I have read Secondhand Bookseller by Marina Nemat. Starting with the mini-biography of Marina,
reading about how she was arrested at sixteen for speaking out in a science
class. Hearing that at the very
beginning I was hoping the story would be about that. While it wasn’t I was still very impressed
with the story. To me her details made
me feel like I was standing with her in the bookstore, or in her friends’
backyard. One problem I had with the story
was when Albert had handed her the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The problem I had with it was when Albert had
told her that it was the first book in the series. That isn’t true. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is
technically the second book in the series.
One thing I wish they
would have explained more is why would she prefer to stay out of her mothers’
way? Reading through it, her mother didn’t
seem all that bad, I feel that if she had a reason to mention that she avoided
her mother, she could have explained a little more. The first time I read about her lying to her
mom about not feeling well, right when she switched to talking about her dad
and grandma, I was slightly confused because the ways she transitioned from one
grandparent to the next. I also wonder
if she ever considered how angry her mother might be for selling her school
supplies to her friends.
What I thought about the story was it was hard to read about a 14 year old girl that had to be at the Evin Prison just because she wanted to express her opionion about something in school. The humiliation and the tremendous pain that she had to endure while she was their and than to be almost tortured and nearly executed. I thought it was very amazing to read that she won an Award for the first Human Dignity Prize by the European Parliament and the Cultural Association.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing how you knew that the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was technically the second book in the series. I agree with you about the part where she stays away from her mother. They should of included a little bit more about why she was doing this. I agree with you on the part about how the story goes into so much detail that you can vividly picture Sarah's house and the surroundings around it, and you can almost smell the fragerance of the food that is in the air and how in the bookstore you can picture all the bookshelves piled high to the ceiling and looking like a dark tunnel.
The part where it switched from her lying to her mother about not feeling well than her dad and grandma was slightly confusing. I had to reread it again to try to get the feel on why they did this. I dont really think Nemat took it into any consideration about what her mother would think if she sold her school supplies because they never spoke to each other anyways so she probally wont find out. All Nemat wanted to do was find a way to get books to read because this was her way of escaping the bad memories of what happened to her and her family during Iran.
Did you happen to read the short review on the Prisoner of Tehran that shares with us a selection of memories from when Nemat and the lady by the last name Ghahramani were prisoners in Evin? In this short review it tells you about why Nemat was sent to Evin and where she meets other woman going through the same experience as her. While I read this story I could vividly feel the pain, anger, abuse and even imagine the memories these young woman indured. The details are so realistic it can make you feel like you are right their with her. If you get a chance read it and see what you think about it.