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A good novel is one that shows the complexity of individuals, and creates enough space for all these characters to have a voice; in this way a novel is called democratic — not that it advocates democracy but that by nature it is so.

— Azar Nafisi Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

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More quotes by Azar Nafisi

Khatami is a symptom and not the cause of change in Iran.

The best fiction always forced us to question what we took for granted. It questioned traditions and expectations when they seemed too immutable.

Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

This, I believe, is how the villain in modern fiction is born: a creature without compassion, without empathy.

Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.

Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the characters and become involved in their destiny, you won't be able to empathize, and empathy is at the heart of the novel.

Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Azar Nafisi (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.