“read nine parts of desire and recently, women in exile, as a result of having read ayaan hirsi ali's infidel a few months ago. ali's memoir left me wanting to read other women's voices on islam, other people's experiences. i wanted to place ali's story alongside others' stories. i plan to read some naguib mahfouz next and perhaps fatima mernissi and i should read more nawal el saadawi. geraldine brooks' (an australian) nine parts is a good introduction to the complexity of muslim women's lives. like hirsi ali, brooks makes me wonder on the impact of religion (specifically judeo-christian and muslim traditions) on women's lives in particular, but certainly those of men too. the beautiful and the brutal consequences of faith. one insight i particularly enjoyed: brooks realizes that in an islamic world shaped by conservative readings of the koran and hadiths, there is the capacity to also experience a sisterhood that is unique. where men cannot go, women can have the space and time and motivation to build strong relationships amongst themselves. an unintended consequence of patriarchy, to create space where it is possible to find them unnecessary. :) i also really enjoyed the stories of muhammad's wives and other women of his time.
and she writes well. a few lines i paused over, "Sohair Zaki swirled onto the stage along a pathway of sound. The slow rise and fall of the flute undulated in waves through her body. For the first time, the atonal Arabic music made sense to me. I could see it, weaving through space in elaborate arabesques. And I could see something else: the beauty of a woman's body that was neither young nor thin . . . Flesh clung heavily to her hips. Her abdomen bulged like a ripe pear..."”
tagi wrote this review Sunday, August 31 2008.
(
reply |
permalink )