Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Infidel
Book Review: phenomenal!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book. This amazing lady chronicals a life which is representative of a culture that most Westerners know nothing about and consequently fear. It is an intimate insiders view of what its like to grow up as a girl in the Muslim world. To me it made absolutly clear why militant Muslims are the way they are and how we can have compassion for a group of people who seem to hate us. It may even prompt some of us to scrutinize our own beliefs and prejudices. She is a hero.Book Review: the truth behind the veil
Summary: 5 Stars
this book explains in great detail the struggle to survive not just war, famine, displacement and clan battles but also chronicles the struggle to be one's own person. The author is bound by tradition of clan and religion and fights to express herself, make her own decisions concerning her own life and the implement them. However she runs afoul of her family, her clan and her religion. All three bring great force to bear and after suffering a severe beating, rejection by her father, being stalked by her family and death threats she goes on to achieve her educational goals, is elected to the Dutch parliament and fights for womens' rights. What an inpsiration she is! She also describes the islamic immigrant community in Holland and the Dutch government's failure to understand the need to integrate these people into Dutch society in spite of their rejection of the dutch way of life, freedom of speech and pursuit of personal happiness. However, she goes on to explain that they have no problem accepting free welfare, housing, education while despising the society and people who provide it. This is a real eye opener to all of the western world.Book Review: vulnerable and poignant
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most compelling memoirs I've read in a long time. And it's a book that women, liberals and conservatives could all benefit from reading. Fantastic writing, modest and upfront with no pretension and nobody's politics but her own. And a brutally honest view into true Islam as the author experienced it firsthand.Book Review: when entering the bathroom....use the left foot first
Summary: 5 Stars
The contents of "Infidel" are well outlined in the above Washington Post review. I will confine myself to my impressions of the book and author.
This is a momentous work, written by one of the brighter spirits of our day. Already a best-seller in Europe, I'm sure it will receive an enthusiastic audience in America (as did her first work of a year ago: "Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam").
First and foremost "Infidel" is a gripping autobiography of struggle, survival and eventual triumph against the tyranny of Islam. Islamic ideology is totalitarian, regulating every moment of its subject's life, including such trivial things as which foot to use first when stepping into and out of the bathroom.
Also the work is a significant contribution to the social sciences; to cultural anthropology, history, economics, political science and both comparative religion and the sociology of religion. It is the definitive refutation of multi-culturalism.
But perhaps most of all this is a first rate work of literature. It stands as an outstanding dramatic creation in its own right. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a gifted writer whose life was indeed the suspenseful drama she has produced; a page-turner that keeps you wondering how all the problems and conflicts will be resolved. The characters, locales and events are vividly drawn with the sure hand of a natural story-teller.
Ms. Ali does not shy away from relating the most intimate details of her life. She handles this perfectly, as only a person of great character can; she draws the reader intimately close while simultaneously keeping herself at a proper distance. She never sentimentalizes or indulges in self-pity. Her revelations are an essential part of her story and her message.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been destined to embody in her person the political and religious crises that rack our time. This is a great burden to bear. She has already proven that she has the inner strength and the mental clarity for the job. I look forward with anticipation to her next work.
Book Review: women in Africa today
Summary: 5 Stars
Very pleasant reading, you learn so much about about the culture of the Somalis and muslims told by a female author. In her story (autobiography) you are learning without reading a history book . It is a cultural shock for us westeners, but you can't stop reading it.It"s also about the aweakening of a girl and her believes about her faith and family values.
I loved it.