I was supposed to read Mark Twain in High School but I was too busy reading giant books on the America Civil War. Ten years later, When I stumbled into a book store in Big Sur and spotted Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, I figured I would take the plunge.
The introduction to Huck Finn — which I loved — was by Azar Nafisi, an Iranian-American teacher who fled her homeland in part because of the government's banning of books and control over her curriculum.
The Republic of Imagination is a concept that Azar used with her sister and friends to describe an intellectual haven for readers, one that was once a part of Iranian culture, but no longer allowed. The same, Azar believes, is true of America. While Iran's government bans books, Americans have simply stopped reading. The devaluing of the humanities, whether by political authoritarians or by a myopic generation of non-readers, leads to a world, the author contends, with a "crisis of vision."
Her book is as much a celebration of three American classics (which she believes encapsulates America's identity) as a call to action: pick up a book — or ten. Sooner than later. {JG}
The introduction to Huck Finn — which I loved — was by Azar Nafisi, an Iranian-American teacher who fled her homeland in part because of the government's banning of books and control over her curriculum.
The Republic of Imagination is a concept that Azar used with her sister and friends to describe an intellectual haven for readers, one that was once a part of Iranian culture, but no longer allowed. The same, Azar believes, is true of America. While Iran's government bans books, Americans have simply stopped reading. The devaluing of the humanities, whether by political authoritarians or by a myopic generation of non-readers, leads to a world, the author contends, with a "crisis of vision."
Her book is as much a celebration of three American classics (which she believes encapsulates America's identity) as a call to action: pick up a book — or ten. Sooner than later. {JG}
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