Reading Lolita in Tehran, A Memoir in Books Chapter Summary & Analysis - Part 4: Chapters 13 - 26 Summary

Part 4: Chapters 13 - 26 Summary

The female characters in Jane Austen's novels rebel against choices made for them by incompetent parents or imposed on them by a rigid society. They risk all to affirm their right to choose their own destiny.

Elements of the regime, despite a seeming relaxation on the one hand, launch a new assault on intellectuals. At a party, a story is recounted about a bus trip by the members of the writer's association. An invitation to attend a conference in Armenia had been accepted and a bus hired for the trip. The bus arrived late to pick up its passengers with a different driver than the one who had been expected. The journey proceeds. The passengers fall asleep. At about 2 a.m., one passenger notices that the bus has stopped in the middle of nowhere and that the driver was off the bus. He walks to the front of the bus...
(read more)