The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

I tend to concur with the common belief that this book was hard to read. I wish I could say that I enjoyed it even a little, but I cannot. This was the least entertaining book I have read yet. These negative feelings could come from one of many factors. First, even though it was of simple vocabulary, besides all the arab words, to me the book was a slow read because I could never get the names squared away. Two, there were many points in the book which I found myself rereading sections and paragraphs because I dosed off and could not keep attentive. Third, my unfamiliarity with the Muslim community made it hard to connect with the characters and really understand what they were going through. Fourth, this book took a long time to read! Lastly, the writing style was atypical and I just did not like it. This book has made me realize my need for fantasy in a novel.

One of my favorite lines of the book is this...
"Well, why are you Muslim then? If anything else is just as good?"
"Love," she says slowly. Love and attachment. I love the Quran, for example. And the forms and rhythms of Salaah. I keep coming back to it. It has a resonance for me."
"But you think someone else can pray another way and find a path to God?"
"Absolutely."

To me this one little part of the book had a lot of meaning and emotion behind it. There has always been a struggle and questioning of different religions. By this, I mean that many people feel that there is only one right religion and that people who are not involved in their religion are wrong and "sinners". To me it is the generalized idea of religion that we are to believe in a higher power (God for instance) and through religion find our path to God. I feel this line really shows that religion is more than just praying but it is a way of life and there is no write and wrong religion out there. It is dependent on what style of life you want to lead and choosing the religion that allows you to lead the lifestyle you need to find God! It was relieving to see this line brought up in the book. We choose religion to define how we want our lifestyle not to differentiate ourselves from others and divide us into good and evil. I feel that this is a common misconception today!

This line also plays a big role in the progression of the story for it is a step towards
Kandra Shamy and the final goal of finding out and defining who she is as a person.