Comments on: Inside a Hellish Iranian Prison — Zarah Ghahramani’s ‘My Life as a Traitor’

By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom

1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:55:07 +0000

I wonder, too, how many memoirs are the product of “recovered” memory. The subject is so controversial that I suspect most memoirists keep mum on this one.
Jan

By: rosabibi

rosabibi — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:31:17 +0000

The “Diplomat” story made me wonder how many other memoirs are the product of recovered memory. I’ve just been reading an old “Granta” article about Wilkomirski, the Holocaust survivor who wasn’t (mentioned in the Diplomat article, too). I’d be interested to know where Wilkomirski is now. Does he still believe (or claim to believe) that he survived the Shoah, despite all the evidence to the contrary? I had a bit of a google but couldn’t find any recent profiles.

By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom

1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:44:07 +0000

Thanks for the clarification about how ZG met Hillman. Nothing I had seen had as much information about their association as the story in the Sydney Morning Herald for which you’ve provided the link. Hillman’s story in the SMH could provide helpful background for any book club that is reading this book.

The story in the Diplomat is interesting for other reasons. It says that none of the reviews of “Burned Alive” noted that it was billed as a work of “recovered memory.” This is remarkable if true. I would argue — and so would many others in the U.S. — that if a book on so-called “recovered memories,” this should always be mentioned in stories about it.

By: rosabibi

rosabibi — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:41:58 +0000

No – she met Hillman while still in Iran, and he encouraged her to move to Australia. He’s written a long article about how he came to know her. And it isn’t so implausible that a writer visiting Iran would come to meet someone like her – people who are obviously foreign are often approached by dissidents who want to tell their story, even though they are taking a risk by doing so.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/16/1171405446876.html
If you’re interested in investigating possibly “fictional” memoirs by Middle EAstern women, you might like to look at “Burned Alive” – an investigation was run in the Diplomat (another Australian publication) here:
http://www.the-diplomat.com/article.aspx?aeid=3496
And Jean Sasson’s Princess series always seemed pretty far fetched to me.

By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom

1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:42:09 +0000

Thanks, janetleigh. My understanding is that Ghahramani and Hillman met after Zahrah moved to Australia. [Update: Please see comment #4 below, which says that they met in Iran and provides a link to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald about how they did.] In cases like this a publisher or agent often brings together a writer and someone with a story to tell. I don't know if that happened with these two. It's an interesting question, though, isn't it? Jan

By: janetleigh

janetleigh — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:49:42 +0000

I find this mini review very interesting, Janice. What has me scratching my head is the question who contacted who? Did Zarah contact the “established novelist” or the other way around? Something about this doesn’t add up. Does an “establish novelist” lurk around these infamous prisons waiting for someone to come out and sign a contract, or do these prisoners seek out “established novelists” upon their release? Who’s serving who, here? BTW, I love your site. Have I told you this before? janetleigh