Ingrid Mattson

I read portions of this book (roughly half of it) for a class I took this summer.

What I loved about this book: It is thorough. The level of detail is fantastic and really helps put the Qur'an in context. I especially found interesting the section in the first chapter about the Arabian Peninsula during the seventh century.

What didn't work so well for me: The style. The transitions between paragraphs sometimes don't make sense to me, and it takes me a little while to follow Mattson's train of thought. It's dense enough text that this slow-down can make the reading-and-comprehending process tedious for me.

I hope to pick this one back up as I seek more information and understanding about the Qur'an and about Islam, but with the difficulties I have with the style, I suspect I'm more likely to turn to one of the other books from the class first.… (altro)