Book Review of the Week: The amazing story of Nojoud Ali

Do you remember what were your favourite ways to spend your time when you were a 10yo? Especially as a girl, you must probably have a lot of time to play with your dolls.  Most probably, only a few of you found out that they should leave school and get married. It is the case of Nojoud Ali, a child from Yemen that was sent out of her family to serve as wife. She dared to escape and fight for her life and with the help of the judges from Sanaa, Yemen's capital city, she succeeded to get the divorce and turned into a role model of fighter for the women's rights and dignity in Yemen. 

Together with the French journalist Delphine Minoui, a familiar pen for those interested in the Middle East affairs, she published a book about her adventure, translated in more than 20 languages. It is an easy read, very direct and with a lot of food for thought. Children's marriages are a reality in many rural areas in the Middle East and Africa, and Yemen especially was the subject of late reports warning about the serious situation of early marriages and disrespect of fundamental rights. It is hard to imagine the consequences of such trauma for the future of the women and, in general, for the Yemeni society as such. 

However, it is impossible to believe that any development and democratic change will be possible in the near future without a clear answer to cases such as the subject approached in this book. Nojoud Ali was a lucky girl and her example could be a source of inspiration for many girls going through the same nightmare. On the other hand, many need help and support and a legislation that will defend them against all those who are abusing their dignity, even though they should be against their parents.

Anyone who is interested in the issue of human rights should read this book and better appreciate the gifts of our Western world.

A year in books: 2010

I had a look this morning over the list of the best books sold and recommended by Amazon. And, not surprisingly, I found a couple of books covering exclusively or partially aspects related to foreign affairs and international politics.

From the category "Biographies and Memoirs", you have, in this order of preference: Laura Hillebrand (1) - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption; Laura Bush (3) - Spoken from the Heart (useful for understanding the mentality basis of the Bush family); Karl Rove (15) - Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight; George W. Bush (18) - Decision Points (Laura took it all in the family, apparently), Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices (24) (the only one from the list I've read and which, in my opinion, is full of stereotypes and who benefited of an undiserved - from the qualitative point of view - advertising), Andrew Young (26) - The Politician. An Insider's Account of John Edward's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought him down.

From the category "Thriller and Fiction", on the 6th place you will find Glenn Beck's The Overton Window (the expression means a "window" in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse, from a spectrum of all possible options on a particular issue). I don't like nothing about Glenn Beck, but I would be curious to read his book, as part of my usual documentation about politics and people who want to be part of them.

The politics are represented in the category of "Literature and Fiction" with Karl Marlante's Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, on the 1st place, Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (3) and David Grossman (7) To the End of Land. (the last two books are on my shelves, waiting to be open very very soon).

Maybe today will be a day dedicated exclusively to reading and more and more writing to be posted very very soon.