My sister slept with the light on until she was 27. She rightfully blames me. I would leap out of closets with my hands made into claws. I would...
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Alice Charkes, January 7, 2013 (view all comments by Alice Charkes)
I was fascinated to learn about this author's upbringing and the meaning of living as a devout Moslem. It was horrifying to see how lowly women are esteemed in that religion, and just as shocking to read about the author's passage to moral, religious, political, and intellectual freedom from childhood to adulthood. A must read!
Christin, August 13, 2012 (view all comments by Christin)
Wow! Ayaan is an amazing lady! Her courage and determination is incredible. Reading her life story makes me so grateful to have been born when and where I was. It would be nice to think that I could have done the same as her, faced with the challenges she was, but in all honesty I think I would have crumbled. She has a lot of important things to say about very complex issues facing society today.
Judy Thorgeirsson, January 1, 2010 (view all comments by Judy Thorgeirsson)
I really enjoyed this book because it told of a young woman's struggle in the Islamic culture and her steadfastness to pursue her own ideas. It is a true story and shows how one woman survived and overcame the male dominated society of Islam.
julieb43, September 19, 2008 (view all comments by julieb43)
This is quite an inspirational and controversial memoir. Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes her life story with passion and conviction. She courageously stands by her beliefs despite her colleague's murder and death threats against her for speaking out against Islam.
Ali describes her evolution from religiously brain-washed youth and adolescence to her gradual yearning for freedom of thought and experience, which culminate in her flight to Holland and settlement in the West.
Anyone who believes in free speech and democracy will applaud Ali's fierce determination to uphold these rights. It's a shame that she must live under constant protection from fundamentalist Muslims who would seek to silence her.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (8 of 14 readers found this comment helpful)
Ali's memoir Infidel reveals an extraordinary woman who survived a harrowing early life, fled to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage, and was elected to that country's Parliament before death threats landed her under 24-hour guard. Not every reader will agree with her political and religious positions, but her intelligence, resilience, and courage are inspiring. I was deeply moved by her response, near the end of the book, to questions of what it is like to live with death threats. She recites her many brushes with death, from the moment of her birth onward, and concludes, "Even with bodyguards and death threats I feel privileged to be alive and free." It is to her credit that she dedicated herself to bringing that freedom to other oppressed women.
by Kelly L.
"Synopsis"
by Netread,
Ayaan Hirsi Ali captured the world’s attention with Infidel, her coming-of-age memoir, which spent thirty-one weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of today’s most admired and controversial political figures. She burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened she would be next; and she made headlines again when she was stripped of her citizenship and forced to resign from the Dutch Parliament.
Infidel shows the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished—and sometimes reviled—political superstar and champion of free speech—the development of her beliefs, iron will, and extraordinary determination to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female circumcision, brutal beatings, an adolescence as a devout believer, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four countries under dictatorships. She escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she fought for the rights of Muslim women and the reform of Islam, earning her the enmity of reactionary Islamists and craven politicians.
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