2010, Book 5: Funny in Farsi

Funny in Farsi was assigned to me for a class that I am currently taking. Since I generally enjoy almost everything that I read, I decided that for my purpose of reading 100 books in the year 2010, I would include any assigned reading (excepting short stories and text book reading) that is given to me.

However, I can say that Funny in Farsi took me much longer to read than it should have. It is supposed to be a very light, easy read however it just wasn't my kind of book and it was really hard for me to get into reading. For one thing, I thought that the stories started to get a little bit redundant. She poked fun at basically the same things throughout the entire novel. Her mother and father, their accents, the silly things that they did because they were not familiar with American culture, etc. It got boring and it got predictable about halfway through. I also didn't like that her memoir talked mostly about her father and mother. As a reader, I did not get to know very much about Firoozeh Dumas. I couldn't tell you a thing about her personality, aside from the fact that she is somewhat condescending to her parents.

There is also a positive side to Funny in Farsi, despite the fact that it was not my favorite read so far this year. The immigrant experience detailed by Firoozeh Dumas is unique. She was young enough to assimilate well to the culture, while her parents were not able to do so as easily. She therefore offers a view of two different immigrant experiences. She also did not come from a family that was very poor or that was persecuted. Her family simply immigrated because her father, who was an educated man, had a good job offer and though that it would be nice to live the American dream. Firoozeh also married a French immigrant, which adds some spice and makes her story even more unique. She is witty and sharp and comes off as being a genuinely nice person.

In short, just because Funny in Farsi was not the kind of book that I generally love, does not mean that I am going to give it a bad review. It was a good book and I anticipate that a great many people will very much enjoy it. It is unique, funny, and well written. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a lighter, more simplistic reading experience.