Customer Reviews

Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism (Mohammed El-Hindi Series on Arab Culture and Islamic Civiliz)

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This is the deepest book I have read in a while. It required a concentrated reading and a lot of attention. This book requires more than most from the reader, but the effort is well rewarded with a deeper understanding of Iran, and its experience with the West along with its own evolution within the new global dynamic.

This book really helped me understand the Iranian perspective. It is difficult for me to understand and conceptualize the difficulties, problems and opportunities presented by the contact between these two cultures. This book helped to add perspective to my understanding of Iran, and the conflict experienced by other peoples when confronted by the West.

Seeing the multifaceted approach being taken by different individuals and schools of thought was fascinating. From right to left, from secular to the clerical the different approaches to Western thought expressed dynamism at work in the intellectual community within Iran. This dynamism is in stark contrast to the belief in large circles in the US that Iran is static. Instead what we see is a tormented evolution within Iran. The intellectual battles being fought inside Iran have not yet ended and are anything but static.

This book is also important in understanding the intellectual ground work that helped cause some of the historical shifts in Iran. This is not an all encompassing look at Iranian history (of course), but it is an essential element in understanding that history. The author's discussion of the intellectuals and the elite gives the reader an insight into the internal happenings that caused the fall of Reza Shah and why the Islamic revolution succeeded.

All in all this is an essential read for anyone wanting to understand Iran. This is a fascinating book and an amazing story. The author introduces the reader to some of the most influential thinkers in Iran's modern history. The story of Iran's tormented triumph of Nativism is an enlightening read. I highly recommend this book.

What started as a dissertation paper is now an excellent historical account of post-revolutionary Iran framed in the context of the key intellectuals of the time. Boroujerdi's work is exemplary in that it covers both the secular as well as religious (and those in-between) intellectuals of the time. He offers commentary and criticisms and doesn't fail to point out hypocrisy where encountered. A smooth and fast read, however, a pen and paper are useful as one encounters a multitude of interesting references that scream: "read me!"

This book (based on the author's doctorate thesis) is a good sociological review of various reactions to the West and Westernication by Iranian intellectuals. The personalities discussed in the book fairly represent the various intellectual factions. The author has done his homework by reading the original sources, analyzing and synthesizing them in an easy-to-read book. This book will be of great interest to the Western intellectuals and scholars as well as to the Iranians interested in tracing the roots of their worldviews. For the latter, it should be noted, that the book has also been translated into Persian (Roshanfekran-e Irani va Gharb, by Jamshid Shirazi, Farzan Pub., Tehran, 1378).