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A review by suzemo
Minaret by Leila Aboulela
2.0
I will go ahead and just throw it out there that I don't like religion. I don't like any kind of system that is used to oppress and control people, which is what I think of (in general) when I/we/people talk of religion.
So we have this privileged girl, who is being raised in a very patriarchal system (governed by a patriarchal religion), who loses her privilege, position, and a lot of her support system (and her "way"), and then finds her "way" by immersing herself in that religion. She is raised not to think her way out of a wet paper sack, and she is left alone... and finds a way to continue not thinking...
Meh. I dislike reading books where I feel frustrated because characters choose helplessness or don't choose to empower themselves.
As for the writing - meh. It felt a little canned. The characters seemed to be predictable, one dimensional. I do like that the story was current with occasional flashbacks only because it made it feel a little less bogged down. If I read the characters life straight through, I probably would have stalled out half way through the book.
So we have this privileged girl, who is being raised in a very patriarchal system (governed by a patriarchal religion), who loses her privilege, position, and a lot of her support system (and her "way"), and then finds her "way" by immersing herself in that religion. She is raised not to think her way out of a wet paper sack, and she is left alone... and finds a way to continue not thinking...
Meh. I dislike reading books where I feel frustrated because characters choose helplessness or don't choose to empower themselves.
As for the writing - meh. It felt a little canned. The characters seemed to be predictable, one dimensional. I do like that the story was current with occasional flashbacks only because it made it feel a little less bogged down. If I read the characters life straight through, I probably would have stalled out half way through the book.