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pumpkinspies's review against another edition
2.0
I really wasn't a fan of this book. I liked the premise of it, and I liked the stories--but they were too thick with his opinions of the stories. He didn't just narrate, he applied a western lens to them. His bias was blatant from the introduction, and the stories were filtered through his feelings and reactions to to the storytellers.
There's some interesting stuff here, if you're willing to sift.
There's some interesting stuff here, if you're willing to sift.
abeanbg's review against another edition
5.0
Seems fair to call this essential reading if one wants to understand some of the political turmoil wracking the Middle East since 2011. Worth is an outstanding reporter whose eye for details and knack for getting telling stories from his subjects makes the whole book fly by. I was moved nearly to tears by the descriptions of the Tahir Square revolution and felt chilled to the bone by the stories of dissolution and fear in Syria and Yemen. Some hope remains, as the stabilization of Tunisia can attest, but so much is already lost.
I'm especially struck by Worth's insight that the same motivation can be seen behind events as different as Tahir Square and the rise of ISIS: people want to belong. They need to live in a state which respects them and won't rob them of dignity. Lacking that, they revolt in ways that cannot be fully grasped or contained. It presents a dark mirror for an American in 2017.
I'm especially struck by Worth's insight that the same motivation can be seen behind events as different as Tahir Square and the rise of ISIS: people want to belong. They need to live in a state which respects them and won't rob them of dignity. Lacking that, they revolt in ways that cannot be fully grasped or contained. It presents a dark mirror for an American in 2017.
unionmack's review against another edition
4.0
If you're looking for a brief but informative overview of the Arab Spring and its fallout, this is a great option. Worth manages to focus on the human element of each country he details, balancing the larger scale of events with specific personal narratives, all over the course of a relatively short time. In doing so, he reveals just how great a tragedy these still-unfolding events are shaping up to be. As I put this book down, I couldn't help but think those of us alive through this time were witness to the same dynamics as the Iranian Revolution—hope for a liberal democracy giving way to yet another, sometimes harsher, autocracy—playing out on a wider scale. And I, for one, hardly paid attention while it was happening. A very sad read but an important one if you want to understand how/why the Middle East is the way it is these days.
kyle_fowle's review against another edition
4.0
This is pretty incredible. Worth manages to take complex geopolitical situations and distill them into personal stories without losing any nuance. Hard to think of a better, more skillfully told overview of a specific period of time in the Middle East.
emscji's review
4.0
6-24-16: I never would have read this book had it not been assigned for our book club, but I am happy I made the effort. Not that I understood all of it, but considering how little I knew beforehand about the current struggles in the Middle East, I learned a great deal. (Now will I remember any of it? I hope so....) Worth is a strong writer, and he manages to explain a bit of history, introduce compelling characters and their stories, and draw helpful parallels among different countries and cultures, without getting bogged down in too much historical, political, religious, and cultural detail. He is also a very sympathetic observer, willing, and able, to look at and consider the multiple viewpoints that complicate each country's particular dilemma and conflict.
jeanm333's review
5.0
A Rage for Order is an excellent book that provides the background story of why the Arab Spring happened and what happened after. The human side of Arab Spring and the path to ISIS was a revealing, touching, disturbing, and ultimately depressing view of the Arab world since 2010.
Robert Worth was there in Tahrir Square when the first wave of the uprising against Mubarek's regime happened. He follows a doctor,Muhammed Beltagy, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood as he tries to convince the Brotherhood that the way they were handling the crisis was wrong.
He seems to be everywhere in the years following – with two women friends in Syria, a freedom fighter in Yemen and another in Libya, and two elder statesmen on both sides of the Arab world in Tunisia. Through his interviews with these people, I learned about how their lives had been affected by the great events happening in their countries.
The book is in two sections. I read the first chapter about Egypt, and skipped immediately to the chapter about Egypt in the second section. Then I went back and read the rest of the first and second sections.
Worth’s writing is beautiful, touching. I cry for these people and repel in horror from the cruelty and violence. This is a world I had never imagined and it will haunt me for a long time.
Robert Worth was there in Tahrir Square when the first wave of the uprising against Mubarek's regime happened. He follows a doctor,Muhammed Beltagy, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood as he tries to convince the Brotherhood that the way they were handling the crisis was wrong.
He seems to be everywhere in the years following – with two women friends in Syria, a freedom fighter in Yemen and another in Libya, and two elder statesmen on both sides of the Arab world in Tunisia. Through his interviews with these people, I learned about how their lives had been affected by the great events happening in their countries.
The book is in two sections. I read the first chapter about Egypt, and skipped immediately to the chapter about Egypt in the second section. Then I went back and read the rest of the first and second sections.
Worth’s writing is beautiful, touching. I cry for these people and repel in horror from the cruelty and violence. This is a world I had never imagined and it will haunt me for a long time.
ekul's review
5.0
Really kaleidoscopic, Robert Worth is able to zoom in and out with ease. Most of these chapters emphasize a few individuals and a couple stories, which are then used to talk more broadly about individual societies. Although I can't properly evaluate a number of cases here, I thought Worth's treatment of Tunisia was particularly interesting. In that chapter, he analyzes the relationship between the late former president, Beji Caid Essebsi, and the leader of the Islamist Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi, to see how a national dialogue was built and brought Tunisia out of its 2013-14 constitutional crisis. I'm going to use this review to talk a little bit about Worth's treatment of Tunisia.
Worth is truly sympathetic to both of these individuals, although I do get the sense that he prefers Ghannouchi. Ghannouchi is treated as an individual as committed to liberal democracy as he is to developing a more Islamic society. Essebsi, in contrast, as seen as a positive [although weaker] symbol of the old Bourguibist strain in Tunisian politics. To Worth, Rached Ghannouchi laid his entire political career on the line to safeguard Tunisian democracy and avert civil war, whereas Essebsi made a few less significant overtures and the Quartet merely mediated the affair. In large part, I do agree with Worth's treatment of Ghannouchi, but I think one failing he has is that by emphasizing the role of individuals, he misses the larger potential threat of Ennahda. At some point, Ennahda will need to move from collaboration to confrontation if it wants to maintain its role as a potentially generative force in Tunisian politics [for more on this shift, see Sarah Yerkes's and Zeineb Ben Yahmed's article here].
In addition--as much as I respect Bajbouj--I think Worth downplays the issues with his political history and the corruption in Tunisian politics. Take the critical role of Nabil Karoui, for instance, in arranging the series of meetings between Essebsi and Ghannouchi. As anyone who follows Tunisian politics knows, Karoui is corrupt as fuck and I don't doubt that Essebsi had a stake in Karoui's corruption. I don't have the patience to deal with Karoui here, but I will say that I'm glad he lost the presidency to Kais Saied last year.
Worth is truly sympathetic to both of these individuals, although I do get the sense that he prefers Ghannouchi. Ghannouchi is treated as an individual as committed to liberal democracy as he is to developing a more Islamic society. Essebsi, in contrast, as seen as a positive [although weaker] symbol of the old Bourguibist strain in Tunisian politics. To Worth, Rached Ghannouchi laid his entire political career on the line to safeguard Tunisian democracy and avert civil war, whereas Essebsi made a few less significant overtures and the Quartet merely mediated the affair. In large part, I do agree with Worth's treatment of Ghannouchi, but I think one failing he has is that by emphasizing the role of individuals, he misses the larger potential threat of Ennahda. At some point, Ennahda will need to move from collaboration to confrontation if it wants to maintain its role as a potentially generative force in Tunisian politics [for more on this shift, see Sarah Yerkes's and Zeineb Ben Yahmed's article here].
In addition--as much as I respect Bajbouj--I think Worth downplays the issues with his political history and the corruption in Tunisian politics. Take the critical role of Nabil Karoui, for instance, in arranging the series of meetings between Essebsi and Ghannouchi. As anyone who follows Tunisian politics knows, Karoui is corrupt as fuck and I don't doubt that Essebsi had a stake in Karoui's corruption. I don't have the patience to deal with Karoui here, but I will say that I'm glad he lost the presidency to Kais Saied last year.
vinayvasan's review
4.0
The summer of discontent that gripped a whole bunch of Arab nations is examined here in brief but from a different level, a more ground level view that takes a hard look at the people in the thick of things, their passion, their mistakes, their fears and ultimately their regrets.
What the book also does a bit differently compared to some of the others in this field is to spend time looking at the consequences of the so called revolutions and ultimately link it to the rise of ISIS. Robert Worth brings to life the effects that religion has with respect to nation building. For all the talk of keeping religion out of politics, its a difficult beast to manage when religion is so tightly woven into the fabric of nations. Ultimately it requires individuals willing to hold the nation dear than power to drive that change. A fact that most of these countries now rue as they grapple with the consequences, especially as ISIS rears its ugly head. In-depth reporting, fantastic storytelling and incisive commentary, this is a must read for everyone (incl Trump :P)
What the book also does a bit differently compared to some of the others in this field is to spend time looking at the consequences of the so called revolutions and ultimately link it to the rise of ISIS. Robert Worth brings to life the effects that religion has with respect to nation building. For all the talk of keeping religion out of politics, its a difficult beast to manage when religion is so tightly woven into the fabric of nations. Ultimately it requires individuals willing to hold the nation dear than power to drive that change. A fact that most of these countries now rue as they grapple with the consequences, especially as ISIS rears its ugly head. In-depth reporting, fantastic storytelling and incisive commentary, this is a must read for everyone (incl Trump :P)
brynhammond's review
4.0
I’m chary of ‘literary journalism’ claims (once bitten, twice shy), but yeah. At times this acts like a tragic novel. A few of its human portraits are art + reality.
Interspersed is introductory material, so you don’t lose your footing even if you’re not up with current events (me) or with history.
Neither the ecstasy of the attempt, nor the sadness of its failure, are smudged over or sacrificed one to the other.
I felt funny about some sentences, which inhibits me from 5*.
I read it in an afternoon and evening; it’s short and novelesque enough to want to do so.
Interspersed is introductory material, so you don’t lose your footing even if you’re not up with current events (me) or with history.
Neither the ecstasy of the attempt, nor the sadness of its failure, are smudged over or sacrificed one to the other.
I felt funny about some sentences, which inhibits me from 5*.
I read it in an afternoon and evening; it’s short and novelesque enough to want to do so.
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