Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Vintage (1999), Edition: Trade Paperback Edition, 432 pages
Description
Revisiting Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia - the countries he visited for Among the Believers (1981), Naipaul reviews his impressions of the Islamic world. He explores the life and culture, and the current ferment which exists inside the nations of Islam.
User reviews
LibraryThing member bo18
A quite good book about 4 of the biggest Muslim countries in the world (Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia)
The inhabitants of those 4 countries get the chance to tell their personal stories. With Islam as the main subject. This gives you a good insight in the country and local Islam.
However,
He feels sorry for them because they're Muslim. And speaks of the cultural destruction and negativity brought by the Islam to these countries.
The western influences are being portrayed as funny, weird and positive. While the western influences have the same effect on the local culture as Islam. (cultural destruction and negativity)
The inhabitants of those 4 countries get the chance to tell their personal stories. With Islam as the main subject. This gives you a good insight in the country and local Islam.
However,
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when Naipaul has the word you kind of notice a defiant and negative attitude towards these people and islam in general.He feels sorry for them because they're Muslim. And speaks of the cultural destruction and negativity brought by the Islam to these countries.
The western influences are being portrayed as funny, weird and positive. While the western influences have the same effect on the local culture as Islam. (cultural destruction and negativity)
Show Less
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
A compellingly insightful follow-up to "Among the Believers;" Naipaul retraces his steps through the non-Arab Islamic countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Iran, observing how the culture of each has changed in the past decade and a half, in the context of Islam, a non-native religion.
LibraryThing member deebee1
In 1995, Naipaul travelled to 4 non-Arab Muslim countries: Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia, the same countries he visited in 1979 which he wrote about in Among the Believers. His thesis is that Islam makes imperial demands on its converts. More than a private faith, it can become a neurosis.
In this book, he attempts to find out what this religion has done to the histories of these 4 countries, and how these converted peoples view their past, and their future. And here, Naipaul does what he does so wonderfully -- telling other people's stories.
As he journeys through these places, at times visiting those whom he interviewed 17 years ago, we learn about certain characters, their family histories, their motivations, their dreams. Islam, while a font of hope, also buries traditions, cultures, and
wholly faces modernizing influences only when the cause of Islam is furthered. Naipaul is a sensitive observer, letting the stories come out. He makes an observation now and then, but never comes across heavy-handed. A master writer, he easily shifts between details in a character's life to the big picture of history, in easy and simple prose one forgets we are talking of very complex themes here. Themes and issues even more compelling today than they were at the time of this book's publication.
An enlightening and very fascinating read. Naipaul can never disappoint, even if he tried.
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A convert's world view alters, his holy places are in Arab lands, his sacred language is Arabic. His idea of history alters, he turns away from everything that is his. The disturbance for societies is immense, people develop fantasies of who and what they are. These countries can be easily set on the boil.In this book, he attempts to find out what this religion has done to the histories of these 4 countries, and how these converted peoples view their past, and their future. And here, Naipaul does what he does so wonderfully -- telling other people's stories.
As he journeys through these places, at times visiting those whom he interviewed 17 years ago, we learn about certain characters, their family histories, their motivations, their dreams. Islam, while a font of hope, also buries traditions, cultures, and
wholly faces modernizing influences only when the cause of Islam is furthered. Naipaul is a sensitive observer, letting the stories come out. He makes an observation now and then, but never comes across heavy-handed. A master writer, he easily shifts between details in a character's life to the big picture of history, in easy and simple prose one forgets we are talking of very complex themes here. Themes and issues even more compelling today than they were at the time of this book's publication.
An enlightening and very fascinating read. Naipaul can never disappoint, even if he tried.
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998
Physical description
432 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0375706488 / 9780375706486