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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Calling all bookworms...new book recommendations?? |
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| jannah |
| 03/09/05 at 20:59:56 |
| slm, I need one more book to make free shipping on Amazon!!! So what is out there that is new and interesting??? BTW I found this interesting list up there.. books mentioned by Sh. Hamza in his speeches http://munawarali.ca/shhamza/reco_list.asp Check it out.. anyone read any of thse...? Note that all are not recommended, just mentioned in his speeches Fiction, Non-fiction, Islamic, ethnic fiction?? I'll tell u guys what i'm getting so far later ;) wlm, |
| 03/09/05 at 23:15:49 |
| jannah |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| buL-buL |
| 03/09/05 at 21:26:06 |
| walaykum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. Haven't read it yet myself but have heard good reviews from everyone who has. |
| 03/09/05 at 21:29:47 |
| buL-buL |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| Aadhil |
| 03/09/05 at 22:19:51 |
| [slm] Why not try one of P.G Wodehouses.... 'The white feather' would be a good start. p.s These books also tend to be addictive :D. |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| jannah |
| 03/09/05 at 23:17:40 |
| slm, malika, i was thinking about that... but i don't know anyone personally who has read that either.. some ethnic fiction can just end up like really anti-muslim... like alot of these stories about women having miserable lives, being forced to have arranged marriages (ala monica ali) etc... thanx for the suggestion tho ;) muslim, wodehouse?? never heard of him.. who is he what does he write about?? |
| 03/09/05 at 23:20:41 |
| jannah |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| Sparrow |
| 03/10/05 at 07:59:24 |
| I am reading Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. It's non-fiction, written by an Indian man who moved to NYC when he was 14 and then returned to Bombay (as a journalist) with his wife and sons, to rediscover the city he left as a boy. I am three chapters in and it is really compelling. Just as a heads up, the chapter I am reading talks alot about Muslim/Hindu violence. IMO it's a pretty balanced discussion of the topic but I am also an outsider to it all so my sensibilities are different. I recommend the book to anyone interested in the cultural and social history of cities. Sparrow |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| buL-buL |
| 03/10/05 at 10:25:26 |
| asalaam alaykum. As far as I know, it has nothing to do with marriage. It's historical fiction novel. It's basically about a friendship between a boy named Amir and his father's servant's son, Hassan. Amir betrays Hassan and the guilt stays with him even after he leaves Afghanistan and comes to America. I believe he goes back for some cathartic release. It also gives you some insight into the culture and history of Afghanistan. I probably didn't make it sound any interesting but when I get a chance to read it, I will let you know if it was good. It's definitely on my to-do list. ;) |
| 03/10/05 at 14:44:36 |
| buL-buL |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| timbuktu |
| 03/10/05 at 13:31:13 |
| [slm] I read small portions of it, and I think it wasn't bad. Yes it is about this Pushtun boy, whose playmate is a Hazara one, and the difference in their station and outlook towards each other is different. The Hazara boy would do anyhting for Amir, but Amir doesn't feel the same. but I shouldn't take the pleasure of discovery from you. read it yourself. :) |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| jannah |
| 03/10/05 at 14:40:47 |
| slm, k, this is what i ordered: The Far Pavillions - M.M. Kaye Regards from the Dead Princess: Novel of a Life - Keniz Mourad The Niche of Lights - David Buchman The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Poems of Arab Andalusia - Cola Franzen Tulip in the Desert: A Selection fo the Poetry of Muhammad Iqbal - Mustansir Mir I wanted some light ethnic fiction type stuff too... but wasn't sure about spending money for stuff i didn' t know about. There seems to be an explosion in desi ethnic fiction... like i have a list of about 20 books... but it's so subjective and there's soooo many books out there. Maybe its better to get those from the library and see if any of them are any good?? |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| Aadhil |
| 03/10/05 at 18:22:27 |
| [slm] I know. No one has ever heard of wodehouse in America. Once you read one of his books you'll prolly end up reading his entire collection. Its all comedy, great for relaxing after a stressfull day. If you don't wan't to spend the money....most library's have his books. Come to think of it i've never seen a lib. that does not have his books 8). |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| Ruqayyah |
| 03/10/05 at 20:28:27 |
| salam :) how about "An Audience of One" by Majid Mohiuddin. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0970783132/qid=1110504050/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/104-9949517-7353563?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 I saw a little advertisement for it in Islamic Horizons- it sounds great! This book is a collection of Islamic Ghazals (poems) on prayer and faith. The Ghazal titles correspond to the times and names of the five daily prayers said by Muslims. Each Ghazal takes you on a journey to a place where you can replenish the spiritual senses. It is a masterful collection of poems that brings the beauty of traditional Islamic Ghazals in English to a modern audience. |
| 03/10/05 at 20:29:29 |
| Ruqayyah |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| jannah |
| 03/11/05 at 01:50:17 |
| slm, I found your P Wodehouse person!!! http://www.literaturepage.com/read/wodehouse-the-man-upstairs.html I read the first story its sooo cute... i think i'll read the rest online too ;) thanx, wlm, |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| anon |
| 03/11/05 at 02:21:17 |
| [slm] I think anyone who has even a tiny bit of interest in Islamic history, especially about the collapse of the Ottomon empire and the British rule in the subcontinent during the last century must read: Regards from the Dead Princess: Novel of a Life - Keniz Mourad Even if you have utter disregard for history, the novel has immense biographical and fictional value. The writer is the daughter of Keniz Mourad who was raised in France as her mother died during childbirth. She tried to reconstruct the life of her mother through historical records and interviews with people who had known Kaniz-e-mourad. She states that she used her imagination and instict to fill in the information gaps that her research could not obtain. Unfortunately her imagination led her to make a person she herself portrays as an extremely devout Muslim to be chronically homesexual. Also some of the bouts of wild indecency Keniz-e-Mourad is forced to perform in the book seem to stem more from her daughters imagination than historical facts. I say this because according to the book itself the mother of Kaniz-e-Mourad, Sultana Hatije is shown to be very moral and conservative. Kaniz-e-Mourad is shown to have great love for her mother and to have been influenced the most by the Sultana! Although the writer does try to present a psychological basis for the bouts of indecency, it seems clear that there has been extrapolation in atleast a couple of situations. |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| se7en |
| 04/02/05 at 00:56:40 |
| as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, At Borders the other day I picked up a book called [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375413189/qid=1112421253/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-3677145-3227867]"The Spiral Staircase"[/url], a book of memoirs by Karen Armstrong. First of all, Karen Armstrong is a *very* good writer! It was a very easy and well flowing read and I was quickly engrossed in her story - leaving the convent after seven years of intellectual and spiritual discontent and doubts about God, trying to adjust to a 'normal life', and finally her return to spirituality and a sense of religosity.. though not with any established religion. Her reverence for Islam and the Prophet [saw] was so refreshing to read; and it was interesting to read that it was in studying Rasulullah [saw]'s life that she was able to reawaken her sense of spirituality and sense of the divine after such a long journey of cynicism and doubt. I would recommend reading it if you are interested in reading a non-Muslim's spiritual journey (but be careful, because the doubts she espouses on so articulately may cause confusion if you are in a shaky state in your eman) and also if you have read Armstrong's books on religion and would like to know her background (it really grants you insight into her works and helps to understand where her books are coming from). Personally, I feel that perhaps the next stage in her spiritual journey will be in accepting the ultimate truth of the straight path. I ask Allah to guide her to His deen, Ameen! w'Allahu a'lam wasalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah |
| 04/02/05 at 01:00:51 |
| se7en |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| jannah |
| 04/03/05 at 03:20:05 |
| wlm, to be honest if she ever did become muslim i don't think any of her books would be well respected or studied in classrooms. same as with edward said... a lot of people were very sad that he passed away without taking shahada but again if he did all of his books and work would be taken as 'a mozlim defending his ppl' kind of thing. sometimes i think we should just accept that there should be alot of people in the world that have a good understanding of islam and spread tolerance about it. of course in our hearts we would like them to become muslim and if we ever got a chance to interact with them I for one would sure bring it up...but it is for Allah to guide and their choice at the end. i still believe our goal is to give everyone the knowledge of islam, let them understand it's true teachings, whether or not they become muslim is a whole other thing... anywayz back to the books.. i read Far Pavillions.. which at first was so good I couldn't put it down...and this is an 800 page book so is no mean feat!! luckily there were a couple 5 hour flights in there so the book was put to good use but eventually i just don't like where the author took the hero... kinda renouncing everything around him and becoming an atheist or just believer of something not knowing what it was...and she kinda goes on these long winded diatribes against religions: hindu, muslim, chirstian (altho not so bad on her own i guess). i mean the whole book is pretty shocking if u thought muslims at the time of the raj were good muslims... realistically there were alot more things going on politically, killing each other for the crown etc and that was brought out which was kinda amusing if u don't think about it too much... but after the climax of the book where the hero and heroine get together u can just rip out the last 200 pages. it just gets boring and into alot of politics with one of the lesser characters or maybe i'm an incurable romantic and after they get together whats the point :) then the other book i'm reading is Regards from the dead... this book is kind of painful to read in that it really brings home how the ottoman empire was destroyed by the superpowers of that time and divided up as spoils. and seriously the evil way they went about it by playing muslims off against each other just makes me want to grind my teeth even now. the sad thing is we keep making the same mistakes.. never uniting to fight the outsiders so they just take us down one by one...and never taking advantage of our strengths like our lack of race, our women, etc etc anyway its definitely fiction even if its based loosely on someone's life..yeah it does have some wack things (she has this unbelievable hatred of hijab like something i would expect for a missionary not a muslim).. and certain scenes...but what ethnic fiction book doesn't have some wackness... wackness is what sells.. if u write a politically correct book i think they call that 'non fiction' ;) i can't say i would recommend either book.. they are rather... disturbing and at times almost a tiny bit traumatizing.. i'm too hesitant to take up the Kite runner... maybe in a few months after i recover :D aiite fellow bookworms.. over and out... |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| timbuktu |
| 04/03/05 at 06:33:06 |
| [slm] [quote]how the ottoman empire was destroyed by the superpowers of that time and divided up as spoils. and seriously the evil way they went about it by playing muslims off against each other just makes me want to grind my teeth even now. the sad thing is we keep making the same mistakes.. never uniting to fight the outsiders so they just take us down one by one...and never taking advantage of our strengths like our lack of race, our women, etc etc.[/quote] this thread is about books, so your grinding of teeth is a divergence. :) by why grind your teeth. Satan is always going to play his part. And we must recognise that the Ottoman Empire had become corrupt, and it was cruel to its non-Muslim subjects. plus, it was based on agrarian feudalism which cannot compete with the surplus produced by industrial societies. There are explanations of decline of societies from the classical texts. From ibne Khaldoon onwards there has been no dearth of the analyses and of cures offered. But you have hit the nail on the head by pointing to our lack of tolerance and unity. Nasser's Egypt and Saudi Arabia fought a war in the Yemen. There have been wars between Mauritania and Morocco, and Algeria, and within these, too. Our leaders and our administrators still live in the age where the illusion of all is well is obtained through suppression of dissenting voices. To this must be added our lack of foresight. I mean, the oil income should have been used to transform our nations, but this was used to prop up and sustain superpowers. Where we show this tolerance, we go overboard and jettison the fundamentals even. The problem then is our feudal mindset. |
| Re: Calling all bookworms...new book recommendatio |
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| Anonymous |
| 04/12/05 at 23:32:02 |
| Salaam Sister, I have read 'The Kite Runner' and I have to say it is a very traumatic read. This is a major spoiler but I want everyone to know what the book is about so they are not emotionally unprepared like I was. Basically the main story is about two young boys growing up in Afghanistan, one is the son of the house and one is the son of the servant. They grow up as boys together and one day some bullies do something absolutely horrible to the servant boy - they sodomize him in an alley and the son of the house watches and does nothing. This changes his entire life and the rest of the story is based on this. The story is so emotional, that I wanted to vomit at some points and was crying in others. It is also very anti-Islamic. In every place Islam is mentioned the author makes Islam out to be a religion of "mullahs with long beards parroting strange tongues". In every point where he could have shown the difference between Islam and culture, or to show Islam in an objective if not positive light, he does not. The author does end up praying and fasting, but it is more for penance or in return for something he wants. But the book is filled with Muslims who do nothing but smoke and drink and don't believe in God. The book does show the horror of war in Afghanistan but it also makes the US out to be the hero, land of the free and protector of the weak etc. The Taliban are shown to be the evilest people who do do the most horrible things and destroy their country, kill people for sport and enforce barbarity, starvation and depravity upon the people. For a long time I could not understand why this book is currently #2 on the New York Times Bestsellers' list! Now I know. I spent my time thinking of how I could change a few words here and there, change the story a little and how positive it would have been for Islam and Afghanistan. So basically my recommendation: don't read it. The writer is excellent, the story powerful, but in the end do you want all that haunting you and the disgusting unislamic images to stay with you? It's like watching a pornographic film that has a powerful story. In the end, what possible benefit can it give you except making you disgusted with the world and inevitably, the author? Anyway, my .02 cents. |
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| se7en |
| 04/15/05 at 23:42:16 |
| as salaamu alaykum, [quote]Wa 'Alaikum Assalaam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh to be honest if she ever did become muslim i don't think any of her books would be well respected or studied in classrooms. same as with edward said... a lot of people were very sad that he passed away without taking shahada but again if he did all of his books and work would be taken as 'a mozlim defending his ppl' kind of thing. sometimes i think we should just accept that there should be alot of people in the world that have a good understanding of islam and spread tolerance about it. of course in our hearts we would like them to become muslim and if we ever got a chance to interact with them I for one would sure bring it up...but it is for Allah to guide and their choice at the end. i still believe our goal is to give everyone the knowledge of islam, let them understand it's true teachings, whether or not they become muslim is a whole other thing... [/quote] na'am, I understand what you're saying, but when you are reading the memoirs of someone you are really getting deep insight into their spiritual struggle and growth, and at some points when reading the book, especially at the times when she felt so distant from God, I was just thinking dude: I hope the next page talks about how she happens to find a copy of the Quran in a bookstore. or dude, I hope she meets a Muslim and gets to talking about spirituality and closeness to God. or something. it's like.. it's like seeing somone blindfolded at a dinner table with all these empty glasses in front of them, and one glass, so close to their grasp, is a nice, cold refreshing pepsi. you just wish for that person to be able to quench their thirst and experience the goodness, u know what I mean? :) it's not that I'm trying to have the whole world embrace Islam. though, that would be very cool, and also good for the environment. wasalaamu alaykum 8) |
| 04/15/05 at 23:46:53 |
| se7en |
| re: |
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| se7en |
| 04/15/05 at 23:47:53 |
| btw, it's only in the last like, 50 pages of the 250 page book that she mentions Islam.. just so u know.. :) |
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