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Death in Riyadh - Dark Secrets in Hidden Arabia (Paperback, 2nd edition)
Loot Price: R551
Discovery Miles 5 510
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Death in Riyadh - Dark Secrets in Hidden Arabia (Paperback, 2nd edition)
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Loot Price R551
Discovery Miles 5 510
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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This is not only a travel book but a thought-provoking documentary
on inter-cultural relationships between the different races and
nationalities comprising the huge expatriate population and native
Arab residents of the oil-rich peninsula. The many characters
portrayed, presented in a variety of authentic stories encountered
by the author on his travels, are centred around the horrific event
of a public stoning in Saudi Arabia. Some of the stories have a
humorous flavour, but all are concerned with the human problems -
many of them poignant - of expatriates and Arabs alike, living
cheek by jowl in a society of gaping contrasts. It would be
simplistic to interpret the book as merely a critique of the
harsher aspects of Arab life from a Western perspective, for in the
cause of future concord, the author calls for a dialogue between
the cultures of the Middle East and the West in the name of social
justice and modernisation. The present strains, in what has become
a multi-cultural society following the influx of millions, mostly
from the Third World, anticipates the possibility of trouble in the
future. The status of women is highlighted and discussed in several
dramatic episodes, and a compassionate view is taken of Asian guest
workers in the light of their widespread mistreatment in the Gulf.
The rigidity of tradition would seem not merely to prevent the
development of a modem mind-set, but in the perceived threat of
Westernisation, to trigger an even more regressive attitude, as is
shown clearly in this book. But note is also taken of the Arab
outlook on the Western world, together with their horror of Western
liberal values, and their passionate arguments for resisting change
are recorded in detail. An element of suspense and mystery is
maintained throughout the book as the execution of the condemned
victim progresses through the narrative, only interrupted by
recollections of other personalities and the stories surrounding
them. Is the condemned person male or female? And what was the
offence? No prior information is posted by the authorities on the
public punishment or execution of offenders. The attitude of many
readers to the horrific episode may change considerably as the tme
facts leading up to the execution are revealed towards the end of
the book.
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