i read "infidel" by ayaan hirsi ali in less than 48 hours, which is good for me, considering it was a memoir. it was absolutely fantastic - to be thrust into the extremism of tradition muslim culture is astounding. it is an amazing capture of life and survival. recommended. on the scale of one to ten, this one goes to eleven.
1 comment:
sounds like an interesting book.
keep in mind, when you are viewing cultures that it is always through the lens of a certain perspective. islam and israel for example. neither is a monolith.
for examples in islam, not all islamic governments were repressive, even by modern standards. some are (what rumi calls) "donkeys in turbans", and others are more enlightened... like certain times during the mughal empire in india which saw unprecedented cross-cultural respect... also, certain rulers lead towards strict orthodox ways, some are more heterodox... sometimes it changes mullah to mullah in a given era.
on israel, some jews are strict and violent wall-building zionists. some are zionists who are against the walls and wars israel fights. others, like the very-religious neturi karta believe the state of israel has no biblical or moral basis. in fact, a lot of the jews who were first in israel (when it was palestine) fought against the creation of israel because they said it was unnecessary to live there and would only disrupt the tenuous peace they had with their arab neighbors. they were right... it's worth noting that most israelis disapprove of
i guess what i'm saying is that it's great you are reading about this, but take it all with a grain of salt and remember that groupthink and oversimplifying are rife when discussing geopolitics and social issues. any given book will have it's slant. leon uris is a good example of single-sided writing.
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