Something Out of Nothing

Our book group recently read The Faith Club, a collaboration between an Islamic woman, a Jewish woman, and a Christian woman who were searching for answers within their faiths after the events of September 11th, 2001. The women met regularly and worked through their stereotypes and misconceptions of their own and each others' faiths while exploring the common links between these major world religions.

I lost interest in the book fairly early on, when it became clear to me that none of these women had taken the time to study and explore her own faith tradition. This lack of knowledge enabled them to embrace the "feel good" portions of their religions while discarding anything that made them uncomfortable. Since I sort of think that the whole point of religion is to make you uncomfortable, I was hoping for more from them and from the book.

The positive result of reading this book is that it made me curious to learn more about the culture of Islam. With a minor in religious studies, I am vaguely familiar with the basics of Islamic doctrine, but I have never heard much of the stories and music of the Muslim world. It helped that a couple of local women have written engaging books on the subject.

The first book I read was Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher, a young adult novel which takes the famous tale of Shahrazade and embroiders it with the engaging characters and vivid scenery of ancient Persia. Everyone has heard Shahrazade's famous tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba, but who has paused to wonder how the young herione of 1,001 Arabian Nights learned all of those stories in the first place? Although the plot sort of falls apart at the end of the novel, it's a quick and rewarding read.

The second book I read was Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber. Set in turn-of-the-(21st)-century Los Angeles, the story focuses on Sirine, the daughter of an Iraqi father and an American mother. Sirine's parents were aid workers who died when she was a child; since then she has lived with her bachelor-professor uncle and inhabited his world of Middle Eastern academics while making a living cooking at a Lebanese cafe. Perhaps inevitably, Sirine falls for Hanif, an Iraqi exile who teaches Arabic literature at UCLA. Their love story is observed and complicated by a plethora of characters including Sirine's co-workers at the restaurant and Hanif's students and fellow faculty members.

My favorite part of this book was the interwoven tale narrated by Sirine's uncle, following the fantastical exploits of one Abdelrahman Salahadin as he falls under the spell of a mermaid, is pursued by his mother, and ends up... well, I don't want to give it away. Let's just say that my favorite movie unexpectedly plays a minor role in the story.

Based on these two very engaging books, I am looking forward to seeking out more literature that focuses on Middle Eastern culture.