Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey Of A Desert Nomad
Registered by mojitopt on 2/19/2003
16 journalers for this copy...
A slight sound woke me, and when I opened my eyes, I was staring into the face of a lion.
This book was given to me by a friend. Only just started to read it now. Language is simple and natural, so it makes an easy read.
The biograpahy of fashion model Waris (Somali for Desert Flower) Dirie, her childhood as a nomad, her flight from the family when she was 12 to escape an arranged marriage to a 60 year old. Her nomad-like life and success as a top model. And, her fight to help eradicate female genital mutilation, being herself traumatized with the memory of circumcision at the age of 5.
The biograpahy of fashion model Waris (Somali for Desert Flower) Dirie, her childhood as a nomad, her flight from the family when she was 12 to escape an arranged marriage to a 60 year old. Her nomad-like life and success as a top model. And, her fight to help eradicate female genital mutilation, being herself traumatized with the memory of circumcision at the age of 5.
Finished this book recently. It really is a moving autobiography and at times touched me...
This book has already traveled quite a bit: It was bought by my friend in New York and she took it to Australia and then back home to Germany, where she gave it to me. I think I will release it on one of my future trips abroad. Bye bye nomad book, your journey continues ...
This book has already traveled quite a bit: It was bought by my friend in New York and she took it to Australia and then back home to Germany, where she gave it to me. I think I will release it on one of my future trips abroad. Bye bye nomad book, your journey continues ...
Journal Entry 4 by mojitopt at given to a friend in Borno, Lombardia Italy on Monday, March 24, 2003
Released on Sunday, March 23, 2003 at given to a friend in Borno (BS), Lombardia Italy.
Passed this book on to an Italian friend. Hope she will become a BookCrosser ...
Passed this book on to an Italian friend. Hope she will become a BookCrosser ...
A german friend of mine gave me this book and inform me about bookcrossing...thank you "mojitopt"!
I'll try to read this book (altough in english!)...I am already thinking about the best place to realease it...don't worry little book: you will continue your travel through the world!
IT: un amico tedesco mi ha dato questo libro, che tenterò di leggere ( se pur in inglese...)e mi ha fatto conoscere quest'iniziativa.
Sto già pensando a dove liberarlo...
...no preoccuparti piccolo libro: continuerai il tuo viaggio nel mondo!
I'll try to read this book (altough in english!)...I am already thinking about the best place to realease it...don't worry little book: you will continue your travel through the world!
IT: un amico tedesco mi ha dato questo libro, che tenterò di leggere ( se pur in inglese...)e mi ha fatto conoscere quest'iniziativa.
Sto già pensando a dove liberarlo...
...no preoccuparti piccolo libro: continuerai il tuo viaggio nel mondo!
Journal Entry 6 by greca at meet up brescia-bergamo in Rovato, Lombardia Italy on Monday, May 12, 2003
Released on Monday, May 12, 2003 at meet up brescia-bergamo in rovato, Brescia Italy.
Vola, libro...tu che contieni lo spirito di Waris, tu che NON PUOI foermarti....tu che già vieni da lontano e che io non posso nè riesco a tenerti...
..viaggia lungo l'Italia e lascia che le nostre genti ti prendano e ti leggano, anche se per poco.
Lascia anche a noi "del mondo ricco" capire la bellezza e la spiritualità del modo di vivere e pensare del "tuo mondo", Waris...
Lasciaci capire quanto siamo fortunati a vivere nella parte del mondo senza guerra..
...lasciaci però capire quanto stupida è la nostra frenesia di voler ottenere sempre di più. Frenesia che ci fa vivere una vita che non ci lascia il tempo di apprezzare la bellezza delle cose.
poi però, libro, riprendi presto il tuo viaggio perchè tu non ti puoi fermare...tu che contieni lo spirito della nomade WARIS!
Rilasciato al meetup di Rovato...
Vola, libro...tu che contieni lo spirito di Waris, tu che NON PUOI foermarti....tu che già vieni da lontano e che io non posso nè riesco a tenerti...
..viaggia lungo l'Italia e lascia che le nostre genti ti prendano e ti leggano, anche se per poco.
Lascia anche a noi "del mondo ricco" capire la bellezza e la spiritualità del modo di vivere e pensare del "tuo mondo", Waris...
Lasciaci capire quanto siamo fortunati a vivere nella parte del mondo senza guerra..
...lasciaci però capire quanto stupida è la nostra frenesia di voler ottenere sempre di più. Frenesia che ci fa vivere una vita che non ci lascia il tempo di apprezzare la bellezza delle cose.
poi però, libro, riprendi presto il tuo viaggio perchè tu non ti puoi fermare...tu che contieni lo spirito della nomade WARIS!
Rilasciato al meetup di Rovato...
- un libro che è un peccato non leggere
- c'è avventura e ci sono riflessioni
- l'inglese è facile
- ti fa apprezzare tutto il mondo!
(note suggerite dal futuro" tristissimo")
- c'è avventura e ci sono riflessioni
- l'inglese è facile
- ti fa apprezzare tutto il mondo!
(note suggerite dal futuro" tristissimo")
when I saw it during the Bergamo-Brescia (more Brescia than Bergamo) meet-up I thought this was for me. I love to read about other societies, other cultures, to know which are their pains even though every country should look inside, in your own.
I loved this book although the content is full of pain. But there is the hope too we can change, we can stop cruelty through knowledge. This book is for every person that wants to learn, to know about African culture.
Journal Entry 10 by Smilzo at Poste Italiane in Grassobbio, Lombardia Italy on Thursday, June 19, 2003
Released on Thursday, June 19, 2003 at Poste Italiane in Grassobbio (BG), Lombardia Italy.
spedito ad una BC italiana a Londra!
spedito ad una BC italiana a Londra!
Ho trovato il libro ad aspettarmi a casa, ieri, quando sono rientrata dal lavoro. Non e' bello essere accolti cosi?? Grazie mille a Smilzo per la sua gentilezza - faro' una vera e propria recensione dopo aver letto il libro... ma ci vorranno alcune settimane, perche' sono assediata da una pila di libri che devono continuare il loro viaggio d'urgenza!**************
Ich fand das Buch in die Post von gestern, als ich von der Arbeit zurueckkam...ist es nicht wunderbar so ein Empfang zu haben?? Vielen Dank an Smilzo, sie war so nett, mir das Buch zu schicken (nachdem ich sie mit PMs bombardiert habe!). Ein Eintrag zum Buch werde ich nach dem Lesen machen...aber das wird eine Weile (Wochen!) dauern, da ich etliche Buecher aufgestapelt habe, die dringender in Umlauf gebracht werden muessen!
**************
Isn't it wonderful to come back home after a long working day and find a book waiting for you??? Cheers Smilzo...I appreciate your kindness in sending me this book, and I promise that I will make a proper journal entry after reading it....just don't hold your breath....I have soooo many books that needs to be read and sent to other BCers ...it could take a few weeks!
I may start a bookray with this book after I finish...and of course, I will advertise it in all the BC forums....:-)
Very easy to read, entertaining, and moving at times, I went through this book in 3 days, which is a record considering the little time I've recently had to read...I was a bit disappointed that most of the book involved the story of Waris before the start of her career as UN ambassador, as I would have liked to hear more about the fight agains FGM, but maybe this is subject of the follow-up to this book, DESERT DAWN.
CHAMPION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Dirie's testimony is the sad story of thousands of women. By telling her story, she hopes to bring an end to the suffering caused by female circumcision. "I think about every single one of them every day and I'm trying to get there before it happens to that child," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. But the United Nations faces strong opposition because many African men and women believe in a tradition they say is part of their heritage. For Dirie, it has little to do with tradition and nothing to do with religion. "It is mainly God, power control. It's mainly men showing they are physically stronger and being cowards and controlling you by torturing you," she said. "It's been going a long time but they can't see the world has moved on and life changes and they've stuck to it. The men they don't know what it feels like-but if I cut his balls off then he knows!" Dirie waits for the day that female circumcision has been abolished. "I pray for it every night and I won't rest until I complete my mission because I'm so deeply into it," she said. "We have to get over this because no woman deserves to be sliced up like an animal."
All in all, an uplifting read.
I will start a bookray for this book, which seems to have already travelled a lot...
Received from YowlYY, as I`m the first in the ray for it. So kind of YowlYY to send me two small books as a present along with the book! By coincidence, today I received another book, also from bookray, so now I have a tough decision to make which book to read first:-)). Anyway, I`m a quick reader and hope to start reading soon and pass it on. A big thank to YowlYY!
xxx
xxx
I finished it in two days. It is a very honest and simple way of telling your life. Sometimes, I admit, I would have wished it be written better(from literary point of view) but on the other side, this is the voice of Waris, and the truth of her life. It is written in a very simple language, and with an African straightforwardness. She doesn`t feel the need of explaining in long long passages why she did this or that. As a desert child, she does what she feels is crucial for her survival. First, I was upset for her that she agreed so easily to be photographed naked, for example but then I thought that she simply had no choice,and she put it in the book simply as this.
The book left me feeling sad.I felt terribly sorry for Warris and other Somalian women who suffer like her.It is horrible that young women should be crippled like this in early childhood, denied their simplest phisycal comfort, and later,denied pleasures of shared love. It is very brave of her to speak so boldly about her own awful experience, to share something so personal, so embarassing, only in order to make people aware of the sufferings of her sisters around the globe. It seems like the world of fashion has not changed her for bad, had not touched her pure, honest heart.Now I feel like I have got to know another good person.
The book left me feeling sad.I felt terribly sorry for Warris and other Somalian women who suffer like her.It is horrible that young women should be crippled like this in early childhood, denied their simplest phisycal comfort, and later,denied pleasures of shared love. It is very brave of her to speak so boldly about her own awful experience, to share something so personal, so embarassing, only in order to make people aware of the sufferings of her sisters around the globe. It seems like the world of fashion has not changed her for bad, had not touched her pure, honest heart.Now I feel like I have got to know another good person.
Sent further to arugh481187.
Received in my mailbox today. I have a few bookrays in front of it, but will get to it soon.
Journal Entry 18 by arugh48187 at Post Office at 153rd and Garrett in -- Mailed, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Thursday, February 5, 2004
Released on Thursday, February 05, 2004 at Post Office at 153rd and Garrett in Apple Valley, Minnesota Controlled Releases.
I was unfortunately not able to finish this one before I leave for India. I will have to check it out from the library when I get back.
I was unfortunately not able to finish this one before I leave for India. I will have to check it out from the library when I get back.
Journal Entry 19 by Kernow8 from Southampton, Hampshire United Kingdom on Thursday, February 12, 2004
Arrived in the mail - a nice surprise as I hadn't had a PM about it first! Thanks everyone...
Will start reading today - I'm taking it on holiday with me. I plan to send it while I'm away so the next peron may journal receipt before I've entered my review - if so, I'll just expand this entry when I get back!
Update March 15th: Well, morpha beat me to it and journalled receipt before I got round to telling you what I thought of it - so here we go...
I thought this was a very interesting read - light and humorous enough in some places to offset the tragic message of FGM in others. I couldn't believe the nightmare sham marriages Waris had to endure - wow! Talk about truth being stranger than fiction! It was a quick read - I put in an hour a day for a few nights, once the extended family (kids, husband, in-laws) had gone to bed and I could lie peacefully on the couch in the ski apartment reading - bliss! I mailed it from Colorado on Friday 12th March and am pleased to see the resort company handled the outgoing mail quickly.
Update March 15th: Well, morpha beat me to it and journalled receipt before I got round to telling you what I thought of it - so here we go...
I thought this was a very interesting read - light and humorous enough in some places to offset the tragic message of FGM in others. I couldn't believe the nightmare sham marriages Waris had to endure - wow! Talk about truth being stranger than fiction! It was a quick read - I put in an hour a day for a few nights, once the extended family (kids, husband, in-laws) had gone to bed and I could lie peacefully on the couch in the ski apartment reading - bliss! I mailed it from Colorado on Friday 12th March and am pleased to see the resort company handled the outgoing mail quickly.
Desert Flower arrived today, I can't wait to read it. Looks like a fast read (for me). Thanks Kernow8!
What a story! I was most intrigued by the part where international fashion model returns to the area where she lived as a nomad, and her nomadic instincts are still with her. I am fascinated by that dichotomy.
I had not realized that the practice of FGM was so widespread in Africa, my heart goes out to those little girls and young women. There are a few young Somalian women here, I wonder if they have been through that process. No wonder Waris has so much anger inside--at least she lets it out.
And so book you are off to Italy again, I wish I could come with you. I loved Italy when I was there for 4 weeks ten years ago.
I had not realized that the practice of FGM was so widespread in Africa, my heart goes out to those little girls and young women. There are a few young Somalian women here, I wonder if they have been through that process. No wonder Waris has so much anger inside--at least she lets it out.
And so book you are off to Italy again, I wish I could come with you. I loved Italy when I was there for 4 weeks ten years ago.
just taken, having had a nice journey. We both thank you a lot, Morpha! :-)
Time to leave again. I have enjoyied this book enough, but wearing the impression of "too much" all the time: too much things happened to just a single woman who survived episodes that should have shattered or killed even any character of a fantasy tale. The last chapter, about infibulation, saves it all.
I'm gonna sending it to Vesna.
I'm gonna sending it to Vesna.
arrived two days ago
i've read it but can't say that i've was "taken" during my reading... too much , like Giorgio, already said...
maybe Black Lilith will apriciate it more then I did
:-)
i've read it but can't say that i've was "taken" during my reading... too much , like Giorgio, already said...
maybe Black Lilith will apriciate it more then I did
:-)
It arrived today! I'm a bit busy... I hope to read it soon, or I'll pass it on, if I can't.
Thanks a lot!
Thanks a lot!
oh...already in Lombardia?? I thought Blacklilith was going to read it too? Maybe I missed something...
Yesterday I read Blacklilith's name in the list, before me, so I wrote her to ask if she refused to receive it or... something else. If she wants, I'll pass the book to her as soon as I've read it...
It's here in Florence.
A very female book, a very "too much" book, a book not so well written, but a book full of life (and a good "starting point" to think of muslim women life).
Thanks to my "rabbit" BCer friend.
Thanks to my "rabbit" BCer friend.
Journal Entry 32 by Leukonoe from Berlin (irgendwo/somewhere), Berlin Germany on Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Came home in a sort of bad mood and found a package from Italy in front of my door: inside was the book and a lot of bookmarks, postcards, and even some flowers from Rome which - though a bit faded and weary-looking - made my day! Thanks, Giorgio for the flowers, and to solimano for sending the book!
I also contacted Blacklilith since she was somehow left out of the game and got her address, so she will be the next to get the book.
I also contacted Blacklilith since she was somehow left out of the game and got her address, so she will be the next to get the book.
Journal Entry 33 by Leukonoe from Berlin (irgendwo/somewhere), Berlin Germany on Friday, October 22, 2004
An easy, fast and entertaining read. I really like that Dirie is so honest: she doesn't hide her ghostwriter, is open about her "real" look (without perfect light and make-up) and admits the fact that she is not only an ordinary desert nomad, but had an upper-class background also. Since I finished it so quickly, and Wendje also wanted to have a look at it, this book will travel on to Italy as scheduled by the end of next week.
Dirie is certainly right about that mankind should leave their genitals as god made them, because these parts all have their raison d'être. I am glad I live in a cultural area where both women and men are left completely intact.
Dirie is certainly right about that mankind should leave their genitals as god made them, because these parts all have their raison d'être. I am glad I live in a cultural area where both women and men are left completely intact.
Got this book from Leukonoe and read it in one evening. The story of Waris is interesting but I did not liked the style how it is written by the ghostwriter. Although the description of how she was mutilated by the gypsywoman is quite terrifying.
Journal Entry 35 by Leukonoe from Berlin (irgendwo/somewhere), Berlin Germany on Thursday, October 28, 2004
The book is on its way to Italy as media mail - enjoy, blacklilith! And of course thanks to YowlYY for organizing the ray!
Journal Entry 36 by Leukonoe from Berlin (irgendwo/somewhere), Berlin Germany on Saturday, November 27, 2004
Hey, what's going on with the post there? I wanna have this book journalled, so hurry up, you clerks and officers! :P
Here it is! :-)))
Journal Entry 38 by BlackLilith from Città di Castello, Umbria Italy on Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Ready to go again as soon as I'll receive the address of next bookcrosser! Thanks a lot for this beautiful book!
It looks as if this book got lost in the postal service... Eventually, I will replace it with a new copy to continue its trip.
There is a lack in journal entries this past year that leave many people wondering about the fate of this book. Was it mailed? Is it lost in the mail? Is is possible that this book is trapped in some forgotten corner somewhere? These questions and many more can only be answered if a new journal entry comes to tell the tale.The Lost Book Island is here to give these lost books a place to hang out and play, rest and relax, and have fun in the sun until the day that a new journal entry comes to answer the questions that are being asked.
