Below is Tony's synopsis of our discussion on Saturday:
Saturday, March 8 (my mom’s birthday!) saw the liveliest book club/breakfast club discussion that I’ve ever witnessed. The book, Murder in Amsterdam, by Ian Buruma, supplied endless topics for debate: Muslim non-assimilation into western societies, the ironic intolerance of the philosophy of tolerance, The Enlightenment, for mystical (read religious) beliefs, the role played by the western view of the status of women in the unrest of Middle Eastern and African immigrants, and the long lasting effects of colonialism on the collective guilt and anger evident in Europe. In this last point we were aided in understanding by Art’s guest, Alain, a French/Portuguese Ph.D. candidate from Paris.
Murder in Amsterdam covers the background of the assassination of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in November 2004. The killer’s specific motives are not the central story; Holland’s social structures, history, and smugness are. Buruma also explores the alienation of an entire generation of Muslims who feel displaced from both the culture of their fathers, and from the permissive culture of their adopted home.
The extensive cast and episodic writing did get in the way of easy comprehension, but as a vehicle for discussion and reflection, this book was a winner.
3 comments:
I agree with Tony - this was a very good BookClub meeting. The only thing I would add is the point about the Dutch experience with the Nazis and their colonial atrocities in Indonesia. I think this is part of the Dutch psyche - to be so smug about how they responded to the Jewish deportations but to be unable to understand why the Muslim world might be upset with them about their behaviour in Indonesia.
Sorry I missed it. Mairtin, this blog is just super. And now we can indulge in l'esprit de l'escalier (staircase wit, as the French call it) when you have brilliant thoughts and witty repartee that occur to you as you are leaving a social gathering!
Greta
I think that's a great name for this blog - l'Esprit de l'escalier.
I wonder what other people think of that?
Post a Comment