Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi AliMy review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an incredible memoir that details one woman's departure and escape from Somalia and Islam. She gives a very articulate, dry-eyed account of life as a woman in Muslim culture, and the difficulty to transgress her upbringing, which she slowly manages to do.
Her story is an amazing feat: from a Muslim woman with no voice in her own life to a woman who transformed herself into a very well-educated, leading political voice, she has overcome many obstacles and made not only a name for herself but for her cause as well (to enlighten both the West and Muslims of the religion's fundamentally oppressive nature, as she tells it).
Wonderful Tonight: An Autobiography by Pattie BoydMy review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a fascinating rock 'n roll memoir from the perspective of a woman who helped inspire the music. Pattie Boyd, originally famous as a model, became the muse and wife for both George Harrison of the Beatles and Eric Clapton, and she very matter-of-factly details her crazy rock-'n-roll life with both of them.
Yet Pattie Boyd, while illuminating the two musicians' artistic, free-spirited and often disheveled personalities and lives, also tells her own story. She begins with her childhood, a very unorthodox life that makes sense as a precursor for her life to come, and ends with her life living, finally, on her own as a single woman. Her story, both enticing and engrossing, tells of crazy adventures, tumultuous times, self-sacrifice, soul-searching and fun along the way.
For supplementary information, visit her website: Pattie Boyd.
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2 comments:
May I offer a somewhat more critical view of Ms Hirsi Magaan ...
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20518436-5003900,00.html
http://madhabirfy.blogspot.com/2007/06/hollands-hirsi-gentlewoman-she-is-not.html
http://newmatilda.com/2008/08/05/confederacy-dunces
http://newmatilda.com/2007/07/25/unreliable-narrator
You can also hear an edited interview here ...
http://newmatilda.com/2007/06/12/defence-liberty-through-reason
You are entitled to your point of view. I do hear what you are saying about Hirsi Ali making broad, sweeping judgments about all of Muslim societies. I have heard this criticism before; she makes sweeping statements and is not necessarily tactful in being diplomatic or tactful, specifically regarding her opinion of Islam.
Yet, what you say in the one article about Hirsi Ali falsifying documents and needing the "rescue" of the American think-tank is simply not true. She *thought* she had falsified her name, but had taken on her grandfather's name, which is legit, and the charges against her were dropped. She could have remained a Dutch citizen but decided it was time to move on, professionally and geographically.
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