Overall this book was very detailed and excellent in showing how life really is in Saudi Arabia, but also how the women are treated. I give her credit on writing a book about the tough restrictions of being a Saudi women, and even sharing her opposition about it was really brave. Most women there live there lives in fear and Carmen Bin Ladin went outside the norm, to really share her personal accounts of such a suffocated life.
They way she writes bring out lots of imagery, at least in my mind it did. You can really picture the clothes they wore, and the very polite and boring tea parties the women would have. Her emotions were so deep and captivating, that when you read it, it made it seem like you were in her shoes. She has a lot of passion in her goals for her daughters too and that showed throughout her writing. I think she did what was best for herself and daughters, by moving out of Saudi Arabia, and divorcing her husband. This shows strength in her actions, and should give hope to many women who believe they can't leave their homes because of restrictions or because their husbands are controlling. Unfortunately though, it's not important for women to be educated in Saudi Arabia, so they may never get to read such an excellent memoir as this. Anyone who is feeling alone and helpless in the world should read it though. Carmen Bin Ladin was in the worst rut of her life, yet she managed to get out of it. Her life isn't perfect she explains, but she is trying to make the best of it, especially after the 9/11 attack, when people thought she was involved because she was related to the Bin Ladins. She desperately wanted people to know that just because she was a Bin Ladin, didn't mean she thought like any of them or were anything close to Osama Bin Ladin. She's a good person, and it really shows through the choices she made, in the experiences she had, in Saudi Arabia.
One main point in the memoir was to show how women should be treated with equal rights, because they have just as much potential as men do. She feels it's unnecessary to keep women locked up in a house all day, wearing long scarves, when they could be educating themselves. They should be allowed to have male friends she explains, with out them having to look away, because it's considered "cheating" if you look at a man that is not your husband. She is basically an advocate for women's rights, which i really liked. In general, this is also a great book just to know about other cultures and how they can be different then America's. Her memoir made me really grateful that I had all my basic rights, and didn't have to live in such a confined place. I'm lucky to live in a country, where for the most part, women's intelligence is accepted and praised. Any book that really makes me think about my life, culture, justice, etc, is a good book in my opinion!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Memoir Journal # 4
In the last part of the book, there is a deep atmosphere of sadness and loss. Carmen Bin Ladin knows she has lost any hope of Saudi Arabia becoming a more modern and accepting place. But also she has lost in her husband in a sense, because he ends up having an affair with some other women. She had put so much into the relationship, and in the end, didn't get much back. Her husband didn't really care for the kids, but also became a changed person, as times of crisis in his country came about. Carmen Bin Ladin had these hopes and dreams for her her life, for her education of her children, for the well-being of her country, and for her husband to toughen up more. But she hits a dramatic climax in the story where she realizes this can never happen in Saudi Arabia. She knew she had to get out of there, or nothing would change. Carmen and her husband ended up getting a seperation, and to this day, he does not talk to his daughters.
Carmen Bin Ladin becomes very weak (physically), during the time of her daughter's birth because she has so much going on like the pressure to sign prenuptial documents or else Yeslam would take away their daughter, and the stress of a lengthy divorce. She was trying to piece her family together by herself, but in the end, things didn't work out with her and Yeslam. Even though she became weak for awhile, she was still mentally strong, and had the will to make her daughter's lives successful. In the book she says, " I have come to believe that dealing with my unbelievably lengthy divorce is the price that I will have to pay for my daughters' freedom". Even though she got herself into a bad situation, she fought hard for custody of her kids, and the knowledge and respect they would learn in Geneva. Her strength is something for all women to look up to, especially those who feel suffocated and alone like in Saudi Arabia.
Carmen Bin Ladin becomes very weak (physically), during the time of her daughter's birth because she has so much going on like the pressure to sign prenuptial documents or else Yeslam would take away their daughter, and the stress of a lengthy divorce. She was trying to piece her family together by herself, but in the end, things didn't work out with her and Yeslam. Even though she became weak for awhile, she was still mentally strong, and had the will to make her daughter's lives successful. In the book she says, " I have come to believe that dealing with my unbelievably lengthy divorce is the price that I will have to pay for my daughters' freedom". Even though she got herself into a bad situation, she fought hard for custody of her kids, and the knowledge and respect they would learn in Geneva. Her strength is something for all women to look up to, especially those who feel suffocated and alone like in Saudi Arabia.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Tim O' Brien's - " How to Tell a True War Story"
I think O'Brien is basically saying there really isn't a full blown-out true war story or at least it takes a few times telling it, to get it right. In his excerpt, he retells the story a few times, trying to remember every detail correctly. In each new story about this guy,Lemon, something changes, but by the end, after he gives us all these tips, it is the truest it can ever be. There always will be a few changes when you tell the story the next time, or the time after that. But he belives there are some hints when some can sound more fake or real. If your war story has these certain aspects such as it has no moral, it's unbelievable, and other such things, you have yourself a true war story.
I believe some of the things he comments on, can be applied to other stories in general. Some stories just seem so unrealistic if people exaggerate, some never seem to end, the real stories seem to make you feel certain emotions, etc. But all in all, I thought his excerpt was an interesting perspective on how to tell if there's truth to a story or not.
I believe some of the things he comments on, can be applied to other stories in general. Some stories just seem so unrealistic if people exaggerate, some never seem to end, the real stories seem to make you feel certain emotions, etc. But all in all, I thought his excerpt was an interesting perspective on how to tell if there's truth to a story or not.
Memoir Journal # 3
As the story of Carmen Bin Ladin's life unfolds, it gets more and more intense, in each new chapter I read. Disaster is happening all around her. In Iran, there had been more freedom there for women, but traditionalists attacked, and chaos began there, which affected Saudi Arabia in many ways. Carmen Bin Ladin even describes her country moving backwards, when just recently, the country had been moving forward in a modern way. People in Saudi Arabia (including herself), have become fearful of what might happen to them, and so the princes take charge, and inforce more religious rules then ever on the people of Saudi Arabia. This bothers Carmen, because throughtout the book, you can tell she become somewhat of a feminist, and tried to help change some of the strict rules for women in Saudi Arabia. She tries to teach her own children (who are girls), that they do have their own minds, and don't have to conform. Carmen symbolizes modernism in her children's lives, while Saudi Arabia is a symbol of backwardness and old ways. Carmen has a character struggle with herself, because she tries to figure out what is the best way to raise her children in such a conformed society. She knows if she brings them up in western ways, she is teaching them to rebel against the society they live in. But if she continues to let them be influenced by their school and Saudi Arabians, they will grow up to having inequality, no justice, being materialistic, and other harsh things. She is trying to be the strong one in her family, since she believes her husband to be this changed, childish stranger, who once use to have all the strength and drive in the world.
One chapter that really struck me, was one about Carmen Bin Ladin's sister-in-law, who has just recently got married, and her husband dies in a car accident, a few years later. At the mourning of her sister-in-laws husband named Majid, the only thing her sister-in-law can say about the tragedy is, "It's God"s will. May be it's all for the best. Perhaps if he had lived he would have divorced me and taken my chilfren." It showed she had no remorse for her husband and i found that kind of shocking. I couldn't believe that she was not even sad about her husband dying and having no emotions. Later on, on another day, Carmen Bin Ladin decides to go visit Majid's mother to be supportive, and her sister-in-law comes out of her house, right before she is living and asks her to give something to his mother. Inside this note is a bill for their cook's salary. I couldn't believe how selfish she was to give that to someone, when their son has just died. It shows no respect in my opinion to the death of her own husband. It made me very upset to see someone with as little emotion and carelessness as that. Basically as I read more and more, I become more emotionally attached to the book, and feel the author's pain.
One chapter that really struck me, was one about Carmen Bin Ladin's sister-in-law, who has just recently got married, and her husband dies in a car accident, a few years later. At the mourning of her sister-in-laws husband named Majid, the only thing her sister-in-law can say about the tragedy is, "It's God"s will. May be it's all for the best. Perhaps if he had lived he would have divorced me and taken my chilfren." It showed she had no remorse for her husband and i found that kind of shocking. I couldn't believe that she was not even sad about her husband dying and having no emotions. Later on, on another day, Carmen Bin Ladin decides to go visit Majid's mother to be supportive, and her sister-in-law comes out of her house, right before she is living and asks her to give something to his mother. Inside this note is a bill for their cook's salary. I couldn't believe how selfish she was to give that to someone, when their son has just died. It shows no respect in my opinion to the death of her own husband. It made me very upset to see someone with as little emotion and carelessness as that. Basically as I read more and more, I become more emotionally attached to the book, and feel the author's pain.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Memoir Journal # 2
In these last recent chapters I've read, I find Carmen Bin Ladin to be struggling still with her identity in Saudi Arabia, and the pressure to be a "good" person in terms that her family ( the Bin Ladins), define. The conflict in her life becomes increasingly more unbearable, as she tries to become this perfect wife and try to impress her new family. The atmosphere is very hostile, and at first, Bin Ladin really tries to fit in, and is naive in thinking that the way women are being treated will get better. She is basically struggling with this internal conflict on what's right to her, and what's right to the family she is trying to fit in to.
She soons hits a stage where she has gone past being naive and really sees the effects of how men are treating women, and how they are actually nothing to men, in society. Saudi Arabia it seems, symbolizes the women as being useless, nothing, and non-important, while the men are symobolized as powerful, controlling, and always right. Carmen Bin Ladin soon realizes that and becomes more nervous that modern society will never hit Saudi Arabia. She first encounters how men are disrespectul to women on page 99, where she tells her husband's driver to turn off the car, because the motor was burned up, but he ignores her. She continues to tell him that it will overheat and burn up, and in response he says, " I don't take orders from women". But as soon as her male neighbor came out to tell the driver to turn the car off, he automatically did what he was told. There soon becomes this dramatic tone in the way she tells her story, when she finds out, she is virutally powerless in her own country and home. Another thing she is completely powerless over , is if her husband dies, any of her brother-in -laws can take over her family, and even execute them, if he feels they are being disobedient. The mood in that particular chapter becomes steadingly panic-filled and Bin Ladin starts to write in a way where she is always paranoid of what bad things may happen.
If you like impowering or dramtic stories, this is one for you.
She soons hits a stage where she has gone past being naive and really sees the effects of how men are treating women, and how they are actually nothing to men, in society. Saudi Arabia it seems, symbolizes the women as being useless, nothing, and non-important, while the men are symobolized as powerful, controlling, and always right. Carmen Bin Ladin soon realizes that and becomes more nervous that modern society will never hit Saudi Arabia. She first encounters how men are disrespectul to women on page 99, where she tells her husband's driver to turn off the car, because the motor was burned up, but he ignores her. She continues to tell him that it will overheat and burn up, and in response he says, " I don't take orders from women". But as soon as her male neighbor came out to tell the driver to turn the car off, he automatically did what he was told. There soon becomes this dramatic tone in the way she tells her story, when she finds out, she is virutally powerless in her own country and home. Another thing she is completely powerless over , is if her husband dies, any of her brother-in -laws can take over her family, and even execute them, if he feels they are being disobedient. The mood in that particular chapter becomes steadingly panic-filled and Bin Ladin starts to write in a way where she is always paranoid of what bad things may happen.
If you like impowering or dramtic stories, this is one for you.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Memoir Journal # 1- Inside the Kingdom
This memoir was captivating the minute I started reading it. It had a very dramatic tone most the time, which made you want to keep reading. The topics that were brought up in the first chapters were also interesting, especially because one of them was about 9/11 and how her family was greatly effected, since she is related to the Bin Ladins.
This memoir; Inside the Kingdom, is about the life story of Carmen Bin Ladin, also known as former sister-in-law to Osama Bin Ladin and the struggles she had with being related to him. In the first couple of chapters, she talks about growing up in Geneva, but having a home base in Iran. In her early life she figures out the clash of two cultures that she is growing up in- the one in Geneva, the rules being looser and one in Iran where the rules of women are strict and confined. Her youth basically symbolizes this frusturation and longing to figure out who she is, and in what ways she wants to act. Her childhood is spent fighting the strict rules of her mother, and going against the traditional Iranian ways. Even though she lives in Switzerland, her mother still raises her and her sisters in less strict, traditional values. In the beginning of the story though, Iran is her "secret garden", where she can escape to and where all her family lives. But she lives her young life in ignorance of really how women are treated in the Middle East.
When Carmen gets older, she has more of a longing to be free and different than the normal middle-eastern girl. When she moves to America with her fiance, I find that as a symobol of escape and freedom for her. Her home represents struggle, confinement, and stress, while America represents adventure, new experiences, and justice. I think the way she writes about America being this amazing new place and describing its wonders, made me really think if that's how all foreigners think of America.
One of my favorite passages from the book, was when Carmen (with her husband Yeslam), found out that there really are very unfortunate people in the middle-east. It was interesting to see how she reacted to seeing poor, over-worked people, like she had never before in her life layed eyes on them. Since her husband and her had both grew up in rich homes, it was interesting to find out that only her husband had seen this poverty and not herself. The reactions of those two were very different. Carmen's was full of sadness and pity, while her husband's was merely dismissing and careless. It showed how the two were raised differently, with Carmen being raised with more Western values, while Yeslam was raised with traditional muslim values.
So far this memoir has made me think of how women really are treated in other places in the world, and how good I have it in the United States. As Carmen explains in one of her chapters, Saudia Arabian women have to be fully clothed and can only show their eyes . No men that isn't a relative can look at them and they are discriminated against. Carmen found out this way of life when she experienced her own less than satisfactory wedding there, with her husband's traditional martial values. I am engaged and ready to find out what else happens with her marriage and future events in life in the coming chapters.
This memoir; Inside the Kingdom, is about the life story of Carmen Bin Ladin, also known as former sister-in-law to Osama Bin Ladin and the struggles she had with being related to him. In the first couple of chapters, she talks about growing up in Geneva, but having a home base in Iran. In her early life she figures out the clash of two cultures that she is growing up in- the one in Geneva, the rules being looser and one in Iran where the rules of women are strict and confined. Her youth basically symbolizes this frusturation and longing to figure out who she is, and in what ways she wants to act. Her childhood is spent fighting the strict rules of her mother, and going against the traditional Iranian ways. Even though she lives in Switzerland, her mother still raises her and her sisters in less strict, traditional values. In the beginning of the story though, Iran is her "secret garden", where she can escape to and where all her family lives. But she lives her young life in ignorance of really how women are treated in the Middle East.
When Carmen gets older, she has more of a longing to be free and different than the normal middle-eastern girl. When she moves to America with her fiance, I find that as a symobol of escape and freedom for her. Her home represents struggle, confinement, and stress, while America represents adventure, new experiences, and justice. I think the way she writes about America being this amazing new place and describing its wonders, made me really think if that's how all foreigners think of America.
One of my favorite passages from the book, was when Carmen (with her husband Yeslam), found out that there really are very unfortunate people in the middle-east. It was interesting to see how she reacted to seeing poor, over-worked people, like she had never before in her life layed eyes on them. Since her husband and her had both grew up in rich homes, it was interesting to find out that only her husband had seen this poverty and not herself. The reactions of those two were very different. Carmen's was full of sadness and pity, while her husband's was merely dismissing and careless. It showed how the two were raised differently, with Carmen being raised with more Western values, while Yeslam was raised with traditional muslim values.
So far this memoir has made me think of how women really are treated in other places in the world, and how good I have it in the United States. As Carmen explains in one of her chapters, Saudia Arabian women have to be fully clothed and can only show their eyes . No men that isn't a relative can look at them and they are discriminated against. Carmen found out this way of life when she experienced her own less than satisfactory wedding there, with her husband's traditional martial values. I am engaged and ready to find out what else happens with her marriage and future events in life in the coming chapters.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Freckles
I have about a million freckles and I'm not even exaggerating. Over the years they have continued to just multiply and have become unstoppable. I would say I have a love-hate relationship with my freckles. Back when I was little, I hated my freckles. Kids would call me freckle face, which if you think about it, is not too bad, but it really bothered me. I would turn red in the face, which of course illuminated them even more. It seemed to me that the only thing I was, when people looked at me, was one big explosion of freckles. My mother would try and help me out, by saying they were angel kisses, but it didn't always make me feel better. As I became older though, I really started to enjoy them. They set me apart from a lot people, because not many have an exceeding amount of freckles, like me. I felt unique and proud to have them. Everyone else seemed to lose their freckles over the years, but mine stayed strong. Some people even started to compliment them. I found positive things about them too, such as they made my face a little more tan, and if I ever had a pimple, it's hard to notice since I have so many.
These days, I'm still loving them. I have gotten use to them, which has helped me accept who I am and be proud of it.
These days, I'm still loving them. I have gotten use to them, which has helped me accept who I am and be proud of it.
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