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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
slow-paced
Initially started reading this as research, but found it a superb read.
I highly recommend it.
I highly recommend it.
There's this funny genre of memoir: Famous Adjacent. Enjoyable and insightful.
The author is Osama Bin ladin's sister in law. She didn't talk much about him, more about her life marrying a Saudi man and living in Saudi Arabia. I liked her perspective in the sense that she made me understand a bit more why women allow men to treat them poorly etc. I appreciated her positive outlook. I've read more than one book abut the Middle East that focuses on the negative.
Hospital book club. Very insightful. Lucky to be born in America.
informative
sad
fast-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Interesting at points, unfortunately badly written (or translated, as I only read the German translation). Saudi Arabia has changed a lot over the years since the book was written and published, so it might keep old prejudice and stereotype that are not true anymore.
If you're going into this book thinking you are going to get a bunch of juicy details about Osama Bin Ladin (as a lot of reviewers seemed to have done), you will be sorely disappointed. The most infamous Bin Ladin brother is only mentioned a handful of times throughout this whole book and is in no way the focal point or subject matter. This is a book about a women's struggle to fit into and Islamic family and society in Saudi Arabia and her coming to terms with the realization that it was never going to happen.
Carmen Bin Ladin grew up in Switzerland, her father being Swiss, her mother Persian. She meets Yeslam in Geneva one summer when his family rents out part of her mothers apartment. They fall in love and Carmen agrees to marry him, however Yeslam had to first receive permission from the King of Saudi Arabia because Carmen was an outsider, and once he did agree with it, they were forced to go to Saudi Arabia and marry in Jeddah. Once married they moved to the United States to attend school at USC where Carmen dropped out after they had their first daughter. Family business soon pulled them back to Saudi Arabia where Carmen described her life as essentially slavery. She eventually began to worry about the indoctrination her daughters were receiving and they are what ultimately gave her the strength to leave the country and her husband.
I absolutely flew through this book, it was so interesting. I know only a small amount of information about Islamic countries and culture so to read it from the perspective of someone who like me, didn't know what she was getting herself into, drew me into her life and story. While the writing is a little stuffy and pretentious, it was the actions and attitudes of the people around her that kept me hooked.
A few things that blew my mind:
* The Bin Laden's father had 22 wives and consequentially, something like 55 children.
* Women can't drive in Saudi Arabia...or do virtually anything without their husbands consent
* At one point Carmen demands she be allowed to go to the store to get what she needs and they clear the entire store of all people before they will let her in
* Women have to be completely covered including their faces (at least in the 70's) any time they leave the house
* No man but a women's husband can look them in the eye INCLUDING MALE RELATIVES
* Women are not allowed to pray in public with men
* Carmen had to fight for the custody of her daughters for 15ish years because the father has full claim on them in Saudi Arabia
There were so many more that I could go on for days but these were some that really stuck with me. Just think about those things for a minute. Let them sink in.
This is what a truly sexist society looks like. And the sad thing is, Carmen was in the upper class so her life was so far above most the women that lived there. I am at a loss at how we, those who live in western society, can talk about how "oppressed" we are when there are people all over the world in actual oppressive situations. Everybody should read this book if only to understand that.
Carmen Bin Ladin grew up in Switzerland, her father being Swiss, her mother Persian. She meets Yeslam in Geneva one summer when his family rents out part of her mothers apartment. They fall in love and Carmen agrees to marry him, however Yeslam had to first receive permission from the King of Saudi Arabia because Carmen was an outsider, and once he did agree with it, they were forced to go to Saudi Arabia and marry in Jeddah. Once married they moved to the United States to attend school at USC where Carmen dropped out after they had their first daughter. Family business soon pulled them back to Saudi Arabia where Carmen described her life as essentially slavery. She eventually began to worry about the indoctrination her daughters were receiving and they are what ultimately gave her the strength to leave the country and her husband.
I absolutely flew through this book, it was so interesting. I know only a small amount of information about Islamic countries and culture so to read it from the perspective of someone who like me, didn't know what she was getting herself into, drew me into her life and story. While the writing is a little stuffy and pretentious, it was the actions and attitudes of the people around her that kept me hooked.
A few things that blew my mind:
* The Bin Laden's father had 22 wives and consequentially, something like 55 children.
* Women can't drive in Saudi Arabia...or do virtually anything without their husbands consent
* At one point Carmen demands she be allowed to go to the store to get what she needs and they clear the entire store of all people before they will let her in
* Women have to be completely covered including their faces (at least in the 70's) any time they leave the house
* No man but a women's husband can look them in the eye INCLUDING MALE RELATIVES
* Women are not allowed to pray in public with men
* Carmen had to fight for the custody of her daughters for 15ish years because the father has full claim on them in Saudi Arabia
There were so many more that I could go on for days but these were some that really stuck with me. Just think about those things for a minute. Let them sink in.
This is what a truly sexist society looks like. And the sad thing is, Carmen was in the upper class so her life was so far above most the women that lived there. I am at a loss at how we, those who live in western society, can talk about how "oppressed" we are when there are people all over the world in actual oppressive situations. Everybody should read this book if only to understand that.
This book is extremely fascinating. It was written by Carmen bin laden. She was married to one of Osama bin Laden's brothers. She was raised both Muslim and with Western values. And ends up going to live in Saudi arabia. And the trials and tribulation this woman and her family lived through are just phenomenal. You would never believe half of this stuff. And definitely gives you an interesting look on everyday life in Saudi arabia. And what it is like to be married into the bin Laden family.