Queen Noor

Hullo! I love this new format Jul--thank you for setting it up! It's nice to have a meeting place, somewhere to "go" for our little bookclub.

Sorry for taking...ahem...some extra time...posting my review. Days turned into weeks turned into February. Alas.

As for Queen Noor, I don't know how I feel about her. I kept hoping I'd get more of a sense of who she was/is, but I still feel very removed somehow from the person in this autobiography. She is almost too much a country and a Queen to her King. Which is noble, I guess, but it left me feeling kind of lonely. I was struck by how she had to give up her name, and was given a new one. I find name changes so fascinating in relation to becoming royalty or becoming part of a new bloodline, even biblically. I don't know how I would feel about that. I mean, I gave up my middle name Lynne because it was just plain ugly and to pair it up with my married name Lyle would have been a slow death everytime I heard it. But to change my first name! It was hard enough to give up my last. But I guess it underlines just how significant her sacrifices were. It was clear her identity became very much country and Queen after that.

What I did get out of this book was a lot of insight into middle east politics and religion, which has previously confused me endlessly. I agree with Julio that putting the history and politics of that region into narrative form was very helpful. I think I finally understand the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'ite Muslim (which is good to know RE: elections in Iraq) and what the significance of being a Hashimite is. But I think it made me even more cynical about what is portrayed as truth in the news. Who knew all those critical thinking skills from university would be so useful?! I agree with Noor that Arabs are often portrayed unfairly in our media (entertainment and news) and are often not represented as far as political biases go either. It's so hard and so sad for me to think about the violence and the generations of hate that exist on both sides of the Gaza strip. It was nice to see a human face on some of the untold stories. (As an aside, I read about a documentary called 'Promises' about children from either side of the divide--it looks fascinating if anyone is interested--I'm going to rent it this weekend).

Anyhoo, I could go on, but I won't. I agree that she was a bit blown by the wind in her storytelling so I won't commit the same snafoo. Although, with the life she led I can't imagine her saying any less. Thanks ladies! I'm going on another hiatus until I graduate (June), but I'll be peeking in every now and again. I'll miss you!