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Opere di Hannah Lucinda Smith

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It's surprising that more hasn't been written about developments over the last 20 years in Turkey, specifically, about Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The nation, with 85 million people, is the 17th largest economy in the world, and politically central in a highly divisive neighborhood. This book steps up to the plate: the author reported for the Times of London for many years, and has a deep knowledge and understanding of the country. She is balanced on a subject that tends to evoke strong passions one way or another, and she illustrates her story with vivid descriptions of interviews with ordinary Turks. Well worth reading.… (altro)
 
Segnalato
annbury | Aug 16, 2023 |
Usually, a memoir is an account of the author's personal experiences that are memorable and will have a long-lasting effect on their life. Most memoirs leave a smiling face on the reader's face because they get to read a life! If that author is the most liked and loved person from any discipline, the readers will surely have a feast. On the other hand, some memoirs end up showing harsh realities, sad experiences, and tear-jerking life stories. With a heavy heart, this review is about a book written by a woman who was born and brought up in a country where humanity co-exists with terror, bomb blasts, and women's oppression, almost like a totalitarian community.

Zarifa: A Woman's Battle in a Man's World, by authors Zarifa Ghafari & Hannah Lucinda Smith, is a shaking and staggering book that offers an unimaginable and matchless perspective of almost two decades of life in Afghanistan. Talking about the author Zarifa Ghafari, is an Afghan activist, politician, and entrepreneur. In November 2019, she became the mayor of Maidan Shahr, the capital city of Wardak Province, and Afghanistan. She is one of the only female mayors in Afghan history and the youngest – appointed at age 26. This book is co-authored by Hannah Lucinda Smith, author of Erdogan Rising: The Battle for the Soul of Turkey and a The Times correspondent in Turkey who covered conflicts, a coup attempt, and the rise of controversial president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. She also reported on the Middle East, from inside rebel-held Syria, the battle against Isis in Iraq, and joined the mass movement of migrants on their journey to Europe in 2015. She has also worked for the BBC, is a contributor to the Atlantic and the Spectator, worked for BBC, and is a Pulitzer grant awardee to write for Wired magazine.

When the civil broke in her country Afghanistan in 1994, Zarifa Ghafari was born; mortar strikes and gunfire were regular and were often heard close to her. The US's revenge against the Taliban for the vile 911 attack did not only create tumulus in the country but also has put long-lasting trauma on women, children, and youngsters of those times.

The daughter of a soldier, Zarifa, was fearless since her school days and showcased her leadership qualities often then. She had an exciting encounter with the former Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, in Kabul in 2005. The 11-year-old Zarifa complained to the president about the lack of roads and the absence of English and computer classes in her school. Her courage left everyone baffled, and she further asked the president why he did not visit Patkai, where including her, all the students waited for him. The president then apologized to her publicly and gifted her. This made Zarifa known to the world! But, this is not why she is now looked upon but for her breaking barriers in many things. She always dressed in the traditional Afghani attire for which her fellow students adored her at Panjab University, she later started a live radio station that focused mostly on the issues related to women and their lives, and the Taliban continuously targeted her. But Zarifa never backed.

This book is a must-read memoir for many reasons. One is to know Zarifa and her achievements against all the odds, but also the book shows the reader how difficult is a woman's life in war-prone regions. Although books, like I am Malala(memoir – nonfiction ) and Khaled Hosseini's books have given a good amount of information on the country and people's life there, this book is more gritty, gripping, and nerve-wracking. The honest writing and the well-narrated exhausting incidents make the book readable. On the cover page, Zarifa Ghafari's portrait in the traditional Afghani dress is extremely attractive. This is a highly recommended memoir in lieu that the readers might relate to the recent happenings in Afghanistan and how women's rights are exploited.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
BookReviewsCafe | 1 altra recensione | Apr 27, 2023 |
Zarifa Ghafari had been in the news a lot in the last years - between her work as a mayor in a country where female faces in politics are a minority, fleeing the Taliban when they retook the country after the US troops moved out and then returning for a visit as part of her humanitarian actions, she had been hailed as a courageous woman by some and considered a traitor by others. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle but if you expect this book to tell you where you need to lean, you will end up disappointed.

It is a memoir of a woman who was born in the mid 1990s in Afghanistan and managed to fight for women's rights from inside of the system in a country where most women are expected to stay home, have babies and be obedient. That part of this story is fascinating and adds some details to the story we all know from the news. It did add some insights which were interesting (including the realization that politics is politics, regardless of where they are).

But at the same time, it is an idealized account. Zarifa cannot do anything wrong - she always has the moral high ground, anything she does is the Good Thing. Anything that does not serve the narrative is just mentioned in passing (if at all). Even her treats to self-immolate when she is not allowed to take her position as a mayor are presented as a viable way of forging a path ahead (in a country where this is the only way for most women to die, it feels almost manipulative, even if she indeed planned to do it if she did not get her post). She makes the point a few times that there are two different Zarifas - one who is the unflappable public figure and the other, the woman who is just an Afghani woman. But... while we are told about that a few times, we never see that second one - she is always the one to be right. There are sections which are emotional and make one look around and wish to call their own parents just to hear their voices but even they seem a bit artificial.

The story of Afghanistan in the last decades is one of wars and suffering. Showing that to the world, showing the difference between Kabul and the countryside, showing how sometimes the evil you are afraid of is the lesser evil is important. Certain parts of the book make you think of what we have in the West (even the Eastern part of the West) and about what one takes for granted.

I am not sure how much of the book was written by Zarifa and how much came from Hannah Lucinda Smith - the book is in the first person and the acknowledgement section is written by Zarifa and contain thanks to Hannah Lucinda Smith.

There is a lot to be learned from this book and I am glad to have read it. But you won't learn much more than you will learn from the news or Wikipedia - the whole story feels a bit whitewashed and cleaned up - making sure that we cannot miss who is supposed to be the positive character here.
… (altro)
1 vota
Segnalato
AnnieMod | 1 altra recensione | Jan 4, 2023 |

Statistiche

Opere
2
Utenti
41
Popolarità
#363,652
Voto
3.9
Recensioni
3
ISBN
18
Lingue
2