Reconciliation, Islam, Democracy, and the West

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Banazir Bhutto, 2008, HarperCollins Publishers, New York

Banazir Bhutto finished this book shortly before she died in an attack on her car in Pakistan.  The book is an overview of the problems facing the Muslim world and its relationship with the West.  While placing the bulk of blame for the current sad state of democracies in the Muslim world on internal factions, she also cites many policy missteps on the part of the West that have contributed to this situation.

Despite the current poor relations between most of the Muslim world and the West, Bhutto shows that democracy and Islam are not incompatible.  She has a strong belief that democratic governments and processes are the only hope to stave off extremism and terrorism.

Bhutto focused mostly on political structure, however, and did not seem to contemplate some of the cultural differences between the West and Islam countries.  There are many aspects of Western culture that could make Western democracy difficult for many fundamentalist Muslims to accept.  In the United States, for instance, we have a stronger focus on the individual rather than the community.  The capitalist economic model we have embraced in our Western democratic model may not appeal to many Muslims who may be rooted in a more family or tribal-centric model.  Lastly, our popular culture seems to celebrate many vices that seem to be incompatible with the teachings of Islam: alcohol, drugs, nudity, etc.

Bhutto was educated at Harvard and references many of her experiences as a student there as being liberating.   I am not sure the poorest Pakistanis can relate to these kinds of experiences.  Perhaps some kind of modified, non-Western brand of democracy could developed to provide the relief from dictatorship and extremism that is so badly needed in the Islamic world.  To ignore the cultural issues and focus solely on political solutions may not be the answer.

I found the reading of this book to be extremely tiresome.  It reminded me of a term paper in college.  She definitely was passionate about what she believed, but it there seemed to be some difficulty in translating this passion to paper.

The loss of  Bhutto to Pakistan is substantial.  Given the state of affairs in that country, however, it is difficult to predict that she would have been successful in translating her beliefs and ideas into lasting change.2 1/2 stars

Girls of Riyadh

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Rajaa Alsanea, Read by Kate Reading, 2005

This is a book that was supposedly made from a series of e-mails that a woman in Riyadh wrote to a mailing list about several of her friends and their relationships with men.  It provides some insight into the culture and society of Saudi Arabia but, other than that, isn’t particularly good.  The stories that are told probably have some shock value in the Middle East Islamic countries, but they are pretty much old hat here in the U.S.  This could be viewed as a Saudi Arabian “Sex in the City.”2 stars

A Land Remembered, A Novel

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Patrick D. Smith, 1984

This is a lovely book about three generations of a family that settled in Florida just prior to the Civil War.  The characters are interesting and the author keeps the pace going by including  just enough action events at the right moments.  The pace of the transformation of Florida from a virtual wilderness to a mecca for tourism and development in a relatively short span of time makes the book even more interesting.

This book is an enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone.4 1/2 stars

The Walking Wind

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Tony Hillerman, Read by George Guidall, 2002

There is not much to say about this book.  It is a typical Tony Hillerman work that combines a fairly good mystery, characters that are okay, a bit of romance, all positioned against a backdrop of Southwest topography and Indian culture.  All of it combines to provide a fairly enjoyable experience but nothing truly outstanding.

The reader did a pretty fair job but occasionally seemed to rush some passages where he could have slowed down a bit.2 1/2 stars

Thirteen Moons

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Charles Frazier, Read by Will Patton, 2006.

This story is about the life of an individual who moved west to North Carolina as a youth in the early part of the nineteenth century and the subsequent events in his life, particularly as they relate to the Cherokee Nation.  While the historical aspects that provide the backdrop of the book are interesting, the pace of the book moves about as fast as the aging process of the main character.  Compounding the problem of pace is the slow Southern drawl used by the reader, Will Patton.  While his tone and accent are appropriate for this particular book, the style of the reading and the writing together make for a long, long experience getting through it.

Charles Frazier would do well to employ some more action-oriented writing techniques, such as those of Ken Follett,  to generate some more pace and, hopefully, an increased level of  interest on the part of the reader/listener .2 1/2 stars

Under a Wing, A Memoir

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Reeve Lindbergh, 1998, Simon & Schuster, New York

I thought this book was somewhat interesting, especially in the passages about her father, Charles.  Other passages such as the reminiscences about her sister and her personal emotional experiences were very personal and were less interesting to me.

Reeve Lindbergh touches on the issue of Charles’ isolationist stance regarding World War II and expresses her outrage regarding his comments on the Jews.  She offers somewhat of an explanation as to how he arrived at that kind of thinking and then fairly quickly moves away from the subject.  She is conflicted by her love of her father and her rejection of the views he held.2 1/2 stars

Fly Boys, A True Story of Courage

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by James Bradley, 2003, Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company, New York

When I first started reading this book, I thought that it was going to be just another collection of reminiscences from veterans of WWII that would tell how horrible their situations were.  I was pleased to find that the author has given a great deal of thought to what made the Japanese behave the way that they did, particularly individuals who were in the lower ranks.  In addition, he is balanced in his assessment of American atrocities that occurred in that time frame.  He does not excuse the behavior, but simply provides some insight into the circumstances under which they occurred. The book purports to be primarily about the nine Americans who were shot down over Chichi Jima and the cruel fate that six of them suffered.  The author, however, clearly did not have enough information and material to write an entire book on the subject.  He, therefore, spread out his story to include other topics such as the bombing of Japan.  Since I was not aware of the many facts surrounding these other topics, the book became much more interesting to me than if he had confined the book to just the the circumstances surrounding these nine flyers.  Overall, I think the book was pretty good, despite some pretty gruesome pages describing the fate of some of the flyers. three stars

Saturday

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Ian McEwan, Read by Steven Crossley, 2005 by Ian McEwan, 2005 by Recorded Books, LLC

This book has some positive qualities such as the depiction of the main character.  He is very believable and one can relate to his emotions.  He is also a neurosurgeon which makes him a pretty interesting individual.

The book is all about the events that occur in the life of the main character on a single day, a Saturday which is his day off.  These events range from the pretty ordinary (a squash game) to some that have a high emotional impact.

The book is well written but doesn’t quite have enough pace to make it truly exceptional.  The amount of detail that the author supplies tends to lessen its impact and make it pretty much ho-hum.2 1/2 stars

Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Advisor to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Janet Wallach, 1996

This is an amazing story of a woman who played a major role in the early 20th century in the creation of the current country of Iraq.  She was one of the first women to attend Oxford and then went on to travel all over the Middle East.  In the course of her travels she met with tribal sheiks and became fluent in Arabic.  As a result of her adventures, she went to work for the British Foreign Service and played a key role in the ascendancy of Faisal as the first Iraqi king.

Gertrude Bell was an extraordinary person who excelled in a man’s world.  Her knowledge of the Middle East was unsurpassed and her influence was felt throughout the region.  Her story is fascinating, but the perspective that it provides of modern day Iraq is very thought provoking.  As I read the book, it seemed as if I were reading about the current state of affairs in that country rather than a historical view of it almost hundred years ago.  As a result of reading this book, I am even more aware of how difficult it will be for anyone to govern it in the future.  One could only wish that our leaders had as much insight into the history of this country before we launched the most recent war.

I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to read about a fascinating individual and her impact on the creation of the state of Iraq.  I also recommend it to anyone who would like to gain additional knowledge of the culture and politics of that region. four stars

Pillars of the Earth

Wilson's Weblog Posted on by

by Ken Follett, 1989 This is an interesting book, and a quick read, about the building of a cathedral in medieval England.  It is well researched and provided a lot of insight regarding how life was in those times.  Follet was able to use his suspense writing talents to keep the action moving in what could have been a very slow-going effort.  His characters also hold the reader’s interest although they tend to become a bit rigid at times. The end of the book seems to veer away from the focus on the local community where most of the book takes place to occurrences that take place far removed.  While this change in focus keeps the action and suspense going, it detracts from the rest of the central theme, which is the building of the cathedral as the life work of the main characters. 3 1/2 stars