5 comments about The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century.

1. Peterson's review is very good and captures the essence of the book. There is a good deal of information about the Saudi Monarchy in this book that can fill out reading from other sources. It's a poignant story at times evoking the normal tragedies of life in the early deaths of Mohamed, the founder of the dynasty and his heir, Salem. Mr. Coll has a gift for narrative non-ficiton and weaves the constant theme of aviation into the Bin Laden story as well as the destructive side of their construction business. It is a fascinating study of the Bin Ladin family and of Saudi Arabia as it grew into the twentieth century. As he did with Ghost Wars, Mr. Coll has produced another great book.
   
   I will plug Frontier of Faith here for a further study of where the battle formed and rages between Islam's radical arm and the West.



2. Picked up this book after hearing the author interviewed on PBS. Given the family's aversion to publicity this represents an exhaustive effort to pry out detail. Coll tracks the family history from their humble beginnings in Yemen to the patriarch's rise in business association with the Saudi royal family, and to the present day. Usually after finishing a book this size I am ready to switch to something els, but at the end of this 575-page volume I found myself going back to reread the first few chapters. This held my interest and is worth the time.



3. What an insight Mr. Coll gives to the Bin Laden family...I highly recommend this book!



4. Yes, this is a long book; worth every minute. The depth of research is mind-boggling, but it is written with a clear, quickly-moving presentation. It is long on detail, extensive and interesting, short on editorializing: Coll leaves that up to the reader. Given the opacity of the Saud and bin Laden families' entrepreneurship, one is certainly left wondering! My favourite line actually appears at the very end: "...in the meanwhile, each time his audio- or videotapes reached Al-Jazeera or CNN, Osama reemphasized, like a Barbary pirate with a marketing degree, the impunity that he still enjoyed, as well as his continuing capacity to plan and inspire mass violence by exploiting the channels and the ethos of global integration." Another Pulitzer for Coll?



5. The pieces of the Bin Laden family puzzle have been scattered across numerous continents and decades. With a doggedness that has already won him two Pulitzers, Steve Coll attacks the challenge of bringing these pieces together to form the definitive history of this enigmatic family. From published works to countless interviews with Bin Laden family and associates to long sequestered State Department documents, Coll assiduously mines the data and develops a portrait of one of the most recognizable names in the world. This portrait is immediately recognizable to everyone: money, political power, excess, self-destruction, contradiction, hypocrisy. The lives of the fifty-four children of Mohamed Bin Laden would not be out of place in the pages of the National Enquirer, People, or Forbes. One gets a sense of humanity from this all-powerful Saudi Arabian family. Unfortunately, even with all of this research, Coll's portrait still contains holes, and is far from being the definitive word on the Bin Ladens.
   
   While the collected evidence does flesh out many previously unknown details, it remains thin in those areas that will be of most interest to scholars and casual observers alike. Stories about the Bin Laden's love of flying and ownership of property or the latest gadgets are entertaining, but most readers are going to come to the book expecting a clear understanding of how the most famous Bin Laden fits into the dynamic. Granted, being the relative of the mastermind of the worst terrorist attack in history is bound to shut up even the most chatty individual. Throw in the added dimension of the potential loss of a family fortune through lawsuits related to said person, and the prospects for obtaining any real data becomes thin. Coll acknowledges this throughout The Bin Ladens, but it doesn't lessen the impact. By the end, the reader is left with just as many questions as when they started.
   
   Publicly, the Bin Laden family repudiated and disowned Osama in the early 1990s when he was primarily making trouble in Saudi Arabia. This repudiation only intensified as Osama's terrorist actions increased. Privately, however, the picture is murky. Coll tantalizes with snippets and anecdotes that certain elements of the family may have supported Osama, either tacitly or directly via financial means, but they ultimately end up going nowhere. For instance, near the end of the narrative, he throws out the comment from one of Osama's nieces that "some of the young people at the Bin Laden compound [in Jeddah] openly celebrated the September 11 attacks," but fails to add anything more. Peppered throughout the book are countless examples such as this where the author ultimately has to state that "the record is uncertain" or "the evidence just isn't there."
   
   Even more puzzling is the role that the governments of Saudi Arabia and even the United States played in supporting the Bin Laden family over the years. Why did Saudi Arabia issue diplomatic passports to non-governmental charities suspected of funneling cash to Al Qaeda? Did the FBI treat the issue of terrorist financing so gently because the CIA wrongly estimated its importance as being low, or was there political pressure from on high? What about Bush family friend, Jim Bath's, wild assertion that he ran supplies to Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan for the CIA during a time that the CIA has repeatedly claimed it did not have any contact with Osama? In the end, such unanswered questions leave the book feeling sparse and unfinished.
   
   All in all, though, one does get the impression that many of the deficiencies were caused by stonewalling from those who hold the puzzle pieces as opposed to any deficiencies on Coll's part. This being the first real, in-depth look at such a broad subject as this huge, secretive Saudi Arabian family, The Bin Ladens is an excellent starting point. Researchers will no doubt return to it and use it as the foundation for future treatises on Osama and the larger topic of the Global War on Terror. For that, it most certainly must be praised.

5 comments about War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq.

1. Anyone supporting the war in Iraq needs to read this book.
   
   No holds bared, account of life in Iraq during the occupation. A must read.



2. After reading Richard Engel's "War Journal" I tell everyone I meet that they should put it on their reading list. This is a throughly compelling read telling it like it really is on the ground over there. Engel spares no horror, nor should he. I can not understand why more of his experiences have not found they way onto our tv reports and into our print media. This administration is so determined to make their war seem justified that they are covering up what is the reality. Case in point: not allowing pictures to be taken of our dead military's caskets coming home. If a reporter did take such a picture, his credentials were immediately pulled. If my son were coming home in a casket, I would want the entire world to see it and honor him. There has been none of this, but thanks to books like "War Journal" we are able to get a close up, even handed, report given to us by a top rated journalist who has been in the thick of it for 5 years. I do wish Richard Engel well and hope he does come out of this catastropy unharmed.



3. This was a gift to my husband. His comments are as follows, "The best book I've read in a long time. Well Written !!!"
   I have just started this book and don't want to put it down.



4. This is the real deal. This guy has been there from the beginning. He has met with the generals, soldiers, insurgents and our President. Very well written and full of information you should know and understand. This is an election year. Stop listening to the talking heads and their OBama rips and McCain raps. You cannot understand a platform if you don't learn about this war. Yes, there were no WMDs. We are there, however, and these brave soldiers are doing our work. Unfortunately, the people they are trying to help do not value life. They are in never never land, living this life thinking there is something better that they are entitled to. This book makes you think and will make your stomach turn. Ten stars for this book, it is in the top three of anything I have read politically in the last few years. As good as Looming Towers? I think so, just as informative. A note to Richard Engel if he reads this, Thank you for the reporting!



5. I was enjoying this book until chapter 20, when it starts to become more political rant than factual account. Up until chapter 20, it was very engaging, educational and down to earth. But like most journalists, Engel is clearly a democrat and could only refrain from criticism of President Bush for so long. There were times I had to put the book down after chapter 20 because the tone had gotten so hostile and political.
   
   Engel does do an excellent job of detailing aspects about Iraq's internal politics which were very enlightening. But the big hole in his "its Bush's fault" line of reasoning is that had Saddam died of natural causes, we would be exactly where we are today. One could easily argue the United States only hastened the inevitable settling of suppressed Iraqi conflicts - but that obvious point is never explored. Of course, who really knows what was going on in Iraq before the war; no one really cared to cover it.
   
   An unfortunate byproduct of Engel's book is I that it made me more discouraged about the Middle East and Islam, and I'm not really sure that was his intent. As you approach the end of the book, it's kind of hard to have anything but loathing for the mindless violence of the area and the suffering it causes worldwide.

5 comments about Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil.

1. This is a quick read, and it is interesting. However, I never really liked the author, and it seems irresponsible for her to divulge so many details about the lives of her students.



2. Just finished reading this with my book club. Creating a beauty school in Kabul is so uniquely feminine in a male dominated environment. It's like listening to men in the barbershop, lots of lies and exaggerations but women in beauty shops talk not of the conquests (sports or the bedroom) but of pain and paybacks (to men and other women). Read it with "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (horribly lovely). One gets a flavor of life in Afghanistan relative to the shoeleather scaring of the recent invasions (Russian, USA, Taliban,etc.). The women in both books are incredibly strong (suns behind the wall). I am not sure if it is tradition that makes them such equisite problem-solvers or men and their notions of their 'role'. Ms. Rodriquez' experiences are appealing as she presents the lives of the more 'priviledged' women of Kabul and their challenges. If she were an Afghani woman, I fear she would not have been alive to write this "People Magazine" chronicle of the women's lives through this American Lens. However, much of this swiss cheese of a story is true (lot of stuff left out - like what happens to her husbands and her son, Noah, after agreeing to marry a girl in Afghanistan) and my general conflict is whether I should condemn or seek to understand. Quite an interesting read, no doubt. One does wonder about the effect of exposing the Afghani Sisters' secrets. Our book club meeting talked much about the 'ethics' of exposing these expereinces.



3. When I started reading this book, I was surprised to learn that the author is from my hometown in Michigan (I moved cross-country two decades ago, but still visit once a year). So, from the get-go I was extra curious about Debbie's story. At first glance, I thought the book was fascinating, and I admired the author's tenacity and heart. I didn't mind her writing style (I thought that was part of the charm), and I gave her ditzy personality a lot of latitude because I figured, at the end of the day, her efforts were having a positive impact. Naively, I assumed that Debbie had the Kabul women's best interests at heart... even though she chose to reveal "secrets" and privileged information about her beauty school students and peers. But, post-book, as I've learned more about the story (with a good bit of googling), my curiosity and fascination with the book has been replaced by sadness and disappointment. A recent (June 2008) article in the Chicago Tribune tells how the story has unfolded, or unraveled, since the book's been published... and it ain't pretty. Since she's a hometown girl, I still want to believe that Debbie's intentions have always been above board... but, either way, it's had a devastating impact on the women left behind in Kabul. Debbie's gotten some degree of glory, but her Kabul "sisters" are paying the price, and having to do it all by themselves. Very, very sad.



4. For all of the critics who are complaining that this book is just some book written by some dumb American bla bla bla...Well, to me, as an American, I liked the fact that it was written and filtered by her point of view. Additionally, she didn't try to hide the fact that she was coming into this situation from a very different culture; she admitted her cultural differences and wore them on her sleeve. If she would have refused to do this her book would have been phony. Perhaps some of you pseudo-liberals would have preferred her to pretend like she was some super culturally sensitive American (which is what you would have done, right) that was cool with how they treat women (rape, arranged marriages, sexual harassment, etc.) After all, we have to be culturally sensitive. No, that's not the way it works. I am a true liberal and it ticks me off when "liberals" don't allow for the criticism of other cultures when it involves HUMAN RIGHTS. Yes, lot's of the things she said were tough to hear, but for all of you complaining that she was not 'sensitive enough to the culture' I personally think that is B.S. Why don't you try to live in Kabul for one month. I challenge you. You probably wouldn't make it as you are used to all of the rights (especially you women) we take for granted here in America.



5. A look at the lives of women in Afghanistan through the eyes of a beauty school (mainly hairdressing and some beauty salon treatments).
   
   Deborah Rodriguez first went as a volunteer with a small non-profit organization and she realized the huge demands for a Western hairdressers in that country . So she gave up her time to train Afghan women to get a career and able to support themselves and their families.
   
   Afghanistan women were not treated as equal to the men and their opportunities were limited. The students own stories all so different and interesting. Deborah Rodriguez involved herself to try to help or fix extremely difficult problems these women were experiencing. She really pushed the boundaries.
   
   Narrator in Audio is brilliant. Highly recommend this on audio.

5 comments about Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books.

1. I avoided this book for fear of voyeurism. Abuse of children, or the artful justification of it in even an attenuated form, is not something I want to encourage, and I assumed the point of the title was, ¨How paradoxical to be reading something so naughty with veils over our faces!¨
   
   Fortunately that was wrong. Nafisi seems rather to be using a story about the exploitation of one girl, as a literary doorway into a society in which all girls are treated badly. That was what I was hoping for, in finally picking up the CD of this book (which I listened to while driving through Amish country in Ohio!) -- to learn more about life in Iran from a sensitive critic of the regime.
   
   Overall, the book is good enough. Nafisi's descriptions of her students, and the other characters, are acute. You do come to understand what life is like for women in the most radical Islamic countries -- at least for women educated to think like Westerners.
   
   But at the same time, I didn't always get the feeling of getting inside the thought processes of another culture, here. Nafisi does not always seem to mediate a general view of life for women in Iran, but more of ¨what an American forced to live among Islamic Leninists¨ (see Naipaul) would feel. Her description of Islam is so uniformly negative, one does not much get inside the head of its proponents -- unlike with Naipaul.
   
   My other complaint was that the book dragged at times. The author has descriptive talent, but sometimes lets it get away from her. Sometimes Nafisi gives the readers too much interior dialogue -- read with a rather gloomy seriousness, in the CD version.
   
   All in all, while good, I'd probably prefer a shorter version of this book. Maybe a printed version, which one can skip forward at times, would in this case be preferable.



2. The author was a specialist for Western literature in the Iran of the Islamic Republic. That was of course a no-no and she lost her university job in 1995. Before finally emigrating to the US (where she is now probably a suspect as a sleeper of some kind), she did a remarkably courageous thing: she continued teaching girls in English language literature at home for two more years. The main message of the book is the story of the lessons and of the fate of the girls in a country that has gone back dramatically in civic freedoms.
   I was reminded of this book, which I read a few years ago, by the discussions after I posted reviews of the novel and the first film Lolita. I realized that there are more interpretations of Lolita, the novel, than was mentioned in the discussion. For the group of women who read the book in Tehran, what was in the forefront was that somebody who has been forced to be with somebody that she didn't want to be with, can rise up and escape.
   In a way though, Lolita is not really the main subject of the study group. The book ought to have been called Reading the Great Gatsby in Tehran or reading Jane Austen. Both take a lot more space. Obviously the title was chosen by marketing criteria. The title with Lolita sounds more interesting and it has a much better rhythm.
   I am as often puzzled by the reactions here in Amazon. Where do all the negative reviews come from? Does the Iran have a fifth column of literate people who can write reviews?



3. Having traveled in the Middle East this summer I looked forward to reading this book and learning more about Iranian history and society. Unfortunately I gave up about halfway through. My list of complaints is long: Nafisi's writing is terrible and in desperate need of an editor. She recalls lengthy conversations verbatim, ad nauseam. She somehow always comes out being right during the many arguments she has throughout the memoir. The characters are one-dimensional, particularly the men. Her book group (which I foolishly assumed the book was about) disappears and re-appears in a disjointed manner; I never came to care for any of the group's members as they were portrayed. Her comparison of Nabatov's Lolita to the plight of these women is baffling. Most frustrating of all is English Professor Nafisi's manner of shooting down anyone who disagrees with her INTERPRETATION of literature. No, actually, most frustrating of all is knowing that this book became a best-seller and Nafisi received great accolades for it.



4. Azar Nafisi was the right person (an intellectual and writer) who was in the right place (Tehran University) at the wrong time (The Iranian Revolution). Having lived in both America and in Iran, she was in unusual position of teaching American Literature at a time in Iranian history when America was demonized as the Great Satan. In soft and exquisitely-recalled detail, she describes her professional struggle to keep her class interested in Western works like Nabokov's "Lolita" and Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." Her struggle was to remain true to the meaning of the texts at a time when even leftist and secular students saw these works as evidence of Western decadence. Her personal struggles are also detailed, notably her attempts to remain free of the veil at a time when armed thugs and armed government morality squads roamed the streets.
   Nafisi's eventual departure from the university prompts her to hold class in her own home for interested students, mostly women. These students come from all over the political and religious spectrum, but are united in their love of literature. Nafisi and her students find themselves drawn into a relationship that touches on their personal lives, proving again the transformative power of literature in even the least hospital climates.
   The voice of Nafisi is quiet, deliberate, thoughtful, lyrical and courageous. More headstrong as a young woman, her defiance of government oppression and terror is more measured, but no less strong. But "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is far more than a memoir one woman's experience under a brutal regime. As she details the conversations and arguments that break out inside her classroom, we become more than spectators. We too are in attendance and begin to appreciate the depths that her favorite authors -- Austen, James, Nabokov, Twain and Fitzgerald -- are able to plumb in their novels. Nafisi's skill in drilling down to the bedrock values of these stories, even to the point of finding commonalities between the American novels and the Iranian experience, is surprising and seems all but inevitable.
   In spite of its length, I found this book very engaging. The occasional scholarly reflections were often staged as lively discussions among characters, even a scene in which a book was put on trial. A wonderful read for those who love literature and who would like a peek into the darkest years of the Khomeini-led Iranian revolution.



5. Fantastic book, not only does she give u a real insight into her experiences during a key period in Iranian history but also serves as a quasi course on English literature...yet remains fluid, wholly engaging and easy to read!

5 comments about American Heroes: In the Fight Against Radical Islam (War Stories).

1. This book is a great read. It is nice to get a diffrent view of what is going on.



2. Being a former Marine officer, this book and its stories creates a sense of pride in the current generation of Americans who give more than most to insure our continued freedoms. Well written, extraordinary stories of courage and heroism.



3. This book is in great shape and it is such a great read that I will read it over and over again.



4. This was a terrific book!!! Gave a detailed look into the actions of the Young men and women making it happen under horrible conditions over seas!! Finally someone gives us the truth about what is going on in the War on terror!! This book was informative and Heart Wrenching. Hopefully alot of Americans read this book and wake up!!! Mainstreem Media is doing America a Horrible Injustice!!
   Ollie North For President!!!!!!!



5. American Heroes: In the Fight Against Radical Islam (War Stories)Great care in presenting the real case of what is going on and how our troops react to the challenge...GREAT BOOK--

5 comments about The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason.

1. This book is a must read. I encourage everybody who apologizes for every religion (especially Islam) to read Sam Harris. I found Chapter 3 to be most entertaining; it's called, "The problem with Islam." Harris provides a long list of quotes from the "religion of peace."
   
   I encourage everybody to buy this book, read it, and then pass it to a friend or family member. If you've got any questions, please email me at the below email address. Thanks!
   
   Zach Watkins
   zachw2007@gmail.com



2. My sister (an atheist) gave me (a practicing Catholic) this book and asked me to read it. She said someone at a bookstore thrust it upon her, practically begging her to read it and write a review of it. "No one reads this book," he said, "but everyone should!" My sister doesn't have time to write reviews so she gave it to me. (That's her story and she's sticking to it.)
   
   I have to admit, it's a lot better read than "The God Delusion," which I just finished struggling through. Harris is not as angry as Dawkins, and he has a solid background in philosophy, which is conspicuously absent in Dawkins' works. (In their own ways, they're both very good writers, actually, but Dawkins' anger really turned me off.) Harris is erudite, often open-minded, humorous and has a gift for language. He also addresses many of the counterarguments to atheism.
   
   That said, this book has glaring lapses in rationality. Harris is a good thinker on relatively small-scale matters but comes to bizarre conclusions on the big stuff. He's very good transmitting what he's learned about philosophy and neurobiology, but in regards to human history, either his knowledge is spotty, or he wears blinders when he reads. He asserts religion is an almost-altogether evil influence and must be abolished if the human race is to survive. He provides lots of evidence of the evils of religion: the Spanish Inquisition, of course, and the Holocaust (which, though Hitler called Christianity a religion of weaklings was, according to Harris, Christianity's fault because it encouraged Antisemitism). He spends a lot of time on Islamic terrorism. But for every example he raises, another one clearly could be found of religion's good effects: the brokering of peace (the Pope, Jimmy Carter, etc.); the protection of the defenseless (the Jesuits in the New World, etc.); the grass-roots works done by religion in inner-city schools, soup kitchens, hospitals, clinics, leper colonies....
   
   Harris argues that the few good things religious people do is not due to religion's effect on them: that they would still do good if religion didn't exist. So religion gets full credit for its failures and no credit for its successes? Not exactly rational or fair.
   
   The religionist's reply to the Spanish Inquisition example has always been that, in the 20th century, far more innocent people were murdered by atheists (Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Mussolini) than by religionists. I give credit to Harris for naming this objection, but his reply is inadequate, to my mind. He says that Stalin and Mao created movements that were religion-like. In other words, these atheist movements were capable of evil because they were really religious movements. But isn't that argument fallacious? Couldn't he, using this method, label anything that weakened his argument "religion"?
   
   And what about other examples of atheist violence? Marat, who perpetrated the September Massacre during the French Revolution? the Hebertists during the same? These men clearly had little creed other than, perhaps, anarchy. And what about the Bolshevik terrorists? Wasn't the word "terrorism" first used during the French Revolution and then coined during the Russian?
   
   Do we now have to relabel the international worker's movement a "religion"? Maybe we should just condemn all gatherings of people (other than at universities, of course).
   
   I remain entirely unconvinced that the world would be a better place without religion. Being religious is an aspect of being human. It's a tool for good or evil, depending on how we exercise our (God-given) free will. You could just as easily argue that art should be abolished because of what the Manson family got out of the song "Helter Skelter"; or the human family because of child and spousal abuse; or even science, because of global warming, Bhopal and Chernobyl, the ozone layer, antibiotic-resistent germs, the dangers of cloning,...
   
   Harris also seems to have some quite odd ideas on other matters. On page 52 - 53, he seems to say that it is okay to kill someone for having dangerous ideas. Could it be that I misread that? But what about pages 192 - 199, where he argues for the morality of torture? or pages 199 - 203, where he writes that pacifism, on the other hand, is immoral? and the long section (pp. 158 - 164) in which he shows complete disdain for opponents to the legalization of drugs - surely a debatable issue? - and blames drugs'illegality on, irrationally but not surprisingly, religion's influence on our society.
   
   At the end of the book, Harris offers his substitution for religion and his cure for the evils of the world: mindfulness meditation. He praises Eastern religions for having invented it and suggests that, if we adopt it, we'll find happiness and become more empathetic and, therefore, more moral. (He seems to see no problem, by the way, in reaching these states by using hallucnogens. Ever study the Mayan and Aztecan civilizations, Harris? They took a lot of hallucinogens, too, and were really into human sacrifice. A connection there? Possibly?)
   
   I myself meditate in the yogic sense as well as pray in the old-fashioned, Christian sense. But if meditation works so well, and the East has had access to it for thousands of years, why isn't the East a happier place? How did Mao, Pol Pot, the Japanese Empire, etc., rise to power? And there are many reports that life in some monasteries and ashrams is often no more admirable than in some of their western counterparts.
   
   I have a lot more to say but, alas, no room. I would recommend this book to others, as long as they're capable of questioning what they read.
   
   Okay, Sis, I've written my review. And I've got a few books to send your friend in reply: William James' "The Will to Believe" and "The Varieties of Religious Experience": Stephen Jay Gould's "Rock of Ages"; Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamasov"; and a historical movie: Anchor Bay's "Amazing Grace." I wonder if your friend will read (and watch) them?



3. I don't normally write book reviews, even for books I enjoy. However, after having read "The End of Faith", as well as many of the reviews of it, I just HAD to recommend it. Apart from being an excellent writer, Mr. Harris' logic is so sharp and compelling, so utterly brilliant that I read most of it in absolute awe.
   None of the more negative reviews that have questioned his arguments have been in the least bit convincing, in fact, most seem to miss the point entirely. One reviewer mentioned all the good that is done by religious organizations and all the evil committed by atheists as though Mr. Harris doesn't even address these issues (which he does).
   The End of Faith is not just an argument against religion. It is an argument against FAITH. Blind, unverifiable, faith, in anything. This is why he mentions The Holocaust and other atrocities committed by "atheists". These people may not have believed in religion, but they're evil acts were committed as a result of unverifiable, illogical beliefs, that have a firm background in religious premises none-the-less. Furthermore, while many religious organizations do help others, public service and helping others would still occur even without faith, and for better reasons.
   In the end, this book makes so much sense that it's scary. This is probably why so many people of faith have found it so threatening. If you have even the slightest interest in the future of our species, please do yourself of a favor and read this book.



4. I wanted to like this book, and while I did agree with some of what Harris has to day, it seems superficial in many ways, particularly where he says:
   
   "It seems that if our species ever eradicates itself through war, it will not be because it was written in the stars but because it was written in our books; it is what we do with words like 'God' and 'paradise' and 'sin' in the present that will determine our future"
   
   In the not too distant past, I can cite the Vietnam War as one that had nothing to do with religion or god...and there are other examples to be had...perhaps if he had phrased this to mean it this has been the case in the past (but not exclusively) and will likely be the case in the future, especially given they myriad of conflict we are now enmeshed in. I think Harris book would have been much more effective had he stuck to the negative effect that religion can have/is having on our government (or any democratic government for that matter), which was, I feel founded on reason and logic. I also can't get 100% behind the idea that if we just got rid of those particular books and God that there would be no more terrorism or war in the world, I think it's in human nature (religion aside) to be warlike, selfish and cruel at times. I agree with him that it seems unbelievably foolish to think that any book contains the literal word of God, but that has been written by men. The idea that after 2000+ years they are in no way in need of updating and revising to take into account advances in knowledge and human understanding, is simply ridiculous. Overall it was an interesting read, but I don't think I'd recommend this or want it for my permanent library. I give it 3 stars.



5. I agree with most of Harris' thesis and was sympathetic to those views of which I am not in agreement up until Harris' argument regarding moral equivalency. Of course a moral equivalency between the bombing of the pharmaceutical plant in Sudan during the Clinton administration and the events of 9/11 is an atrocious argument to make, but I think Harris betrays the intellectual justification for his entire thesis by glossing over and discounting the discussion here.
   
   As enlightened as contemporary Christian nations may be when compared to their predecessors in centuries past, it is impossible to ignore, as it appears Harris does, the clout the idea of heaven has for American Christians. Harris implores his critics to simply take Muslims at their word and look at the motivations they espouse as justification for their actions, but then when it comes to Christianity and the West he ignores those same motivations. The implicit understanding in Christian cultures is not far off from that of the Muslims.
   
   With the same degree of certainty as the Muslims, American Christians feel that they are justified in their transgressions against humanity so long as they can hide behind a thin veil of rationalization regarding their intentions. "We weren't trying to kill thousands of people, so killing thousands of people is ok." You see this argument repeatedly advocated by our President, the one who thinks he talks to god, and other Christian politicians and pundits. They tend to think that since our crimes are crimes of the heart rather than crimes of the mind, that we had good intentions but the result turned out bad, we should be absolved of moral responsibility. Harris makes the same argument in this book.
   
   This arrogance and ethnocentrism leads us to pursue policies that we know will result in innocent death while providing our minds with a supposed moral disconnect from reality that allows us to believe that our crimes are not really crimes at all since we were well intentioned. All of your objections to the contrary notwithstanding, it makes no difference to the mother of a child who was killed in an air raid whether or not you intended to drop the guided bomb unit on her child's school. And then when, rather than accepting responsibility for it, you as a nation attempt to rationalize and justify this reprehensible act, you breed the hatred and contempt that is felt for the West, the United States in particular, in the Muslim world.
   
   Although a moral equivalency does not exist, we must realize that we cannot simultaneously preach the tenants of modern liberalism/libertarianism while arrogantly spreading that ideology through force and ignoring the negative consequences of that policy simply because we are not as morally reprehensible as the other guy.
   
   As much as I agree with most of Harris' arguments so far, his errors with respect to this topic have biased me against his subsequent contentions.
   
   Having read Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Russell, Harris' conclusion regarding mysticism and spirituality devoid of dogmatic religious faith is what makes him stand out among the crowd. What I find most frustrating about End of Faith, even more so than the problems I mention above, is that Harris concludes with that remarkable argument, but does not do it justice. Having established that dogmatic religious faith is a detriment to human happiness, his proposal of an understanding of our existence based on empirical evidence, rather than ignorant superstition, is the most valuable contribution of this book. Compared to the extended lengths to which he goes to establish his argument against Islam, he merely glosses over the concept of Eastern mysticism and a legitimate connection to our existence that transcends petty terrestrial bickering. He sells himself short on this front. Hopefully once Mr. Harris completes his doctoral work on neuroscience he will release a follow-on title elaborating on this topic.

5 comments about The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley.

1. Even though i didnt enjoy being referred to as a white blue eyed devil every other paragraph. This book made me think and challenged me to treat my fellow man better. After reading about malcolms childhood and how he grew up i can now understand his bitterness and why he fought so hard for equality. I now see why time magazine voted it one of the best books of the century.



2. Every American should read this literature. It discusses America's most obvious flaw. More importantly it demonstrates the power of transformation, tolerance of self and of others, cooperation and the importance of hope.



3. An excellent unflinching book about Malcolm X read for my "Understanding Religious Traditions in Multicultural America" last spring. While at times unnerving to read due to its stark honesty, it was very illuminating. As a non-American, it really helped give me further insight into how powerful and tense race is of an issue in American culture. As someone born into a Muslim family, but is a closet agnostic, the perversions I felt Elijah Muhammad perpetuated made me severely uncomfortable anyway. Several parts of this book made me cry, or be wistful I could somehow have found peace in Islam as Malcolm X did.
   
   A very good book.



4. Despite the dispiriting revelation that this book was almost totally written by Alex Haley, "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" remains one of my favorite books. Which is a little strange, since his well-known struggles with civil rights, the police, Black identity, and Islam have little or no relevance to my life. Sorry.
   
   The part of this book that affects me most deeply is where Malcolm is in prison educating himself, studying on the floor of his cell in the dim night light. I can't think of another tale about the birth of an autodidact and the rewards of reading that is as uplifting and memorable as Malcolm's. I first read this book about twenty years ago, and that's the part that always sticks with me: the power of books to change your life, regardless of who you are or what you've done. And much of the rest sticks with me too, for example the poignant case of "West Indian Archie."
   
   I would like to advise, however, that you buy this edition: Autobiography of Malcolm X (Penguin Modern Classics), rather than the Ballantine edition, as the binding on the latter has proven unreliable, to say the least. I have gone through three different copies of the Ballantine edition of Malcolm X and the binding has fallen apart on all three of them -- to the point where the covers have come completely off, even though I don't really mistreat books. It can't just be bad luck.
   
   Malcolm X was said to have been a formidable debater, yet it's curious to me that none of his opponents ever made the obvious, unanswerable point: that whatever crimes and horrors the West can be charged with vis-à-vis the African slave trade, those of Islam have been even more extensive and blood-soaked. They go back a lot further, and continued a lot later. In fact, it was only two years previous to Malcolm's making his Hajj to Mecca (1964) that slavery was made illegal in Saudi Arabia!
   
   Hence jettisoning Christianity and Western culture for the supposed moral high ground of Islam was, when you think about it, a dingy move on Malcolm's part. Yet it is, unfortunately, the entirety of his position.
   
   But you'll find this book a cracking good read nonetheless.



5. I read this book along time ago and still retain alot of what I learned from it. There is no beating around the bush in this from the beginning he tells of his life as it happened. He tells of an early career in crime to his time in prison and he does not attempt to sugarcoat anything. He does explain his reasoning for having done what he had done in his youth, but he does not claim to be innocent.
   He did manage to find a better way to fight his enemies during his incarceration, and anyone who has ever seen any footage of Malcolm X will understand what I mean. The man was a very acticulate and confrontational speaker. He was the spark that ignited the engine of the civil rights movement in many respects. The civil rights movement began as far back as pre-civil war and was slow to develop with minor progress for each generation. Malcolm was the man brave enough to say enough and to make his voice heard over the many voices of the nation that tried to rise over him.
   Here is a man that took it upon himself to correct a society that had become accepting of the crimes of their ancestors and simply ignored them. It is only a stonesthrow back in time if you think about it and yet it is painful to imagine people could be so cruel.
   I recommend this to anyone who hasn't read it as it is an excellent book and is a document of the life of a man who managed to play a pivotal role in changing the way America viewed itself.

5 comments about Willful Blindness: Memoir of the Jihad.

1. Thank you Andrew C. McCarthy.
   
   I did not know the long history and total dedication as related here.
   
   Again Thanks



2. Willful Blindness by former prosecutor, Andrew McCarthy, is a must read for those who wish to inform their decision-making process. Although McCarthy's writing style is obtuse at times, he brings to the table a high level of credibility and this book should be read by all Americans and, especially by those who honestly believe that peace can be achieved through diplomacy or that "western style" democracy is achievable in the middle east. The talkers are necessary, but without our second-to-none military and our industrial capabilities, they have no power to pursuade. Let's all take the blinders off and see the world for the truly dangeous place it has become.



3. Everyone who doesn't want to learn Arabic and wants to keep their Bibles should read this book and think about what it says.
   
   Keep a dictionary handy, however. He uses a few Bill Buckley quality words.



4. In McCarthy's world, Arab militants apparently come out of a vacuum, or out of some passage from the Koran. What he and his admirers are willfully blind to is the brutality of U.S. foreign policy. Osama mentioned part of a long list of injustices - sanctions on Iraq that killed 500,000 children Iraq Under Siege, Updated Edition: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War, U.S. support of Israel's aggression against Palestine Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land: U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project). There is barely a word of any of this, and so much more, in the countless books like McCarthy's that seek to demonize our victims. Keep in mind, these allegedly evil people are the same people we were arming, training and applauding when they were killing Russians Terrorism: Theirs and Ours. Authoritarian Islamic fundamentalists are the same people that the U.S. is happy to work with in countries like Saudi Arabia The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity, or in Indonesia The United States and Right-Wing Dictatorships, 1965-1989.
   The sort of denial that McCarthy perpetuates is not only dishonest, it is dangerous. Most people are more civilized than us, and they don't seek vengence for all the suffering we heap upon them (i.e. - Vietnamese, Guatemalans, Haitians, El Salvadorans, Iranians, etc.), but we may someday receive another attack of blowback and it may be worse than the horror of 9/11. By the way, there is another 9/11 that we are willfully blind to; that is the September 11th that the corporate jihadists Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger inflicted upon Chile Chile: The Other September 11: An Anthology of Reflections on the 1973 Coup (Radical History).
   
   For those who choose to see inconvenient truths about U.S. militarism:
   Our Own Private Bin Laden
   Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians
   Why We Fight



5. A masterful expose' of the democrat's 9/10 viewpoint that has taken over the 2008 campaign

3 comments about Icon of Evil: Hitler's Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam.

1. On Tuesday, June 24th, we met Rabbi David Dalin at the Temple Judea in Coral Gables, Florida, where he was introducing his new book: Icon of Evil: Hitler's Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam.
   
   His presentation was excellent, detailing how in 1921, Haj Amin al-Husseini became the mufti of Jerusalem. After some research we learned that the word "mufti" means: (a) a Muslim jurist expert in the religious law, or (b) in the Ottoman Empire, a deputy of the chief Muslim legal adviser to the Sultan.
   
   Mr. Husseini, a most eminent and influential Islamic leader in the Middle East helped foment enmity against Jews in the region and in 1937 joined Nazi Germany because they shared a common enemy, the Jews. Mr. Husseini was seen by Hitler as an honorary Aryan.
   
   While Hitler had written racial inferiority remarks about the Muslims in his book "Mein Kampf," Hitler liked Mr. Husseini's looks, his "blond hair, red beard, and blue eyes, appeared to have been an exception." The cover of the book surfaces a photo that the author explained was hard to obtain, it is of a photograph taken of the mufti with the fuehrer himself, Adolf Hitler.
   
   The book details how Al-Husseini recruits thousands of Muslims in Europe to fight for the Waffen-SS, his protests about allowing Jews to move into Palestine, prevent the escape of Jewish children from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, who accompanied by 400 adults were to enter Palestine in exchange for the release of twenty thousand German prisoners of war.
   
   At some point, Al-Husseini "organized the dispatch of five parachuters to Palestine with ten containers of a toxin to poison Tel Aviv's water system. Fortunately, they were caught near Jericho before they could carry out their mission."
   
   One of the most horrific details provided by the author is that al-Husseini was instrumental in the implementation of the "Final-Solution" used by Germans to eliminate millions of Jewish lives. "In a radio broadcast from Berlin on September 21, 1944, al-Husseini spoke of the 11 million Jews" of the world, a fact that he could have only known because of his participation in their elimination. As far as the world knew, the figure was closer to 17 million.
   
   At the end of World War II, he left to live in France and later moved to Egypt, where he received a hero's welcome, developing relationships with the likes of Saddam Hussein's uncle, General Khairallah Talfah, Yasser Arafat, and his writings served to inspire terrorist groups, such as the Hamas, Hezbollah and others, hard at work to destroy the United States and Israel.
   
   A statement that has immense value to us is that we must learn from history if we are to prevent it from repeating in the future. At the end of the session, the audience asked many questions, but in particular I was rather interested on the mention of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion because I had heard of these before, but was not sure of what they meant, so we asked:
   
   1. What are "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion?" His answer:
   
   a. A czarist forgery, a fraudulent anti-Semitic write up, widely distributed throughout Palestine that alleges without proof that the Jewish people conspired on a plot to take hold of power, of a desire of world domination.
   
   Well, I got home and read the book, simply excellent. It was a pleasure to meet the author, to have the opportunity to get my book autographed and to learn more about how the seeds planted by Hitler have produced so much evil, for he is also responsible for inspiring the likes of Castro... and many other dictators.
   
   Don't miss this book!



2. This is an important and timely book. In order to understand the roots of modern Middle Eastern anti-semitism and the rise of radical Islamic violence it is essential to know this almost forgotten part of history. It should come as no surprise to find that it has its roots in the connection between the early 20th Century mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler himself.
   
   This book is a must-read for a better grasp on this history and also to appreciate the surprising political naivete by members of the British civil administration of Palestine. By choosing a a thoroughly unsuitable and unqualified leader for Jerusalem's Muslims, the British set the scene for much of today's Middle-Eastern turmoil.



3. This book helped me understand how the hatred and violence of today's fundamentalist Muslims really got started and has gained momentum over the last 100 years. Just like skinheads and Arian fanatics continue to propogate Hitler's form of "terrorism", the Mufti of Jerusalem wrote the playbook now followed by the fanatics who rule Hamas, al Qaeda, et. al.
   
   An important book that uncovers and exposes where it all began.

5 comments about The Complete Persepolis: Now a Major Motion Picture.

1. In the chapter "The Shabbat", set before she leaves for Austria in 1984, Marjane describes how Iraqi Scud missiles start raining down on Tehran, killing her Jewish childhood friend and neighbor, Neda. However, according to Jane's Intelligence Review and other sources, no missiles reached Tehran before Iraq's Al-Husayn missile programme in February 1988. Why would she lie about this?



2. Without harping too much on what has already been said about the political observations that Satrapi makes or her commentary on the limits faced by everyone (and most especially) women in Iran, the truly inspirational achievement of this work is how honest she can be about herself in the story. That with everything whirling around her, the fact that she can be honest about both the good and the bad of the relationships she'd been in, the despair both at home and abroad, the flickers of hope that she clung to during the darkest times and how (true to the reality of a hopeful young woman) the very worst thing that can happen is ultimately to let down yourself and to let down your loved ones is stark and amazing. The scene where she loses the trust and the good standing with her grand mother is heart-breaking and yet could happen to any teenage girl anywhere in the world. That it's depicted in basic drawings doesn't detract from the power of the moment in the least.
   
   And not that graphic novels these days have any trouble being seen as legitimate art, but Persepolis certainly puts a nail in the coffin of the arguments made by detractors.
   
   Trust this book for it's emotion, for it's personal honesty, for it's attempts to always find something good even under the most extreme circumstances. It is not a history book. It is a personal history book. And it is one that deserves applause.



3. I was surprised to find it was in comic strip format, but I enjoyed the lite reading.



4. This is my first Graphic Novel, but not my last. I loved the story and I felt that the book had a really nice flow. Marjane Satrapi as an exceptional story teller and has a very strong voice. I read this shortly after seeing the movie, and though I loved the movie, I felt that it left alot of important stuff out. The book really helped fill in some of the gaps, and you also got to see Satrapi's personality a bit more. I look forward to reading her other works. If you have never read a Graphic Novel, this is a great place to start.



5. I got this book as a gift. Honestly, I wasn't so sure at first. It is written like a comic book. But as I read it, I realized that it reads just like any book and that the comic pictures make it that much more interesting and unique. I learned a lot from this book, too. I would recommend it to anyone.