Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Belittle A

This Is A Good Time To Ask Apologists For The Islamic Regime, Who Degrades Islam? Who Imposes Stoning, Forced Marriage Of Underage Girls And Flogging For Not Wearing The Veil? Do Such Practices Represent Iran's Ancient History And Culture, Its Ethnic And Religious Diversity? Its Centuries Of Sensual And Subversive Poetry?

Basically, Fundamentalism Is A Modern Phenomenon. In The Same Way That Hitler Evoked A Mythological Religion Of German Purity And The Glory Of The Past, The Islamists Use Religion To Evoke Emotions And Passions In People Who Have Been Oppressed For A Long Time In Order To Reach Their Purpose.

You Get A Strange Feeling When You're About To Leave A Place, I Told Him, Like You'll Not Only Miss The People You Love But You'll Miss The Person You Are Now At This Time And This Place, Because You'll Never Be This Way Ever Again.

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. Empathy Lies At The Heart Of Gatsby, Like So Many Other Great Novels - The Biggest Sin Is To Be Blind To Others' Problems And Pains. Not Seeing Them Means Denying Their Existence.

That, Of Course, Is What Great Works Of Imagination Do For Us: They Make Us A Little Restless, Destabilize Us, Question Our Preconceived Notions And Formulas.