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A review by gerd_d
Goodness and Light by Patty Blount
3.0
It's for most a charming if at times slow read, filled with drama and tragedy, family and romance... a quaint Christmas story with lots of reason to get sentimental and shed a tear or two.
However, there's a part towards the end that threw me because there's so much talk of God and Faith in the whole passage that it leaves a bitter taste how Al phrases his own unbelieve in religion:
I admit, I have no clear idea where the Muslim faith stands on questions of Heaven and Hell, but for Al to make this sort of non-sequitur of saying "I’m not very religious. I was raised Muslim..." sounds like an unrealistic thing to say, for both a muslim or an atheist.
One wouldn't go round and say "I'm not very religious. I was raised Christian..."
It simply makes no sense to announce that you're not believing in a religion and then continue with pointing out which religion you was raised in anyways - not in this context at least.
I assume, because the author appears quite respectful in her twitter messages, that it was a simple writing lapse, a case of missing to put in "But I was raised Muslim..." the same way one may point out that "I do not believe in Christ, but I was raised with Christian values..."
I realize that this must sound terribly nitpicking, but the whole story revolves at large aound the attacks on 9/11 and the resulting personal tragedies from it, and this terrible day has been so deeply interwoven with our felt understanding of terrorism and other religions that I can't help but feel a need to point out this particular inconsistency.
However, there's a part towards the end that threw me because there's so much talk of God and Faith in the whole passage that it leaves a bitter taste how Al phrases his own unbelieve in religion:
“Elena, you’re asking me if there’s a God, if there’s a Heaven, if there’s a life after this one, and I can’t answer that. Nobody can. It’s either something you believe in or you don’t.” He played with his cup. “I’m not very religious. I was raised Muslim and there are some things that even I—with my lack of faith—believe."
I admit, I have no clear idea where the Muslim faith stands on questions of Heaven and Hell, but for Al to make this sort of non-sequitur of saying "I’m not very religious. I was raised Muslim..." sounds like an unrealistic thing to say, for both a muslim or an atheist.
One wouldn't go round and say "I'm not very religious. I was raised Christian..."
It simply makes no sense to announce that you're not believing in a religion and then continue with pointing out which religion you was raised in anyways - not in this context at least.
I assume, because the author appears quite respectful in her twitter messages, that it was a simple writing lapse, a case of missing to put in "But I was raised Muslim..." the same way one may point out that "I do not believe in Christ, but I was raised with Christian values..."
I realize that this must sound terribly nitpicking, but the whole story revolves at large aound the attacks on 9/11 and the resulting personal tragedies from it, and this terrible day has been so deeply interwoven with our felt understanding of terrorism and other religions that I can't help but feel a need to point out this particular inconsistency.