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Then They Came For Me: A Family's Story Of Love, Captivity, And Survival (2011)

by Maziar Bahari(Favorite Author)

4.18 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1400069467 (ISBN13: 9781400069460)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Random House

review 1: This book was definitely better than the movie. The narration of the audiobook was odd, and sometimes I felt like the structure wasn't what I was expecting, but overall, I thought the book did an excellent job of showing the absurdness of the situation Bahari found himself in, the contrast between popular sentiment and the election results, and the arbitrary way in which he was freed after a few months and allowed to leave the country, while others were jailed for much longer, or not permitted to leave the country afterwards. I think that the book gave me a much more vivid sense of the physical violence, emotional torment and absurdity that he faced in prison, especially in light of his family history of being imprisoned for political activity. He portrayed his father a... morend sister--other members of his family who had been jailed, for their participation in tudeh (communist) party--as borderline reckless, totally willing to become martyrs, who turned to communism because it was their only way to express their disapproval of, in his father's case, the reign of the Shah, and in his sister's case, the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The movie never mentioned this, but though Bahari was arrested after the 2009 elections, his arrest (and several others) were actually planned over a year in advance as part of a media campaign to discredit the civil unrest in light of an obviously rigged election. Additionally, I thought it was actually very moving to learn about all the different ways that Newsweek and his fiancee worked to intervene on his behalf, especially relevant because he was definitely released because Ahmadinejad was annoyed after getting questions about him at the UN. By contrast, the American hikers arrested on the Iran-Iraq border--one of whom Bahari talks about overhearing asking to go to the bathroom and being denied because the guard didn't speak English and the hiker didn't speak Farsi--were in captivity for over two years. My one qualm with the book was taht I felt like the end, where he provided an outline for different paths Iran might take, was slightly more cut-and-dried than I see the situation, but that might also be the limits of using a book chapter for that, rather than a whole book. Additionally, I expect he wrote this book for a largely western audience, so I was surprised at what felt like a more limited discussion of what, if anything, the west should be doing or thinking about (though his discussion of better targeted sanctions was, in my opinion, absolutely the best way to structure sanctions).
review 2: Bahari's memoir about his experience inside Evin prison is captivating from start to finish, with more accuracy than anything you'll read on American news stations. His story makes you appreciate having "everyday freedoms" that so many people in this world are without. He provides an in-depth look into the political history of Iran with culturally rich details about it's people. Haivng many Iranian friends, I was bursting with pride as I learned how the citizens of Iran stood together to fight for change, while never forgetting their moral values. As you read this, it might surprise you to learn how similar the Iranian culture is to our own. Family is sacred in Iran; as is peace, education, and respect for elders. Iranian citizens embrace acceptance of different cultures, but they're often caught in the middle of a complicated government. A thought-provoking memoir, I highly recommend this book to everybody. less

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