an expert on Iran. Even though my knowledge of the country and its politics since the 1979 revolution is limited, I can’t say I learned a whole lot from this memoir. And Ms. Nemat’s writing style is fairly dry and devoid of emotional affectation. Sometimes that’ good and helps a work avoid the maudlin. And in this case, it meant I never had a solid emotional reaction to the horrors Ms. Nemat endured. More clinical I guess. (…)