Customer Reviews

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I almost gave up on this book after just a few pages, frustrated by the sub-par writing and editing. Editing is one of those jobs that's invisible when done well. Not here.
But: I'm glad I kept reading. The substance of the book is compelling and important, and the author's perspective is sane and intelligent.
If you adjust your expectations of writing as art, you can enjoy and appreciate this book. I only wish it were dystopian fiction and not 21st century reality.

This book is a fascinating account of the experiences of a Muslim female physician, educated in the U.K. and America. What is amazing is that Saudi Arabia has been our 'ally' and formidable trading partner, but that 99.9% of have us have no clue as to the ideological and spiritual compass of the people of this country. We just know they are our 'friends' and that our 'friends' spawned a terrorist named Osama Bin Laden (then again, Tim McVeigh used to work at WalMart). This book gives great insight into the value system and machinations of this culture and its religion, and presents some historical perspective on how its modern day presence evolved. The book is not the first but one of the best narratives of the shocking disparity between men and women in Saudi society. Dr. Ahmed described her experiences with colour, insight, and perspective. Yet she refrains from coarse judgment, appropriately so, as the modern Saudi people are proud and principled society. Hopefully our next President (and Vice president) will bring it to the White House Book Club!

I read this over the weekend, based on the Dianne Rheme interview and I couldn't put it down. The language is very descriptive in a very personal and equally unconventional way. There are dozens of images and scenes that I can picture vividly.

This was a real joy!

As a Saudi female myself and lived my whole life in this country I found it a very detailed book, you could really understand how life is in the Kingdom and Islam, as Dr. Ahamd in my opinion reflects the true meaning of a moderate Muslim. It's beautifully written and I do recommend it for those who want to have a sense of life in Saudi Arabia and Islam.

I find it ironic that the author is effusively grateful to her editor as a worse-edited book would be hard to find. Enough was said here about the interesting content and I agree fully that the author is a fountain of knowledge on the fascinating subject of Saudi Arabia. The read is however a jarring experience of purple prose, repetitions, malapropisms and obsessive preoccupation with physical appearance and designer's brands. I found it impossible to gain speed with distractions of that nature. By all means, buy the book for its informative value but don't expect much in the form of language.

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom
Dr. Ahmed provides an intimate look at life in Saudi Arabia through the eyes of a highly trained female physician. She graciously dealt with the severe restraints upon her personal and professional life there because of her being a woman, and described encouraging views of some significant challenges to them. I was especially touched by her description of the Hajj which had a profound effect on her as it put her in touch with her Muslim roots. Having lived for eight years in Indonesia in the sixties I was particularly impressed with the contrast between these two Muslim countries. During my time in Indonesia women enjoyed a great deal of freedom, and freedom of religion was guaranteed by the constitution.

An extremely well written book that is sobering and insightful, but also quite enjoyable to read. Dr. Ahmed's many and varied adventures in Saudi Arabia kept me thoroughly engrossed, to say the least. Although the focus of the book is Saudi women and the impact of the forced extreme separation of the sexes on them by the fanatic Wahabi clergy, plenty of attention is given to Saudi men. I was rather surprised to come away with the sense that this forced extreme separation not only has a severe negative impact on Saudi women, which one would naturally expect, but on Saudi men as well. The joyful reaction of highly educated Saudis trained in the West to 9/11 was disheartening but not surprising, as was their extreme antisemitism. Nevertheless, the book ends on a somewhat hopeful note.

I really enjoyed the story line in this book. The author possesses a unique perspective on Islam as both a religion and culture. That being said, it was difficult for me to become immersed in the story itself. The over-abundance of descriptive language and metaphors all but crowded out the narrative. I can't tell you how many times I thought to myself "She needs a better editor." The story could have been told just as well (probably better) with half the words.

This is a wonderful book, interesting and honest. I learned a lot from it about a country I will probably never be able to visit (I'm an Israeli). It's not easy to be a woman in Saudi Arabia! But the sympathetic picture painted by Dr. Qanta of her colleagues--both Saudi and ex-pat--is indicative of a country caught in a complex vise of modernity and backward religious elements. The author's description of her haj is fascinating and touching.

I have been curious about Muslim women and had some preconceived notions of what they were like. I thought they were treated much like slaves were treated and they accepted the abuse and subjugation with a sad dismissal. I was glad to know that they are like the rest of us in many ways and there are actually feminists in their ranks. I have to wonder exactly when the men were allowed to change Islam to enslave them so? Why did they put up with it? How could independent women and open-minded men allow this to happen? The book relates some of this, but not all. I realized the book relayed a spiritual awakening for Qanta. I was happy to see that she learned about her religion, but I wonder why she wasn't taught about this earlier? She isn't alone in this. I realized in all religions, there are people who do not ask questions or learn for themselves. It was such a relief to know she questioned the answers at times and had many questions about everything there.

Others have criticized her style of writing. It was different, but not bad. I have seen much worse from very popular authors who apparently were not introduced to an editor at all. Some of the sayings and initials were a bit much at times, but I imagine if you were to read a Christian book, some of those would tend to irritate as well. One thing that annoyed me was that if you were drawing conclusions about women in Saudi Arabia from this book, they are all the most gorgeous women in the world. If one was to remove the coverings, the beauty would just be incredible! No wonder they are all covered! It would be more than any male could stand. Of course, she also believes the men are also absolutely gorgeous and sexy especially in their thobes.

At any rate, I enjoyed the book a lot. It was a real learning experience and I enjoyed reading about her trip to Mecca for Haj. It is very hard to believe that women in this day and age have to put up with so much. I am glad things have changed for the better, but there is so much more to be done.

This was a Kindle book and some of the words were cut, but that's how it is. It was still easy to see what was meant.