Reviews for Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistan

The average rating for Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistan based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-05-13 00:00:00 David Story What surprised me most about this book is that it did not ignite a major controversy.Religion is a very sensitive subject in Pakistan and the Muslim world,and this book is written in very controversial style. It is supposedly a memoir,but at times reads like a novel.The author studies in a madrassa (religious school) in Pakistan,then he migrates with his family to the US.He experiences culture shock,which also influences his orthodox religious views.His religious views keep changing with the passage of time,from conservative to atheist,to self-styled reformer. There are a lot of cultural references that a Pakistani audience can relate to,while readers outside Pakistan may struggle with it.A very unusual book,nevertheless.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-08-03 00:00:00 Rickey Davis This was another disappointing read in my quest for a sensitive book which informs and entertains me about Islam. An OK read, I persisted through the low level of entertainment and information that was on offer through the time of Abir/Amir/Ali through his good boy years in Pakistan, and into his fine young muslim years in America through high school and uni, in the hope that when his disillusionment grew, some more feelings would be explained or intellectualised. But when I got to his anti-islamic phase, there was again no deep exploration of why the change happened, or how significant or difficult it was to change in this radical way, and turn away from Islam, so I decided not to persist. Not that the book is really garbage, it is reasonably well written, but somehow very much gives me the impression of a personality who is not particularly contemplative or thoughtful about the hows and whys of behaviour or the meaning of life and love. No insights here, and in the end, when you are writing about your turning away from Islam, for me a description of events and friends without the intellectual life or being much in touch with the whys of feelings just means that you don't really have that much to say. A string of descriptive events is not interesting.