Wednesday, October 16, 2013
The Bin Ladens Post #1
Since I finished An Atheist in the Foxhole, I have been struggling to find a new book. I knew I wanted to read something non-fiction, because I love getting knowledge about the world from reading, but I wasn't sure what topic. My mom has read tons of interesting books about Africa, India, the Middle East, etc. I thought about reading a book I had found in my room about India, but it was written in kind of a boring manner. Finally though I found a really interesting book of my mom's, called The Bin Ladens. For most Americans the mention of the surname Bin Laden brings up an image of one of the worst terrorists of all times, Osama Bin Laden. However Osama Bin Laden comes from a very wealthy and huge family from Saudi Arabia. To put it into context, he has 53 siblings according to the family tree in the beginning of the book. Beyond just his siblings he has hundreds of relatives all over the world, most of whom are ultra-wealthy but beyond that relatively "normal" people. One of my aunts who lives in Switzerland has worked with one of his cousins, and she said that she is a completely sane person. The book is by Steve Coll, who has no connection to the Bin Ladens, so it is a fairly unbiased account based on tons of very meticulous research. I haven't read very much of the book yet but it is broken into four parts, The Patriarchs, The Sons and Daughters, The Global Family, and the Legacies. It appears to be written in a combination of third-person narrative and expository writing. The first chapter is called "We All Worship the Same God" and begins by telling the story of Lynn Peghiny, a piano player who became involved with the family after being asked to play at Salem Bin Laden's huge estate in Orlando. I think that starting with a chapter called "We All Worship the Same God" is a good move on the author's part, because it can address the preconceived notions about Islam and Saudis that a reader may have. The book is very long, almost 600 pages, but I look forward to reading it and getting an "inside" perspective on this family and their role in the Middle East. Over the summer I read a book called "The Price of Honor" which taught me a lot about the political climate of the Middle East and I am looking forward to getting an additional perspective.
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I like this, I think you added enough details about you and the story. Reading this told me something I didn't know about like how many siblings he had and that he was basically rich, it makes me wonder why he did what he did and his family had money.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I am wondering if you were satisfied with the end of An Atheist in the Foxhole. You seemed to enjoy it as Muto’s story unfolded, and so I hope it it ended well.
ReplyDeleteSeems like your parents are well read, and have a similar taste in literature as you, so I am glad you didn’t pick the boring book.
I am trying to picture the family tree you mentioned, and it must be pretty complex.I was shocked to read how extensive his family is- 53 siblings! I don’t even know how that could be possible. This seems like a book worth reading because I would imagine it breaks down the stereotypes associated with the Bin Laden name. It seems that the majority of the Bin Ladens were perfectly sane and normal.
I can tell you are reading like a writer by the way you thought about why the author chose to title the chapters the way he did, and what this might mean. Gold star!
I also appreciate your desire to learn more about politics in the Middle East. I think this is a topic that is often misunderstood, and many people don’t make an effort to truly understand what is going on. Good work, Asha!
I know -- 53 siblings -- I am still digesting that one. I am an only child, after all. I too will look forward to reading about what you find out. I had heard about how much of his family are mainstream world players. I did not know, however, that anyone lived in the US. Will the story track down various people with connections to the family like this piano player. Does this author have direct access to anyone in the Bin Laden family?
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