Rating: 
Summary: DEFINITIVAMENTE UN LIBRO QUE VALE LA PENA LEER
Review: Esta historia, basada en un hecho real, no solamente es conmovedora en su propio estilo, sino que tambien nos pone a pensar y a valorar todas aquellas cosas, derechos y privilegios que tenemos y que muchas veces damos por sentados y no valoramos como debemos, mientras en otras partes del mundo, estas mismas cosas y derechos ni se conocen. Recomiendo este libro a cualquier persona, sin importar la edad, porque es sumamente facil de entender.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and unforgettable!
Review: I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Anytime I had a moment to read, I reached for this book and was absorbed by the story. I'm ready to read more books by Princess Sultana. This is a fascinating first-hand look at what women have to go through and live under in countries where life is ruled by men. There isn't any way out of that life except by following or being forced to follow the cruel or oppressive conditions. This book follows the princess from her girlhood to an arranged marriage and its consequences. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in women's rights, their lives and dark secrets in different countries.
Rating:
Summary: A Saudi Princess
Review: I gave this book five stars because it was very interesting.Jean
Sasson really did a good job in explaining what these women really have to go through on a daily basis.This book is about a young girl named Sultana who talks about a daily life while living as a saudi girl.she talks about how they are treated out there and what these crultey men believe how they schould treat a women.Sultana owns four mansions on three continents,her own private jet,glittering jewls and everything a women would want.But theres one thing that she has to go through eveyday.Her along with all other saudi women who live in that contry have to follow what ever men tell them to.They live in a country where women are ruled by men.All women who live there have to be covered in veils from top to bottom.They are not allowed to show any part of there body while they are in public.Women are treated with no respect and thought of as people who have to just be brought into the world to cook,clean and make more kids.Throughout this book Sultana talks about her life struggles and how it was when she was only 16 years old and told by her father that she was going to have to marry a man she didn't even know.I really recommend this book,it is really eye catching and opens your eyes to let you know what these poor women have to go through.Hopefully if many people pick up this book to read we can try to help these women live a better life.
Rating:
Summary: STUNNING REVELATION OF ABUSE OF WOMEN IN SAUDI ARABIA
Review: Sultana's story is amazing, sad, and shocking. She paints a picture of living in incredible wealth and opulence, never having to work, always surrounded by servants, the table overflowing with expensive imported food. And yet, the conditions of her life are far worse than any working girl in America. Sultana is a princess of the royal house of Saud, yet her life -- and the life of all Saudi women -- is totally controlled by men. Saudi women are mere possessions of men, with no rights. In Saudi Arabia, women's births and deaths are not recorded. Their fathers and later their husbands can have them killed or locked up forever in dark and solitary confinement for behavior that is considered ordinary in most other cultures. As I read her story, it occurred to me that women in Saudi Arabia have the same position in their society as pets have in mine. Many people love their pets and lavish them with affection and good care. The same is true of Saudi men's behavior toward their wives and daughters, but, like our relationship with our pets, the men can really do what they want. If someone kills their pet, there is usually no consequence unless it was done in a cruel manner. But a woman who has been raped through no fault of her own (as happens in one of Sultana's stories) can be put to death for "lewd behavior" and the type of death does not even have to be humane. One of Sultana's friends was drowned in a swimming pool by her father, and another was confined to a "women's room" (no light or human contact) til her death. Sultana is spunkier than most, actually tricking her husband and escaping with her children to London when he tells her he is taking a second wife. Oh yes, let's don't forget that abuse! Men can have multiple wives, and girls can be married off, often to old men, as soon as their periods begin. Most have no chance for an education, nor can they reject the husband selected by their father. And of course, they must be constantly covered from head to foot with an ugly black garment. I found the descriptions of Saudi society most unappealing. We have here a people who do no work and retain for themselves obscene amounts of wealth, with which they do little but build huge palaces mostly decorated in poor taste. I wonder if Sultana could even survive as an American who might have to clean her own house, cook her own food, and work for a living. That would be a big change from having five palaces and three Lear Jets! The men usually don't bother to work either; they live off the oil money. For a story eerily similar to Princess where the heroine actually does flee her homeland and become a working American, I recommend Mirage by Soheir Khashoggi. It's fiction, but the situations are very much alike, with Mirage also featuring a wealthy Muslim woman oppressed by men, but finally making her escape. That book, like Princess, is a stunner. I know it's not politically correct to bring up the role of Islam in this abusive behavior, but religion is the justification for the Saudi treatment of women, and the verses form the Koran in the back of the book make it clear that Islam recommends harsh treatment of women in many circumstances. Certainly the Saudis carry it to extremes, but Islam is no friend of females. Neither is Christianity or Judaism, which are both male-centered, but I know of no nation that tops Saudi Arabia for abuse of women.
Rating:
Summary: Voice from within the Kingdom
Review: The book is a fascinating tale of a natural-born feminist who struggles with her family and culture, not her religion. Many of the stories that she tells will be shocking to Western readers, but they are all too familiar to people who know the Gulf well. Because it has a Western author's name on the cover, I was initially dubious whether the book truly represents the view of a Saudi princess. I thought perhaps this was a Western feminist author railing against Islam by pretending to tell the story of a Saudi princess. However, certain views expressed in the book could only come from a woman raised in the Saudi culture- -they would be incomprehensible or trivial to Western feminists, yet they express the core of the princess' character. Warning: once you open the cover, you will not be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the lot...
Review: There are many good books now out about women's lives in the Middle East, but to my mind, this one is the leader of the pack, and sets the standard for true stories about women. I first read this book several years ago and it is still going strong, so that alone confirms my opinion that it is great. Few books sell and sell and sell years after being published. Of course, it helps that the author gives the readers updates on the Princess in sequels that followed this first book. You'll never read about a more fascinating woman than Princess Sultana Al-Saud. She is brave and courageous and determined and she's one woman I would love to meet. Not only is she brave, but she can be downright funny and Sasson breaks up the horror with stories that make you laugh until you cry. It's like a sitting down to a wonderful feast to read this book. Princess Sultana has inspired me since I was a teenager and the book basically changed my life, turning me from a restless teenager into a woman with goals and determination to make a difference in this world. My own precious daughter is now 2 years old and as soon as she is old enough, I'm going to introduce her to Princess Sultana and to all of Jean Sasson's worthwhile books so that she will know that many women in the world are still living without dignity and perhaps my own child can do something wonderful to make a difference in the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting....but is it all true?
Review: This book claims to be the true story of a Saudi princess and her lifestyle. If it is true then it is a harrowing indictment of an inhuman attitude towards Saudi women. Particularly disturbing is the account given of the poor girl murdered by her father, in front of all her family, for bringing 'shame' on them. The lack of freedom these women have is, to western eyes at least, appalling and incomprehensible. Saudi women of royal birth appear to live in perfumed, pampering prisons.
However, if this is a true story then the husband or family of this woman would certainly recognise the stories and identify her with ease which made me wonder how much of it was fantasy or at least greatly exaggerated for the benefit of readers.
An interesting read but I felt more that I was reading a novel than a factual account.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating read!
Review: This book is book one of the princess trilogy. This book gave a riveting account of a princess's life in Saudi Arabia. A lot of this book is sad and depressing but there are some hopeful moments. Personally, my favorite book of the trilogy is the second one - Princess Sultana's Daughters. But I would recommend reading this one first so you know the story and situation.
When I started reading this book I could not put it down. If you are fascinated with Saudi culture, women's rights or the lifestyle of the Saudi royal family, this is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing true-life story of life as a royal Saudi wife.
Review: This is one of my favorite books I've ever read. It's amazing to hear how sexist the Saudi regime is with their women in this day and age! The abuse that is allowed, with no repercussions because men are treated as kings and all women are seen as their property, is unbelievable. Many women are under the total control of the men in their family, and risk death or imprisonment if they try to flee. You really need to read it to believe that a whole society lives this way! You will have a new appreciation for your life and freedoms after you read these sad tales of women married off to abusive men twice their age who have other wives as well. They must stay veiled when outside and stay in separate rooms in the household for women when male visitors are over. That is why the book is called "Life Behind the Veil."
Rating:
Summary: A spot light on the corruption in Saudi Arabia.
Review: To start with I read the Arabic translation of this book when I was in Cairo last week. It was translated by "Hisham Yahia" and published in Cairo (ISBN 977-5185-24-6) Jan 1996. Now I bought the original English version to compare. I am a pediatrician who worked in Saudi Arabia for 5 years and I witnessed a whole lot of corruption and injustice there, including discrimination against women, rape of young kids by their teachers in schools, and severe violation to human rights everywhere there. Although the Arabic translation is not well written, I can say that the book is a good panoramic image of the Saudi live. This culture has nothing to do with Islam. It is meant to protect the rotten government. I witnessed myself a tragedy of an Egyptian family whose young child was raped, and because the criminal was a VIP. The father of the child was humiliated and "lashed" in public, as a punishment because he dared to file a complaint. I personally recommend this book to the American reader, and I hope many other books about the miserable live in Saudi Arabia would be available. When you read this book please keep in mind that all this corruption and injustice do not belong to Islam the great religion that is victimized there. Perhaps USA would change its policy, and start seriously to pay attention to the human rights in this country. Friday, August 27, 1999
|
