Rating: 
Summary: Promotes Understanding
Review: At this stage in our collective history, anything that promotes greater understanding of what it is to be Muslim, what it is to be Afghan, what it is to be both of these things--and American--can do wonders to begin to bridge the huge cultural divide and close the gap that prevents progress toward peace. Maryam Qudrat Aseel gives us her personal experience and strong opinions--and by extension--greater perspective on issues we find ourselves caring about now--and will need to care about well into the future. Thoughtful and provocative -- a great first book. I look forward to more from her!
Rating: 
Summary: A MUST READ!!!
Review: Finally, I read a book that explains the madness in the world - in a way that is interesting and readable. Torn Between Two Cultures opened my eyes to the realities that Muslims live through in this country and why it is so important for everyone including Muslims to realize that Islam is separate from the politics and culture of the Middle East. There is so much information packed into this succint book, and the author's Afghan-American identity helps guide the Muslim and non-Muslim reader through our new ideological war.
Rating:
Summary: Learned a lot!
Review: For myself, this book was absolutely amazing. I went into it knowing next to nothing about the East and the religion of Islam. This book was an excellent introduction to both topics. Maryam Qudrat Aseel is a wonderful writer; the book has a great flow and an a unique setup. The in-depth look between relations in the U.S. and Afghanistan is well done. It's an interesting read and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction To Afghanistan And Muslim World
Review: For myself, this book was absolutely amazing. I went into it knowing next to nothing about the East and the religion of Islam. This book was an excellent introduction to both topics. Maryam Qudrat Aseel is a wonderful writer; the book has a great flow and an a unique setup. The in-depth look between relations in the U.S. and Afghanistan is well done. It's an interesting read and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Smart first-hand view of the Afghan-American experience
Review: I found this book to be an intelligent and thoughtful meditation on the Afghan-American experience. By weaving her own story as an American-born daughter of Afghan parents with stories of those who came to the U.S. during the wars in Afghanistan, the author shows us the great diversity of a people that are too often pigeonholed into a limited identity. When she describes (with candor and humor) her coming of age in the early 1990s, it is very interesting to see how perceptions of Muslims and Middle Easterners during the first Gulf War compare with perceptions now. The author also discusses in depth her views on the difference between Islam as the Koran presents it, as it is practiced by Muslims, and as it is viewed by those unfamiliar with the religion. It was heartening to read how her process of coming to her own understanding of Islam helped her see through many of the stereotypes that even she initially held about her religion and people, and how it gave her the strength and confidence to participate in practical solutions: becoming involved in community activism and working as an educator. Altogether, I thought this book did an excellent job at taking a very complex set of problems and sorting them out in an accessible, objective, and even-handed way. The author's project to encourage meaningful communication between the east and west is commendable.
Rating:
Summary: Mr.
Review: I was really impressed on the way Maryam Qudrat Aseel explained the events in her book so thoroughly.
I enjoyed reading the details she gave in describing the circumstances of both the Afghans in
Afghanistan and the Afghan-American community in the United States particularly in the
Los Angeles area. She was able to emphasize in a way that was easy for me to understand the
conditions, lifestyle and the difficulties that are facing the Afghan-American community.
This book is a complete book of one's personal account under an an extreme and unique experience. It was fascinating how the author fully described her personal experiences within culture and politics of Afghanistan before and after the Soviet invasion. What important here is she took the time to explain the differences between Islam and politics or somebody's ideology. This is very important since so many people do not really know what Islam is about. She did a very good job in the explanation. This book I believe would be a good idea for college textbook for such courses as sociology, or philosophy. It is one of the books that should be read for the intellectual mind.
Rating:
Summary: An important voice
Review: If you only read the newspapers you'd assume that Islam is a religion to which only men subscribe. Maryam's book is therefore an invaluable contribution to the literature. Here is a smart, well-educated woman's personal account of her life and faith. It's not didactic or argumentative, it's simply a refreshingly candid, personal, and articulate account of how the world looks to an Afghan-American Muslim woman. This is a voice we don't hear much amidst the clamor of opinions currently raging about Islam and the West, and it's information we can't get from any "objective" source. Thank goodness for this insider who is willing to share.
Rating:
Summary: METICULOUS
Review: Maryam Qudrat Aseel offers an insightful account of the roots of U.S.-Afghanistan relations. Even more interesting is how this relationship is significant to the U.S.-Islamic world relations. The author is clearly entrenched in the issues that she commands knowledge of from her experences with the Muslim communities. Thus far, I have only seen one-sided accounts on this topic and it is extremely refreshing to find a view that encompasses all who are affected. I learned a great deal from this book and enjoyed the engaging writing style.
Rating:
Summary: Smart first-hand view of the Afghan-American experience
Review: Torn Between Two Cultures should be required reading
in every high school in America. This book dispels so
much misunderstanding about what Islam is and
replaces it with insights into both the culture of
Afghan Americans and into the religious beliefs and
practices of the real Islam. This passionate, open-hearted
offering of Maryam's oddessy of exploring and embracing
her own faith and sharing it with the reader is an
illumination of her Islam and her passage from girlhood
to womanhood in her secular and religious development. She is a scholar, a citizen and woman of purpose and accomplishment who brings us an offering of love and wisdom which bridges the gap between
misinformation and truth about the circumstances in
Afghanistan,what our own country's responsibilities in
that country and practical information about the political
situation and the desperate need of the Afghan people.
I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an
understanding of Islam, and Afghanistan. Reading it
has been a very rich experience.
Rating:
Summary: Learned a lot!
Review: very informative but almost feels like your reading a novel. a must read with so many stereotypes flying around these days
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