Rosewater - Previously Published as 'Then They Came For Me’
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Hoye
About this listen
When Maziar Bahari left London in June 2009 to cover Iran's presidential election, he assured his pregnant fiancée, Paola, that he'd be back in just a few days, a week at most. Little did he know, as he kissed her good-bye, that he would spend the next three months in Iran’s most notorious prison, enduring brutal interrogation sessions at the hands of a man he knew only by his smell: Rosewater.
For the Bahari family, wars, coups, and revolutions are not distant concepts but intimate realities they have suffered for generations: Maziar's father was imprisoned by the shah in the 1950s, and his sister by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s. Alone in his cell at Evin Prison, fearing the worst, Maziar draws strength from his memories of the courage of his father and sister in the face of torture, and hears their voices speaking to him across the years. He dreams of being with Paola in London, and imagines all that she and his rambunctious, resilient 84-year-old mother must be doing to campaign for his release. During the worst of his encounters with Rosewater, he silently repeats the names of his loved ones, calling on their strength and love to protect him and praying he will be released in time for the birth of his first child.
A riveting, heart-wrenching memoir, Then They Came for Me offers insight into the past 50 years of regime change in Iran, as well as the future of a country where the democratic impulses of the youth continually clash with a government that becomes more totalitarian with each passing day. An intimate and fascinating account of contemporary Iran, it is also the moving and wonderfully written story of one family's extraordinary courage in the face of repression.
©2011 Maziar Bahari (P)2011 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Maajid Nawaz spent his teenage years listening to American hip-hop and learning about the radical Islamist movement spreading throughout Europe and Asia in the 1980s and '90s. At 16, he was already a ranking member in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a London-based Islamist group. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a top recruiter, a charismatic spokesman for the cause of uniting Islam's political power across the world.
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Insightful and Enlightening. Blown Away by Radical
- By oneofmanymonkeys on 04-29-16
By: Maajid Nawaz
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A Sliver of Light
- Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran
- By: Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd
- Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom, Julia Whelan, Tristan Morris
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Three young Americans captured by Iranian forces and held in captivity for two years tell their story. In summer 2009 Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourdwere hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan when they unknowingly crossed into Iran and were captured by a border patrol. Accused of espionage, the three Americans ultimately found themselves in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison, where they discovered that pooling their strength of will and relying on each other were the only ways they could survive.
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How a fun day hiking can change your life
- By Jean on 04-08-14
By: Shane Bauer, and others
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They Said They Wanted Revolution
- A Memoir of My Parents
- By: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Narrated by: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1979, Neda Toloui-Semnani’s parents left the United States for Iran to join the revolution. But the promise of those early heady days in Tehran was warped by the rise of the Islamic Republic. With the new regime came international isolation, cultural devastation, and profound personal loss for Neda. Her father was arrested and her mother was forced to make a desperate escape, pregnant and with Neda in tow.
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I learned so much. Great pacing, felt like I time-traveled
- By Jess Fuchs on 02-07-22
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The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
- The Paradox of Modern Iran
- By: Hooman Majd
- Narrated by: Hooman Majd
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, journalist Hooman Majd is uniquely qualified to explain contemporary Iran's complex and misunderstood culture to Western listeners. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ provides an intimate look at a paradoxical country that is both deeply religious and highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet informed by a history of democratic and reformist traditions.
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Good book that dodges some tougher questions
- By Walter on 08-30-09
By: Hooman Majd
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The Fox Hunt
- A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America
- By: Mohammed Al Samawi
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen, to a pair of middle-class doctors, Mohammed Al Samawi was a devout Muslim raised to think of Christians and Jews as his enemy. But when Mohammed was 23, he secretly received a copy of the Bible, and what he read cast doubt on everything he’d previously believed. After connecting with Jews and Christians on social media, and at various international interfaith conferences, Mohammed became an activist, making it his mission to promote dialogue and cooperation in Yemen. Then came the death threats....
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Engaging and informative memoir
- By Mark on 08-02-18
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Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
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Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
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A Rage for Order
- The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS
- By: Robert Worth
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Robert Worth
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2011 a wave of revolution spread through the Middle East as protesters demanded an end to tyranny, corruption, and economic decay. From Egypt to Yemen, a generation of young Arabs insisted on a new ethos of common citizenship. Five years later their utopian aspirations have taken on a darker cast as old divides reemerge and deepen. In one country after another, brutal terrorists and dictators have risen to the top.
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What a mess!
- By Art Guzman on 01-19-17
By: Robert Worth
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Son of Hamas
- A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices
- By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, Ron Brackin - contributor
- Narrated by: Mosab Hassan Yousef
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status...and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.
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Very insightful look at the underbelly of Hamas.
- By C,L, Richey on 05-05-14
By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, and others
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God's Double Agent
- The True Story of a Chinese Christian's Fight for Freedom
- By: Bob Fu, Nancy French
- Narrated by: Hayden Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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God’s people are hiding in plain sightTens of millions of Christians live in China today, leading double lives to hide from a government that relentlessly persecutes them. By day, Bob Fu was a teacher in a communist school; by night, he was a preacher in an underground house church network. This edge-of-your-seat book tells the true story of Fu’s conversion to Christianity, his arrest and imprisonment for starting an illegal house church, his harrowing escape, and his subsequent rise to prominence in the United States as an advocate for his oppressed brethren.
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a great book, very informative.
- By Charles on 09-21-15
By: Bob Fu, and others
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A Rope and a Prayer
- The Story of a Kidnapping
- By: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Narrated by: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The compelling and insightful account of a New York Times reporter's abduction by the Taliban and his wife's struggle to free him. Invited to an interview by a Taliban commander, New York Times reporter David Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped in November 2008 and spirited to the tribal areas of Pakistan. For the next seven months, they lived in an alternate reality, ruled by jihadists, in which paranoia, conspiracy theories, and shifting alliances abounded.
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A History Lesson
- By Ed on 12-31-10
By: David Rohde, and others
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The Return
- Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
- By: Hisham Matar
- Narrated by: Hisham Matar
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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When Hisham Matar was a 19-year-old university student in England, his father was kidnapped. One of the Qaddafi regime's most prominent opponents in exile, he was held in a secret prison in Libya. Hisham would never see him again. But he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. "Hope," as he writes, "is cunning and persistent." Twenty-two years later, after the fall of Qaddafi, the prison cells were empty, and there was no sign of Jaballa Matar. Hisham returned with his mother and wife to the homeland he never thought he'd go back to again.
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Touching memoir. Consider hard copy
- By Joschka Philipps on 02-22-18
By: Hisham Matar
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Guests of the Ayatollah
- The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Mark Bowden
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
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The Iran hostage crisis was a watershed moment in American history. It was America's first showdown with Islamic fundamentalism, a confrontation at the forefront of American policy to this day. It was also a powerful dramatic story that captivated the American people, launched yellow-ribbon campaigns, made celebrities of the hostage's families, and crippled the reelection campaign of President Jimmy Carter.
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Worth a listen, with a few reservations
- By Eunice on 06-02-09
By: Mark Bowden
What listeners say about Rosewater - Previously Published as 'Then They Came For Me’
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dan
- 01-04-12
Wow!
What did you love best about Then They Came for Me?
Such an incredible story... Saw the author on The Daily Show and the interview sparked my interest in this book. I was not disappointed as this book was keeping my interest all the way through!
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- Jean A. Kaiser
- 03-14-18
Rosewater
An amazing book I think everyone should read in an effort not only to understand the bravery of this amazing man but the thinking of those who do not want Iran to change. Growing up in a country that (until recently at least) is considered a democracy I couldn't understand why anyone would choose to live without freedom yet in many countries they do. I think this book helped me to better understand the thinking of different cultures.
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- Russell
- 03-04-15
Powerful Indictment of a Corrupt Theocracy
The people who were tortured under the Shah's regime become the torturers in this tale about a journalist who is arrested as a spy by a government that cheated at the ballot box. Those who don't play by civilized rules are given their legitimacy through a spiritual supreme leader, Ali Khamenei and they use this religiosity to justify lies and the brutalizing of innocent Iranians.
A few of the idealistic revolutionarys of 1979 now realize that they never sufficiently worked out what type of government would follow and this one sounds worse than the one they overthrew.
Maziar Bahari stands up to the threats to his family inside and outside Iran and to his person either by kidnapping or assassination by daring to tell a story about a ruthless regime. It is remarkable that he argues for a peaceful overthrow of a government that murders and uses rape as a tool to control a population that was angry that their votes were ignored. I hope he is right.
Oh .. and Rosewater is an asshole.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- loix
- 06-24-11
Book that would've shined but for the narration
I had encountered the same narrator before, on Emperor of All Maladies, and barely made it through it because of the narration (something about the intonation), so I knew what I was getting into. I would not have spent another credit on a book by the same narrator. But I had been counting the days until the publication of this particular story, and decided to take a chance. The narration was as flat as on my previous purchase, but the story was there to pull me through. I was most of all impressed by the author's imagination and sense of humor--I'd never expected to be howling w/ laughter listening to what was the retelling of a horrific ordeal, but there I was, rolling on the floor at times. This is a story well worth telling, and but for the narration, one of the best.
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8 people found this helpful
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- augus079
- 02-20-15
Two thumbs up
I'm not sure what it is about the book but I often found myself staying up foo late just to listen longer.
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- MMP
- 03-19-12
narration badly over dramatized
How could the performance have been better?
I enjoyed the book but almost stop listening due to the annoyingly over dramatized reading.... like fingernails on a chalkboard.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Margaret Auld-louie
- 06-09-14
Gripping story but bogs down a bit in politics
The story of his imprisonment is gripping but I had trouble keeping my attention focused when he goes into the details of Iranian politics, both current and past. You have to get quite a ways into the book before you get to the heart of the story--the description of his time in prison. I realize the political information is necessary to provide context, but I find political details very boring, and I can't keep straight who's who. There are so many political players and I don't know the Iranian language, so I have trouble understanding their names or remembering who is who. The narrator is not as horrible as some reviewers stated but not great, either. I would say he is "tolerable" but not pleasant to listen to. Since I don't know Iranian, I can't say whether he pronounces the names correctly (another reviewer says he pronounces Iranian wrong) but I was shocked when he mispronounced the brand name Adidas. It took me a minute to figure out what he had said. Also, he consistently mispronounces authoritarian. Instead, he says "authotarian".
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4 people found this helpful
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- monicae
- 11-17-15
Good Story
Didn't like the narrator. He read without much emotion. I think it could have been much better.
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1 person found this helpful
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- HijaDelSol
- 10-06-15
Overwrought narration, but fascinating story
First of all, even though this is a dramatic and interesting story at its core (so far - it's getting hard for me to finish it), I think it's important to remember that the author is probably more representative of the 'average' Iranian/Persian than Rosewater and his other oppressors are; at least, that's my experience with all the Iranians I've met.
In terms of the aesthetic merit, 'Rosewater' is a slightly over-written narrative to begin with, with a few too many adjectives and descriptions that make it seem a little amateurish in English (as evidenced by the original title). But the narrator goes WAY overboard in his reading - much too melodramatic in expression and intonation and emphasis on every detail, mundane or no, which adds an odd and grating sense of farce that further undermines the story.
Too bad on both counts... I haven't seen Jon Stewart's movie of this yet, but am hoping he didn't take the same approach. The facts should be allowed to speak for themselves.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alaskapenny
- 03-06-15
a look at modern Tyranny
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
yes, if they want a true inside look at modern Tyrannies – Iran – Axis of Evil
What did you like best about this story?
if you want to truly understand why Tyrants & Zealots Should Be Overthrown, You Have To Understand What It's like to Be a Prisoner of Them.
The Who's Who at the Beginning of the Book Was a Great Review
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
yes
Did Rosewater - Previously Published as 'Then They Came For Me’ inspire you to do anything?
want to share the story with others, and definitely want to see the movie Rosewater
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