Journey from the Land of No

Journey from the Land of No PDF Author: Roya Hakakian
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781863254540
Category : Iran
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Get Book Here

Book Description
From a charmed childhood in pre-revolutionary Iran - a time when veils for women were banned and miniskirts were all the rage - to awakening to the dawning of the Islamic Fundamentalist revolution, JOURNEY FROM THE LAND OF NO charts a brilliant young girl's coming of age as the world she knows and loves falls apart. Young Roya dreams of becoming an famous writer but the country beats her to growing up when Ayatollah Khomeyni returns after a 15-year exile and life in Iran is changed forever, from veils for women becoming mandatory to school friends accused of reading blasphemous books being escorted from class by guards, never to be seen again. Roya escaped only because her teacher risked her life to save such a talented writer. Roya and her friends become victims of an insidious war declared on Iran's female citizens: 'Between 1982 and 1990 an unknown number of Iranian women were raped on the eve of their executions by guards who alleged that killing a virgin was a sin in Islam.' At her loneliest, watching the world change below from her rooftop at night, Roya discovers the consolations of writing, a gift that will ultimately enable her to find her own voice and become her own person. But it was not to be for long in Iran. Forced to flee at 18, Hakakian reflects that 'When you have been a refugee, abandoned all your loves and your belongings, your memories become your belongings'. She has woven these memories into a powerfully evocative portrait of a turning point in history - and a timely reminder of the power of the human spirit.

Journey from the Land of No

Journey from the Land of No PDF Author: Roya Hakakian
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781863254540
Category : Iran
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Get Book Here

Book Description
From a charmed childhood in pre-revolutionary Iran - a time when veils for women were banned and miniskirts were all the rage - to awakening to the dawning of the Islamic Fundamentalist revolution, JOURNEY FROM THE LAND OF NO charts a brilliant young girl's coming of age as the world she knows and loves falls apart. Young Roya dreams of becoming an famous writer but the country beats her to growing up when Ayatollah Khomeyni returns after a 15-year exile and life in Iran is changed forever, from veils for women becoming mandatory to school friends accused of reading blasphemous books being escorted from class by guards, never to be seen again. Roya escaped only because her teacher risked her life to save such a talented writer. Roya and her friends become victims of an insidious war declared on Iran's female citizens: 'Between 1982 and 1990 an unknown number of Iranian women were raped on the eve of their executions by guards who alleged that killing a virgin was a sin in Islam.' At her loneliest, watching the world change below from her rooftop at night, Roya discovers the consolations of writing, a gift that will ultimately enable her to find her own voice and become her own person. But it was not to be for long in Iran. Forced to flee at 18, Hakakian reflects that 'When you have been a refugee, abandoned all your loves and your belongings, your memories become your belongings'. She has woven these memories into a powerfully evocative portrait of a turning point in history - and a timely reminder of the power of the human spirit.

Promise Land

Promise Land PDF Author: Jessica Lamb-Shapiro
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439101604
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description
“A funny yet surprisingly nuanced look at the legends and ideas of the self-help industry” (People, 3.5 stars), Promise Land explores the American devotion to self-improvement—even as the author attempts some deeply personal improvements of her own. Raised by a child psychologist who was himself the author of numerous self-help books, as an adult Jessica Lamb-Shapiro found herself both repelled and fascinated by the industry: did all of these books, tapes, weekend seminars, groups, posters, t-shirts, and trinkets really help anybody? Why do some people swear by the power of positive thinking, while others dismiss it as so many empty promises? Promise Land is an irreverent tour through the vast and strange reaches of the world of self-help. In the name of research, Jessica attempted to cure herself of phobias, followed The Rules to meet and date men, walked on hot coals, and even attended a self-help seminar for writers of self-help books. But the more she delved into the history and practice of self-help, the more she realized her interest was much more than academic. Forced into a confrontation with the silent grief that had haunted both her and her father since her mother’s death when she was a baby, she realized that sometimes thinking you know everything about a subject is a way of hiding from yourself the fact that you know nothing at all. “A jaunty, cannily written memoir” (Chicago Tribune), Promise Land is cultural history from “a witty and enjoyably self-aware writer…Jessica Lamb-Shapiro’s talent as a storyteller is undeniable” (The New York Times Book Review).

Journey with No Maps

Journey with No Maps PDF Author: Sandra Djwa
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 077354061X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 442

Get Book Here

Book Description
Poet, traveller, artist, and mystic - the story of one extraordinary woman's many lives.

Journey from the Land of No

Journey from the Land of No PDF Author: Roya Hakakian
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307421147
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Get Book Here

Book Description
An emotional, evocative coming-of-age story about one deeply intelligent and perceptive girl’s attempt to find her own voice in prerevolutionary Iran “An immensely moving, extraordinarily eloquent, and passionate memoir.”—Harold Bloom Roya Hakakian was twelve years old in 1979 when the revolution swept through Tehran. The daughter of an esteemed poet, she grew up in a household that hummed with intellectual life. Family gatherings were punctuated by witty, satirical exchanges and spontaneous recitations of poetry. But the Hakakians were also part of the very small Jewish population in Iran who witnessed the iron fist of the Islamic fundamentalists increasingly tightening its grip. It is with the innocent confusion of youth that Roya describes her discovery of a swastika—“a plus sign gone awry, a dark reptile with four hungry claws”—painted on the wall near her home. As a schoolgirl she watched as friends accused of reading blasphemous books were escorted from class by Islamic Society guards, never to return. Only much later did Roya learn that she was spared a similar fate because her teacher admired her writing. Hakakian relates in the most poignant, and at times painful, ways what life was like for women after the country fell into the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who had declared an insidious war against them, but we see it all through the eyes of a strong, youthful optimist who somehow came up in the world believing that she was different, knowing she was special. A wonderfully evocative story, Journey from the Land of No reveals an Iran most readers have not encountered and re-creates a time and place dominated by religious fanaticism, violence, and fear with an open heart.

Walking the Bible

Walking the Bible PDF Author: Bruce Feiler
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062390899
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Get Book Here

Book Description
“An instant classic. . . . A pure joy to read.” —Washington Post Book World Both a heart-racing adventure and an uplifting quest, Walking the Bible presents one man’s epic journey- by foot, jeep, rowboat, and camel- through the greatest stories ever told. From crossing the Red Sea to climbing Mount Sinai to touching the burning bush, Bruce Feiler’s inspiring odyssey will forever change your view of history’s most legendary events. The stories in the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah, come alive as Feiler searches across three continents for the stories and heroes shared by Christians and Jews. You’ll visit the slopes of Mount Ararat, where Noah’s ark landed, trek to the desert outpost where Abraham first heard the words of God, and scale the summit where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Using the latest archeological research, Feiler explores how physical location affects the larger narrative of the Bible and ultimately realizes how much these places, as well as his experience, have affected his faith. A once-in-a-lifetime journey, Walking the Bible offers new insights into the roots of our common faith and uncovers fresh answers to the most profound questions of the human spirit. “Smart and savvy, insightful and illuminating.” —Los Angeles Times “An exciting, well-told story informed by Feiler’s boundless intellectual curiosity . . . [and] sense of adventure.” —Miami Herald

The Next Big Story

The Next Big Story PDF Author: Soledad O'Brien
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101466111
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Get Book Here

Book Description
From top CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O'Brien comes a highly personal look at her biggest reporting moments from Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the devastating Haiti earthquake, and to the historic 2008 U.S. elections and high profile interviews with everyday Americans. Drawing on her own unique background as well as her experiences at the front lines of the most provocative issues in today's society, and from her work on the acclaimed documentaries Black in America and Latino in America, O'Brien offers her candid, clear-eyed take on where we are as a country and where we're going. What emerges is both an inspiring message of hope and a glimpse into the heart and soul of one of America's most straight-talking reporters.

Terra Nullius

Terra Nullius PDF Author: Sven Lindqvist
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Sven Lindqvist travels 7,000 miles through Australia in search of places where belief in the rights of the white man and the annihilation of the "lower races" were put into practice. While Australia continues to reckon with its violent past - echoed in the United States' treatment of Native Americans and Europe's colonization of other continents - Lindqvist evokes a history in which young boys were kidnapped to dive for pearls, then whipped and abandoned when the bends ruined them for work; "half-caste" children were taken from their mothers; and natives were misdiagnosed with STDs, put in neck irons, and sent to internment camps on remote islands. Lindqvist also recalls the work of ethnologists who brought their own prejudices to bear in studying Aborigines as primitives close to the origins of civilization, later inspiring Freud and Durkheim. At the same time he describes a beautiful and strange land, sacred to the native people who had inhabited it for centuries and celebrated it in a long tradition on richly symbolic art." "Terra Nullius is the disturbing story of how "no man's land" became the province of the white man."--BOOK JACKET.

No Man's Son: A Flight from Obscurity to Fame

No Man's Son: A Flight from Obscurity to Fame PDF Author: Linda Chowdry
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578895215
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 390

Get Book Here

Book Description
An immigrant's memoir recounting the life of a young Pakistani man who came to the U.S. with only a driving ambition to make a difference in his chosen industry, aviation. Through challenges and successes, Michael Chowdry soared to the very heights of the airline business. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, he unleashed his passion, ultimately building a successful airline, Atlas Air Cargo.

Journey Into the Land of the Zeks and Back

Journey Into the Land of the Zeks and Back PDF Author: Julius Margolin
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0197502148
Category : Convict labor
Languages : en
Pages : 649

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Journey to the Land of the Zek and Back is a vivid, first-person account of life in the Soviet Gulag, a work that has never appeared in full before in English. It was one of the earliest published accounts of the Soviet camp system when it was published in France in 1949 and became an established classic in the Russian-speaking world, influencing the formation of the genre of Gulag memoirs"--

Lands of Lost Borders

Lands of Lost Borders PDF Author: Kate Harris
Publisher: Knopf Canada
ISBN: 034581679X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE RBC TAYLOR PRIZE WINNER OF THE EDNA STAEBLER AWARD FOR CREATIVE NON-FICTION "Every day on a bike trip is like the one before--but it is also completely different, or perhaps you are different, woken up in new ways by the mile." As a teenager, Kate Harris realized that the career she most craved--that of a generalist explorer, equal parts swashbuckler and philosopher--had gone extinct. From her small-town home in Ontario, it seemed as if Marco Polo, Magellan and their like had long ago mapped the whole earth. So she vowed to become a scientist and go to Mars. To pass the time before she could launch into outer space, Kate set off by bicycle down a short section of the fabled Silk Road with her childhood friend Mel Yule, then settled down to study at Oxford and MIT. Eventually the truth dawned on her: an explorer, in any day and age, is by definition the kind of person who refuses to live between the lines. And Harris had soared most fully out of bounds right here on Earth, travelling a bygone trading route on her bicycle. So she quit the laboratory and hit the Silk Road again with Mel, this time determined to bike it from the beginning to end. Like Rebecca Solnit and Pico Iyer before her, Kate Harris offers a travel narrative at once exuberant and meditative, wry and rapturous. Weaving adventure and deep reflection with the history of science and exploration, Lands of Lost Borders explores the nature of limits and the wildness of a world that, like the self and like the stars, can never be fully mapped.