Read Online The Butterfly Mosque A Young American Woman Journey to Love and Islam eBook G Willow Wilson

Product details File Size 645 KB Print Length 321 pages Publisher Atlantic Monthly Press; Reprint edition (June 1, 2010) Publication Date November 20, 2018 Sold by  Digital Services LLC Language English ASIN B003XVYZ9A

The Butterfly Mosque A Young American Woman Journey to Love and Islam eBook G Willow Wilson Reviews

• It's hard to know how to feel about this book. G. Willow Wilson is an excellent writer -- very poetic at times and astute observations, and she doesn't filter out many of the details it might be tempting to exclude. I always enjoy stories about travels into foreign lands. I appreciate also her attempts to be a cultural bridge. I learned some things about Islam.
  
  The main negative for me was that reading this book, you would think no other American or Westerner has ever visited Egypt while also trying to be sensitive to cultural differences. She tended to generalize based on the bad seeds in her own culture, while looking only up at anyone in the new culture. Also, I didn't understand why she was making life-changing decisions so quickly, like snap judgments.
  
  This was a unique adventure and for that reason alone is worth a read. I appreciated the author's honesty with herself and the world that she wanted to be Muslim. That took moxie. She was pretty young when living this book and I suspect I'll be 5-starring something of hers someday!
• I was required to read this as a text on Islam for my religion and literature class while taking my undergraduate degree. Now, as an atheist and a mechanical engineering student, this book challenged a lot of preconceived ideas I had about Islam. For that, I appreciate it.
  
  So, why two stars? Well, I enjoyed the look at Cairo and Egyptian society during the Bush administration; but the book cuts off right as (spoilers) Willow and her husband Omar are about to emigrate back to America. We never get to see what happens to them? Do they Westernize? Do they decide to stay? Does Omar hate living in America? Is Islam different here than in Egypt? Is there latent islamophobia? How do they handle it? A million questions present from a cliffhanger.
  
  If Willow really wanted her western audience to understand the plight of Muslims in America and how westernization is destroying Islamic culture, you'd think she would jump at the chance to show the contrast in a literal way – through Omar's perspective on America. Is it really so different? What stories do they have when they go visit Cairo again, if they do? How does Willow's extended family process this? It is this separation that the reader fails to feel; instead, the ending feels like the reader spends so much time in the culture of interdependence Willow discusses, with no independent culture to contextualize it.
  
  Maybe Willow thinks all Americans are the same? That we all know what her life was like before she went to Egypt, and what it was like after she got back – but we don't. She fails to give us the other side of this story, instead remaining an empty character in which she struggles to tokenize herself for her audience. A shame, since with more personality she might have made more of an impact here.
• The Butterfly Mosque is the memoir of an American woman raised in a secular family who discovers the value of religion during her travel to Egypt. She is there to work and stay a year in Cairo. The book follows her encounter with Egyptian society and with her own spirituality as she converts to Islam. While in Egypt, she falls in love with Omar and they get married. There is so much that I enjoyed about her memoir but it was the little details and stories of her everyday life which made this book really work for me. The story about learning to shop in the souk, and the merchant who sells Wilson a turkey to see if she can tell the difference. Wilson captures the strengths and flaws of America and also Egypt with a compelling voice. The book explores larger issues in both American and Egyptian Muslim society, and challenges the reader with observations about the way Americans and Muslims interact. I found it very interesting and informative. A 4.5 read for me.
• This little gem of a book is readable and enjoyable as either a personal memoir or a novel, although the author was obviously writing from her own specific experience. The work is more powerful than simply a personal memoir however; it has the universality of well written fiction. With it comes the ability of well written fiction to convey feelings and thoughts that are applicable to multiple situations and locations and apply to more of us humans than not. A memoir is often more equivalent to a historical documentary with a few revelations of universal interest thrown in here and there as the author grows to learn them.
  
  This book quivers with great wisdom and insight that everyone needs today, but that few are in a position either geographically - or in terms of writing ability - to give us . Everyone - EVERYONE - should read this book. Get it right now.
  
  Yet - it is easy and fun to read; difficult to put down.
  
  This book addresses not only some distinct differences between two specific cultures but also the sensation of being caught between those two cultures. It is not negative; it is positive. The protagonist is torn between the positive things she found in the two cultures. There are so many cultures on this living earth. It is possible for many fortunate individuals to experience stepping into another from his or her own temporarily and experiencing the surprise and wonder of the good things in the "other" culture. This often results in a closer evaluation of ones original or "home" culture, which is a good thing. As I stated earlier, this book is a comparison of POSITIVES along with related experiences. It is done in a non-judgmental, engaging, and thought provoking way that is a fun read.
  
  You will be surprised at the self you are when you finish the last page.
• I enjoyed her memoir up until after her wedding. To me, she seemed to become more conservative in her writing. I became lost, uninterested and at the end left dissapointed by the cliff hanger ending. I'm willing to read again to see what I am missing but will probably not. I've been to Egypt and felt complete culture shock I enjoyed she brought beauty to what I saw as an unhealthy, toxic and dusty environment.