Here's what I wrote about in 2008 about this read: "Interesting reading, an Australian-American woman's observations of Islam and Muslim women, while she traveled through the Middle East. Not flattering, and likely a bit biased but educational none-the-less." ( )

I've started reading Nine Parts of Desire a couple of times now and have not made it through yet; I get bogged down in the middle somehow with the details of political systems and the way it jumps around from place to place with different practices in each place. I also wonder what has changed over the 25 years since the book was written. The overall impression, of course, is of oppression of women's rights by those in authority (men!). This book focuses on Islam, but Christianity is certainly no stranger to this phenomenon either. The fundamentalists in our own country spring to mind immediately. It is disheartening to me how religion has been used for centuries by a self-appointed few (again, primarily men!) who claim to have inside knowledge of what is correct behavior for all and use their power to beat others over the head, figuratively and often literally. ( )

A very interesting book.
As a whole I liked it, it was nicely written. I found the jumping from one country to another, from one occasion to another at times confusing, but the main reason I read this book (information about women and their role(s) in Islamic societies, I got that already :-) ( )

Fascinating stories of life in repressive theocracies. ( )

This is an excellent, thought-provoking book. Written before 9/11/01, it is a documentation of the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism that has since been such a concern, but primarily an examination of the place of women in Islamic culture - a somewhat paradoxical and often complex place.

I learned a great deal from this book, about Islam, the Middle East and its history, and the state of women in that part of the world. I have often said that I think of Islam as "younger" religion that is about where Christianity was in the Middle Ages. Certainly, Christianity could be accused of many of the injustices against women that are documented in this book as well as the intolerance of other faiths, but I like to think most Christians have progressed past some of that. It is easy for Westerners to say that Muslim culture is backward and flawed, but I think it's dangerous to think we are very much better; Islam has some appealing characteristics and some progressive followers.

Each section in this book addresses a different aspect of women's lives, from marriage and family to education, work, the arts, and sports. Brooks tells the stories of women from countries throughout the Middle East and also Africa and Asia. I enjoyed "meeting" the various women in this book and seeing the variety in their experiences of Islam.

I also learned more about the controversial (at least in my part of the world) faith of Islam. There are many parallels between Islam and Christianity, including both having a charismatic founder and each having both a sacred "source" text and supplemental interpretive texts (the Koran and hadith for Islam, the Gospels and Paul for Christianity). Some of the differences that I find pivotal are the fact that Muhammad was a warrior while Jesus was decidedly not, and that Muhammad left a record of his behavior as a husband and father while we have no such record related to Jesus (though I have often wished we Christians did have his example to follow in those areas).

This book increased my already high regard for Geraldine Brooks, who is a wonderful writer and inquisitive and daring reporter. While it is clear that she doesn't agree with all of the practice of Islam, she generally maintains an objectivity about her subject and manages to find the beauty and positive features of her subject as well.

I highly recommend this book! ( )