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L'ufficio Stampa Di Hezbollah Ti Augura Buon Compleanno. Incontri Inaspettati Nel Medio Oriente Che Cambia (2010)

by Neil MacFarquhar(Favorite Author)

3.83 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

8841863463 (ISBN13: 9788841863466)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

De Agostini

review 1: Mr. MacFarquhar writes a compelling narrative of the Middle East. He has criss-crossed it and brings us a multitude of stories from many different regions. There are a diversity of people encountered– from the ultra-religious to the secular – and a few who I would be rather reluctant to have in my living room. For the most part he lets them speak for themselves. This is not a diatribe against U.S. involvement in the Middle East or a polemic against the people who inhabit this troubled area.Religion, however, is seen to permeate the lives of all. It casts a pall over all facets of life – the political, social and cultural. As some in the book allude to – religion envelopes all the minor details of life – clothing, food, hygiene – that the individual has a diffic... moreult time to escape its clutches to view the bigger picture. One’s time becomes suffocated debating minor religious details.Saudi Arabia is the ultimate religious state which illustrates the other overriding issue in the Middle East – the subservient position of women. Although Mr. MacFarquhar speaks with several women, it is still the men who occupy positions of power. All clerical power is in the hands of men.This is an excellent “on the ground” book. All the people the author interviews live in the Middle East. There are various dissidents ranging from the right (religious) to the left. The word “dissident” is deliberate; it would not be proper to describe them as “opposition” as that would imply an organized party or group. Such groups are not permitted in the Middle East. This brings us to another aspect of life well presented in this book – the police state and repressive jails. One can be arrested by the police on any pretext and incarcerated for an undefined amount of time under appalling conditions.As Mr. MacFarquhar points out these are the human rights violations that Western countries should be concerned with. Setting up quasi-elections will not necessarily lead to ameliorating human rights.Perhaps the author could have been more forthcoming of the constant criticism of all Middle East countries to the Israeli treatment of Palestinians. While the issue is indeed valid, this criticism seems a smokescreen camouflaging the problems, well illustrated by Mr. MacFarquhar, within their own countries.
review 2: This is like reading a set of excellent articles about the Middle East from the New York Times magazine. Each chapter is pretty good, and the conclusions are solid, but the sum is only equal to the parts, not greater. The author is very perceptive about the problems and beauties of the Middle East, and writes quite well, although not with much poetry or great passion. What, then, is missing? Well, he wrote this when the Middle East was on the verge of a great change, and while some of that is anticipated in these pages, much of the book became of historical interest only after the Arab Spring. That's not his fault, but it does limit the utility of the book for those striving to understand current events. Also, he avoids writing much at all about Israel-Palestine, which is very odd, since the book constantly returns to how much that issue hurts the image of the United States in the region. Still, overall, I'm glad I read it. There are moments that are remarkably prescient, particularly the chapters on Egypt, and how Mubarak may fall. less

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