What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East

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It's a hit!

excellent read with a comprehensive discussion of the middle east and how the region evolved from being the epicenter of modernity in the days of t... (show more)

excellent read with a comprehensive discussion of the middle east and how the region evolved from being the epicenter of modernity in the days of the ottoman empire to becoming one of our world's symbols of institutional and cultural backwardness.

i found lewis' discussion of the absence of secularization and the insularity of traditional islamic regimes particularly enlightening and disheartening.

highly recommended read. (show less)

 

 

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No, it's a flop!

I really wanted to like this book. I was very interested in the subject matter and impressed by the author's credentials. It seemed perfect...but y... (show more)

I really wanted to like this book. I was very interested in the subject matter and impressed by the author's credentials. It seemed perfect...but yet it took me several attempts to get started and then many weeks to finish it. I found it difficult to follow, confusing, disorganized, and ultimately not worth the time it took me to finish it. Perhaps it could be salvaged with a serious rewrite? (show less)

 

 

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  Before I even start to read this I just want to say "Wow!" It takes a lot of fortitude (though not necessarily an equal amount of brains) to title your book about Islam "What Went Wrong." I'm pretty sure this is exactly what Edward Said is talking about in "Orientalism."

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  Just as I expected, an extremely judgmental look at the... (show more)

  Before I even start to read this I just want to say "Wow!" It takes a lot of fortitude (though not necessarily an equal amount of brains) to title your book about Islam "What Went Wrong." I'm pretty sure this is exactly what Edward Said is talking about in "Orientalism."

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  Just as I expected, an extremely judgmental look at the Middle East and Islam. This is absolutely what Said is talking about in "Orientalism," and I'm very surprised to find the rave reviews offered by those such as Time, The New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post and others. They clearly don't look much deeper into an issue such as Islam than for its most basic and most generalizable features. In the Orientalist tradition, Lewis essentially attempts to make the point, using the absolute barest of evidence, that there is something wrong with Islam and the Middle East, essentially because they are not like us (the West), and they don't necessarily want our type of lifestyle.

  This is my first Lewis book to read, but I have a feeling I'm not going to find much difference in earlier works. In terms of ethnocentricity and sheer ego, this book is essentially the Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh of scholarly work on the Middle East and Islam. (show less)

   

  by Samuel Norton on Aug 03, 2009 at 08:03PM

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  The clearest and most comprehensive analysis of Islamofascism and its confrontation with the West. Lewis, a career Islamic scholar, shows how the inherent flaws of Muslim theology led to its domination by radicalized elements with political and religious agendas. Simply brilliant and rewardingly concise.

   

   

  by Rob Purdie on May 16, 2008 at 08:25PM

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