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La Trilogia #1
The Rage and the Pride
With The Rage and the Pride Oriana Fallaci breaks a ten year silence. The silence she kept until September 11's apocalypse in her Manhattan house. She breaks it with a deafening noise. In Europe this book has caused and causes a turmoil never registered in decades. Polemics, discussion, debates, hearty consents and praises, wild attacks.
With her well-known courage Oriana Fallaci faces the themes unchained by the Islamic terrorism: the contrast and, in her opinion, incompatibility between the Islamic world and the Western world; the global reality of the Jihad and the lack of response, the lenience of the West. With her brutal sincerity she hurls pitiless accusations, vehement invectives, and denounces the uncomfortable truths that all of us know but never dare to express. With her rigorous logic, lucidity of mind, she defends our culture and blames what she calls "our blindness, our deafness, our masochism, the conformism and the arrogance of the Politically Correct". With the poetry of a prophet like a modern Cassandra she says it in the form of a letter addressed to all of us.
The text is enriched by a dramatic preface in which Oriana Fallaci reveals how The Rage and the Pride was born, grew up, and detachedly calls it "my small book." In addition, a preface in which she tells significant episodes of her extraordinary life and explains her unreachable isolation, her demanding and inflexible choices. Because of this too, what she calls "my small book" is in reality a great book. A precious book, a book that shakes our conscience. It is also the portrait of a soul. Her soul. No doubt it will remain as a thorn pierced inside our brains and our hearts.
With her well-known courage Oriana Fallaci faces the themes unchained by the Islamic terrorism: the contrast and, in her opinion, incompatibility between the Islamic world and the Western world; the global reality of the Jihad and the lack of response, the lenience of the West. With her brutal sincerity she hurls pitiless accusations, vehement invectives, and denounces the uncomfortable truths that all of us know but never dare to express. With her rigorous logic, lucidity of mind, she defends our culture and blames what she calls "our blindness, our deafness, our masochism, the conformism and the arrogance of the Politically Correct". With the poetry of a prophet like a modern Cassandra she says it in the form of a letter addressed to all of us.
The text is enriched by a dramatic preface in which Oriana Fallaci reveals how The Rage and the Pride was born, grew up, and detachedly calls it "my small book." In addition, a preface in which she tells significant episodes of her extraordinary life and explains her unreachable isolation, her demanding and inflexible choices. Because of this too, what she calls "my small book" is in reality a great book. A precious book, a book that shakes our conscience. It is also the portrait of a soul. Her soul. No doubt it will remain as a thorn pierced inside our brains and our hearts.
168 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2002
About the author
Oriana Fallaci
56 books1,416 followersOriana Fallaci was born in Florence, Italy. During World War II, she joined the resistance despite her youth, in the democratic armed group "Giustizia e Libertà". Her father Edoardo Fallaci, a cabinet maker in Florence, was a political activist struggling to put an end to the dictatorship of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini. It was during this period that Fallaci was first exposed to the atrocities of war.
Fallaci began her journalistic career in her teens, becoming a special correspondent for the Italian paper Il mattino dell'Italia centrale in 1946. Since 1967 she worked as a war correspondent, in Vietnam, for the Indo-Pakistani War, in the Middle East and in South America. For many years, Fallaci was a special correspondent for the political magazine L'Europeo and wrote for a number of leading newspapers and Epoca magazine. During the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics, Fallaci was shot three times, dragged down stairs by her hair, and left for dead by Mexican forces. According to The New Yorker, her former support of the student activists "devolved into a dislike of Mexicans":
The demonstrations by immigrants in the United States these past few months "disgust" her, especially when protesters displayed the Mexican flag. "I don't love the Mexicans," Fallaci said, invoking her nasty treatment at the hands of Mexican police in 1968. "If you hold a gun and say, 'Choose who is worse between the Muslims and the Mexicans,' I have a moment of hesitation. Then I choose the Muslims, because they have broken my balls."
In the late 1970s, she had an affair with the subject of one of her interviews, Alexandros Panagoulis, who had been a solitary figure in the Greek resistance against the 1967 dictatorship, having been captured, heavily tortured and imprisoned for his (unsuccessful) assassination attempt against dictator and ex-Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos. Panagoulis died in 1976, under controversial circumstances, in a road accident. Fallaci maintained that Panagoulis was assassinated by remnants of the Greek military junta and her book Un Uomo (A Man) was inspired by the life of Panagoulis.
During her 1972 interview with Henry Kissinger, Kissinger agreed that the Vietnam War was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse".Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press."
She has written several novels uncomfortably close to raw reality which have been bestsellers in Italy and widely translated. Fallaci, a fully emancipated and successful woman in the man's world of international political and battlefront journalism, has antagonized many feminists by her outright individualism, her championship of motherhood, and her idolization of heroic manhood. In journalism, her critics have felt that she has outraged the conventions of interviewing and reporting. As a novelist, she shatters the invisible diaphragm of literariness, and is accused of betraying, or simply failing literature.
Fallaci has twice received the St. Vincent Prize for journalism, as well as the Bancarella Prize (1971) for Nothing, and So Be It; Viareggio Prize (1979), for Un uomo: Romanzo; and Prix Antibes, 1993, for Inshallah. She received a D.Litt. from Columbia College (Chicago). She has lectured at the University of Chicago, Yale University, Harvard University, and Columbia University. Fallaci’s writings have been translated into 21 languages including English, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Greek, Swedish, Polish, Croatian and Slovenian.
Fallaci was a life-long heavy smoker. She died on September 15, 2006 in her native Florence from breast cancer.
Fallaci began her journalistic career in her teens, becoming a special correspondent for the Italian paper Il mattino dell'Italia centrale in 1946. Since 1967 she worked as a war correspondent, in Vietnam, for the Indo-Pakistani War, in the Middle East and in South America. For many years, Fallaci was a special correspondent for the political magazine L'Europeo and wrote for a number of leading newspapers and Epoca magazine. During the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics, Fallaci was shot three times, dragged down stairs by her hair, and left for dead by Mexican forces. According to The New Yorker, her former support of the student activists "devolved into a dislike of Mexicans":
The demonstrations by immigrants in the United States these past few months "disgust" her, especially when protesters displayed the Mexican flag. "I don't love the Mexicans," Fallaci said, invoking her nasty treatment at the hands of Mexican police in 1968. "If you hold a gun and say, 'Choose who is worse between the Muslims and the Mexicans,' I have a moment of hesitation. Then I choose the Muslims, because they have broken my balls."
In the late 1970s, she had an affair with the subject of one of her interviews, Alexandros Panagoulis, who had been a solitary figure in the Greek resistance against the 1967 dictatorship, having been captured, heavily tortured and imprisoned for his (unsuccessful) assassination attempt against dictator and ex-Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos. Panagoulis died in 1976, under controversial circumstances, in a road accident. Fallaci maintained that Panagoulis was assassinated by remnants of the Greek military junta and her book Un Uomo (A Man) was inspired by the life of Panagoulis.
During her 1972 interview with Henry Kissinger, Kissinger agreed that the Vietnam War was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse".Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press."
She has written several novels uncomfortably close to raw reality which have been bestsellers in Italy and widely translated. Fallaci, a fully emancipated and successful woman in the man's world of international political and battlefront journalism, has antagonized many feminists by her outright individualism, her championship of motherhood, and her idolization of heroic manhood. In journalism, her critics have felt that she has outraged the conventions of interviewing and reporting. As a novelist, she shatters the invisible diaphragm of literariness, and is accused of betraying, or simply failing literature.
Fallaci has twice received the St. Vincent Prize for journalism, as well as the Bancarella Prize (1971) for Nothing, and So Be It; Viareggio Prize (1979), for Un uomo: Romanzo; and Prix Antibes, 1993, for Inshallah. She received a D.Litt. from Columbia College (Chicago). She has lectured at the University of Chicago, Yale University, Harvard University, and Columbia University. Fallaci’s writings have been translated into 21 languages including English, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Greek, Swedish, Polish, Croatian and Slovenian.
Fallaci was a life-long heavy smoker. She died on September 15, 2006 in her native Florence from breast cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 286 reviews
March 19, 2019
The late Italian journalist and political interviewer Oriana Fallaci has always been noted for her hard-hitting, trenchant social criticism, and for some The Rage and Pride could be seen as nothing more than an angry rant in the wake of the 9/11 atrocities. Sometimes we may think, write, or say things in the heat of the moment when emotions are running high that we later regret. Well, Fallaci is having none of it. She doesn't hold back, and had nothing to apologize for. She writes wholeheartedly in her scathing attack condemning the war being waged by Islamic zealots like the now rotting in hell bin Laden. Now here's the thing, if she can be called a racist, which she constantly was, and I agree with about 90% of what she has to say here, does that then make me one? it seems nowadays just about everything is deemed racist, like voting for a white person to win one of those stupid TV talent shows, or not employing someone from an ethnic minority. Maybe it's simply down to the fact the other applicants were better suited. Just for the record, not that I should feel like having to defend myself like did Fallaci, but I do happen to have friends from different cultures. This book isn't an attack on multiculturalism or Muslims but on the ever so real threat posed by Terrorism and all the hate that goes hand in hand with it. Added to her fury is that the west is partly to blame, where certain Countries seemed to be half-asleep or just turning a blind eye (bearing in mind this is 2001) when dealing with known Islamic extremists. There are many things here I just won't bother going into detail on, in case Fallaci's views starts to rattle a few cages. But this is (for me at least) the free world, and it's great I get to voice my opinion here without the threat of being stoned to death in the morning. This is a brave, honest, and unflinching piece of writing. Sure it's controversial, but only for those who refuse the truth. She basically had the guts to write openly what millions of others at the time were just thinking but afraid to say.
January 28, 2018
When I started reading this book, I did not realize that the author, Oriana Fallaci, died over a decade ago. In fact, I didn’t know much about her at all. She definitely had a unique style and lived through some turbulent times. As a teenager in Italy, she had fought Mussolini’s fascist regime. Then later as a war reporter, she covered major conflicts throughout the world.
She was probably the only Western journalist to have interviewed Ayatollah Khomeini twice. She called the chador, “a stupid, medieval rag”.
Fallaci spent her last years between her native Tuscany and New York City. The U.S. was her adopted homeland and she loved it dearly.
She wrote this book after the horrific 9/11 attacks, while living in Manhattan. In true Italian anger and passion, she lashed out at everyone that she felt was responsible in even the most minor ways – from Islamic fundamentalists all the way to those that she refers to as the “cicadas” – the politically correct elite. This was entertaining to read. Her rage was not only with regards to 9/11, but also what she could see happening to her native Italy and throughout Europe. She was not one to spare words or feelings. She just let it run. No political correctness for her!
One of my favorite parts is when she refers to historic landmarks throughout the world – the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, Notre Dame, and so on, but then she reminds the reader that as an Italian, she worries about the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Dome, and and on and on. swears that if the terrorists destroy Italy’s landmarks:
“I swear. It is I who would become the holy warrior. … War you wanted? War you want? Good. As far as I am concerned, war is war and war will be. Until the last breath.”
Naturally, she made many enemies from the time that this book was published until the few short years when she died. I believe that she would be devastated by all that has been happening in Europe, her beloved United States, and her native Italy.
This is not really a book per se. The author intended it be a sermon, a wake-up call. Do not read it if you are easily offended. Otherwise, I wish that everyone would read this thought-provoking and important work. These are things that need to be said. I wish that this book as well as books by Ayaan Hirsi Ali were mandatory reading in high school, or at the very least, in college. I would like to read more books by her.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“Wake up, folks, wake up! As intimidated as you are by the fear of going against the stream and looking racist (a grossly erroneous word, by the way, because the problem has nothing to do with a race: it has to do with a religion) you don’t understand or don’t want to understand that a Reverse Crusade is on the march. As blinded as you are by the myopia and the stupidity of the Politically Correct, you don’t realize or don’t want to realize that a war of religion is being carried out. A war they call Jihad. … A war which is conducted to destroy our civilization, our ways of living and dying, or praying or not praying, of eating and drinking and dressing and studying and enjoying Life.”
"Don’t you see that all these Ousamas Bin Laden consider themselves authorized to kill you and your children because you drink alcohol, because you don't grow the long beard and refuse the chador or the burkah, because you go the theater and to the movies, because you love music and sing a song, because you dance and watch television, because you wear the miniskirt or the shorts..."
“Can you tell me why when it comes to your Moslem sisters, to the women who are tortured and humiliated and assassinated by the real male-chauvinist pigs, you imitate the silence of your little men? Can you tell me why you never organize a short barking in front of the Afghan or Saudi Arabian Embassy, why you never raise your voice against the turpitudes I speak about, why you keep silent even if they take place under your eyes? … Do you simply not give a damn about your Moslem sisters because you consider them inferior? In such a case, who is a racist: you or me? You are and you have always been nothing but petulant chickens that can only flap in the coop. Cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck.”
“Instead of learned young people we have donkeys with University degrees. Instead of future leaders we have mollusks with expensive blue jeans and phony revolutionaries with ski masks. And do you know what? Maybe this is another reason why our Moslem invaders have such an easy game.”
She was probably the only Western journalist to have interviewed Ayatollah Khomeini twice. She called the chador, “a stupid, medieval rag”.
Fallaci spent her last years between her native Tuscany and New York City. The U.S. was her adopted homeland and she loved it dearly.
She wrote this book after the horrific 9/11 attacks, while living in Manhattan. In true Italian anger and passion, she lashed out at everyone that she felt was responsible in even the most minor ways – from Islamic fundamentalists all the way to those that she refers to as the “cicadas” – the politically correct elite. This was entertaining to read. Her rage was not only with regards to 9/11, but also what she could see happening to her native Italy and throughout Europe. She was not one to spare words or feelings. She just let it run. No political correctness for her!
One of my favorite parts is when she refers to historic landmarks throughout the world – the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, Notre Dame, and so on, but then she reminds the reader that as an Italian, she worries about the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Dome, and and on and on. swears that if the terrorists destroy Italy’s landmarks:
“I swear. It is I who would become the holy warrior. … War you wanted? War you want? Good. As far as I am concerned, war is war and war will be. Until the last breath.”
Naturally, she made many enemies from the time that this book was published until the few short years when she died. I believe that she would be devastated by all that has been happening in Europe, her beloved United States, and her native Italy.
This is not really a book per se. The author intended it be a sermon, a wake-up call. Do not read it if you are easily offended. Otherwise, I wish that everyone would read this thought-provoking and important work. These are things that need to be said. I wish that this book as well as books by Ayaan Hirsi Ali were mandatory reading in high school, or at the very least, in college. I would like to read more books by her.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“Wake up, folks, wake up! As intimidated as you are by the fear of going against the stream and looking racist (a grossly erroneous word, by the way, because the problem has nothing to do with a race: it has to do with a religion) you don’t understand or don’t want to understand that a Reverse Crusade is on the march. As blinded as you are by the myopia and the stupidity of the Politically Correct, you don’t realize or don’t want to realize that a war of religion is being carried out. A war they call Jihad. … A war which is conducted to destroy our civilization, our ways of living and dying, or praying or not praying, of eating and drinking and dressing and studying and enjoying Life.”
"Don’t you see that all these Ousamas Bin Laden consider themselves authorized to kill you and your children because you drink alcohol, because you don't grow the long beard and refuse the chador or the burkah, because you go the theater and to the movies, because you love music and sing a song, because you dance and watch television, because you wear the miniskirt or the shorts..."
“Can you tell me why when it comes to your Moslem sisters, to the women who are tortured and humiliated and assassinated by the real male-chauvinist pigs, you imitate the silence of your little men? Can you tell me why you never organize a short barking in front of the Afghan or Saudi Arabian Embassy, why you never raise your voice against the turpitudes I speak about, why you keep silent even if they take place under your eyes? … Do you simply not give a damn about your Moslem sisters because you consider them inferior? In such a case, who is a racist: you or me? You are and you have always been nothing but petulant chickens that can only flap in the coop. Cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck.”
“Instead of learned young people we have donkeys with University degrees. Instead of future leaders we have mollusks with expensive blue jeans and phony revolutionaries with ski masks. And do you know what? Maybe this is another reason why our Moslem invaders have such an easy game.”
November 26, 2017
With a rare courage and honesty, Oriana Fallaci shinest the light of the truth and candid scrutiny on her country and the world- breaking a ten year silence after the horrific terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001.
A modern day version of Emile Zola's J'Accuse, Fallaci steps in boldly where most fear to tread, exposing the truths that all of us know but all fear to speak. Fallaci writes that this book was an effort to "open the eyes of those who do not want to see, to unplug the ears of those who do not want to listen, to ignite the thoughts of those who do not want to think"
She does this admirably. She attacks Islamic fundamentalists and the arrogance of the politically correct elite whom she refers to as the "cicadas".
Fallaci was a teenage partisan during the Second World War, fighting Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy and was an intrepid journalist for decades, covering many wars and struggles. Fallaci writes of the frightening Islamic terror network which is growing like a cancer in Europe, protected by the politically correct Left, who manipulate or deny the evidence.
She writes of her pride in her Italian culture and swears that if Moslem terrorists destroy any of her countrie's landmarks and treasures: "I swear: It is I who would become the holy warrior...War you wanted? War you want? As far as I am concerned war is war and war will be. Until the last breath."
If their were more people like Fallaci in the West and Israel, we could certainly win the battle against the Islamo-Nazis and their cheerleaders on the international left.
Fallaci aptly points out the reasons for Islamic terror:
"Dont you see that all these Ousamas Bin Laden consider themselves authorized to kill you and your children because you drink alcohol, because you don't grow the long beard and refuse the chador or the burkah, because you go the theater and to the movies, because you love music and sing a song, because you dance and watch television, because you wear the miniskirt or the shorts, because on the beach and by the swimming pool you sunbathe or almost naked or naked, because you make love when you want or with whom you want..."
She also attacks the politically correct hypocrites of the left who in the name of Humanitarianism revere the invaders and slander the defenders, absolve the delinquents and condemmn the victims, weep for the Taleban and curse the Americans, forgive the Palestinians for every wrong and the Israelis for nothing.
You HAVE to read this book if you want to understand the great struggles the world is faced with at the dawn of the 21st century.
A modern day version of Emile Zola's J'Accuse, Fallaci steps in boldly where most fear to tread, exposing the truths that all of us know but all fear to speak. Fallaci writes that this book was an effort to "open the eyes of those who do not want to see, to unplug the ears of those who do not want to listen, to ignite the thoughts of those who do not want to think"
She does this admirably. She attacks Islamic fundamentalists and the arrogance of the politically correct elite whom she refers to as the "cicadas".
Fallaci was a teenage partisan during the Second World War, fighting Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy and was an intrepid journalist for decades, covering many wars and struggles. Fallaci writes of the frightening Islamic terror network which is growing like a cancer in Europe, protected by the politically correct Left, who manipulate or deny the evidence.
She writes of her pride in her Italian culture and swears that if Moslem terrorists destroy any of her countrie's landmarks and treasures: "I swear: It is I who would become the holy warrior...War you wanted? War you want? As far as I am concerned war is war and war will be. Until the last breath."
If their were more people like Fallaci in the West and Israel, we could certainly win the battle against the Islamo-Nazis and their cheerleaders on the international left.
Fallaci aptly points out the reasons for Islamic terror:
"Dont you see that all these Ousamas Bin Laden consider themselves authorized to kill you and your children because you drink alcohol, because you don't grow the long beard and refuse the chador or the burkah, because you go the theater and to the movies, because you love music and sing a song, because you dance and watch television, because you wear the miniskirt or the shorts, because on the beach and by the swimming pool you sunbathe or almost naked or naked, because you make love when you want or with whom you want..."
She also attacks the politically correct hypocrites of the left who in the name of Humanitarianism revere the invaders and slander the defenders, absolve the delinquents and condemmn the victims, weep for the Taleban and curse the Americans, forgive the Palestinians for every wrong and the Israelis for nothing.
You HAVE to read this book if you want to understand the great struggles the world is faced with at the dawn of the 21st century.
April 3, 2016
Well, I respected the author's passion (blind passion, intolerant passion); and the literary style was good. But she was racist. And demagogic. And arrogant. And disrespecful. She identified the caleidoscopic world of Islam and its multiple cultures with only one possible Islam --that of the female mutilation in Somalia and the fanaticism of Osama bin Laden.
Nevertheless, there's something I admired: Fallaci was out-speaking her heart, absolutely ignoring the "politically correct". In a world full of hypocrisy, that's something I appreciated. Just because of that, I would have rated her book with more that just two stars --only that, by doing so, I would feel I might be cooperating with her racist message.
Nevertheless, there's something I admired: Fallaci was out-speaking her heart, absolutely ignoring the "politically correct". In a world full of hypocrisy, that's something I appreciated. Just because of that, I would have rated her book with more that just two stars --only that, by doing so, I would feel I might be cooperating with her racist message.
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April 6, 2022Com a cultura do cancelamento e do politicamente correto que existe hoje em dia, se este livro tivesse sido publicado agora, a autora talvez fizesse parte do grupo dos cancelados. Parece que na altura em que foi lançado inflamou o espírito de muita gente.
Tendo-o lido mais de vinte anos depois dos acontecimentos que estiveram na sua origem, os atentados de 11 de Setembro de 2001, não me fez impressão ler as palavras duras e as críticas que Oriana faz aos muçulmanos e aos italianos.
Não sei se tinha razão ou não em escrever com tanta raiva e com palavras tão duras dos seguidores de Maomé, mas era uma pessoa que podia falar com propriedade, pois viveu e testemunhou em primeira mão como tratavam as mulheres e outras tiranias de que nós só ouvimos relatos.
Tenho de dizer que para mim escrever é uma coisa muito séria. Não é uma brincadeira, uma distração ou um desabafo. Não o é porque nunca me esqueço de que as coisas escritas podem fazer um grande bem e também um grande mal, curar ou matar. Estuda a História e verás que, por detrás de cada acontecimento de Bem ou de Mal, há sempre um escrito. Um livro, um artigo, um manifesto, uma poesia, uma oração, uma canção.
Se são assim tão patetas que se casam com um estafermo que quer quatro desgraçadas na sua cama, tanto pior para elas. Se os homens são assim tão idiotas que não bebem vinho ou cerveja, idem. Não serei eu quem lho impedirá. Era o que faltava! Fui educada no conceito de liberdade e a minha mãe dizia: «O mundo é bonito porque é variado». Mas, se eles pretenderem vir-me impor as mesmas coisas, ao meu país, à nossa cultura, se eles pretenderem tornar-nos Fiéis... E eles pretendem-no.
Informei-me melhor sobre os budistas e averiguei que, ao contrário dos muçulmanos, isto é, daqueles olho-por-olho-e-dente-por-dente, ao contrário dos cristãos que falam de perdão, mas inventaram a história do Inferno, os budistas nunca usam a palavra «inimigo». Apurei que nunca fizeram prosélitos com violência, nunca efectuaram conquistas territoriais a pretexto da religião e nem sequer concebem o conceito de Guerra Santa.
Estou a dizer que, precisamente porque está definida há muitos séculos e é muito precisa, a nossa identidade cultural não pode suportar uma onda migratória composta por pessoas que, de uma forma ou de outra, querem mudar o nosso sistema de vida. Os nossos princípios, os nossos valores. Estou a dizer que não há lugar para os muezins, para os minaretes, para os falsos abstémios, para o maldito chador e o ainda mais maldito burkah. E mesmo que houvesse, não lho daria. Porque equivaleria a deitar fora Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Miguel Ângelo, Rafael, o Iluminismo, o Renascimento, o Risorgimento, a liberdade que bem ou mal conquistámos, a democracia que bem ou mal instaurámos, o bem-estar que indubitavelmente alcançámos. Equivaleria a oferecer-lhes a nossa pátria, a Itália.
Tendo-o lido mais de vinte anos depois dos acontecimentos que estiveram na sua origem, os atentados de 11 de Setembro de 2001, não me fez impressão ler as palavras duras e as críticas que Oriana faz aos muçulmanos e aos italianos.
Não sei se tinha razão ou não em escrever com tanta raiva e com palavras tão duras dos seguidores de Maomé, mas era uma pessoa que podia falar com propriedade, pois viveu e testemunhou em primeira mão como tratavam as mulheres e outras tiranias de que nós só ouvimos relatos.
Tenho de dizer que para mim escrever é uma coisa muito séria. Não é uma brincadeira, uma distração ou um desabafo. Não o é porque nunca me esqueço de que as coisas escritas podem fazer um grande bem e também um grande mal, curar ou matar. Estuda a História e verás que, por detrás de cada acontecimento de Bem ou de Mal, há sempre um escrito. Um livro, um artigo, um manifesto, uma poesia, uma oração, uma canção.
Se são assim tão patetas que se casam com um estafermo que quer quatro desgraçadas na sua cama, tanto pior para elas. Se os homens são assim tão idiotas que não bebem vinho ou cerveja, idem. Não serei eu quem lho impedirá. Era o que faltava! Fui educada no conceito de liberdade e a minha mãe dizia: «O mundo é bonito porque é variado». Mas, se eles pretenderem vir-me impor as mesmas coisas, ao meu país, à nossa cultura, se eles pretenderem tornar-nos Fiéis... E eles pretendem-no.
Informei-me melhor sobre os budistas e averiguei que, ao contrário dos muçulmanos, isto é, daqueles olho-por-olho-e-dente-por-dente, ao contrário dos cristãos que falam de perdão, mas inventaram a história do Inferno, os budistas nunca usam a palavra «inimigo». Apurei que nunca fizeram prosélitos com violência, nunca efectuaram conquistas territoriais a pretexto da religião e nem sequer concebem o conceito de Guerra Santa.
Estou a dizer que, precisamente porque está definida há muitos séculos e é muito precisa, a nossa identidade cultural não pode suportar uma onda migratória composta por pessoas que, de uma forma ou de outra, querem mudar o nosso sistema de vida. Os nossos princípios, os nossos valores. Estou a dizer que não há lugar para os muezins, para os minaretes, para os falsos abstémios, para o maldito chador e o ainda mais maldito burkah. E mesmo que houvesse, não lho daria. Porque equivaleria a deitar fora Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Miguel Ângelo, Rafael, o Iluminismo, o Renascimento, o Risorgimento, a liberdade que bem ou mal conquistámos, a democracia que bem ou mal instaurámos, o bem-estar que indubitavelmente alcançámos. Equivaleria a oferecer-lhes a nossa pátria, a Itália.
June 27, 2007
What to say about this book? Other than "read it, read it, for the love of God, read it!" of course. This certainly isn't to say that I agree with everything Fallaci has to say, or even much more than a slight majority of it, but that what she has to say is so important, and that so many people have tried so hard to keep her from saying it. This book -- an expansion of the themes of a newspaper column she wrote in immediate, angry response to the September 11 attacks -- is not a coolly articulated treatise by any stretch of the imagination. It is, rather, the very definition of a polemic, a war tract. Fallaci has seen her culture and way of life attacked, and she is fighting mad. Her anger reflects little more subtlety than that of the rebellious teenager who simply refuses to be told what to do. But, of course, when one is an obstinately free citizen of a liberal democracy being told to submit to the tenets of a foreign religion, that adolescent cry for autonomy is entirely appropriate. Which is not to say that Fallaci does not cross the line into anti-Islamic bigotry; she most certainly does. Her bigotry, however, is clearly motivated by her burning devotion to the principles of liberal democracy and contempt for anyone who would seek to undermine it. The fact that at the time of her death last summer she was under indictment in the courts of several European countries for the crime of "defamation of Islam" shows, ironically, exactly how right she was about how liberalism's tolerance will be the very root of its destruction.
April 1, 2012
Not to take the slightest credit away from Aayan Ali Hirsi or Mark Steyn or any other writers/commentators of that ilk, but Fallaci was one of the very first to go there! Her unstintingly honest, remarkably courageous portrait of radical Islam in the wake of 9/11 was one of the first to point out the profound incompatibility of Islam and the West. Her critique is brilliant, her writing gorgeous, and the anger that shows through does not discredit her argument, as many maintained, but rather shows her passionate love of all the blessings Western culture can offer (freedom, noticeable among them.) I've read almost everything of hers that is translated from the Italian, and can honestly say that she was one of my heroes.
October 28, 2012
Un'editoria avida e a-morale ne ha fatto un caso letterario. Una politica avida e a-morale ne ha fatto un caso politico. Una nazione/popolazione avida e a-morale ne ha fatto un (ex) vessillo da bruciare, o da innalzare, a seconda dei casi. In ogni caso... contingenze da ovini. La tensione bruciante di cui si anima questo scritto è, una volta di più, deontologico specchio dei tempi, per chi lo capisce. Il fiato della decadenza è un odore fastidioso, cui si reagisce in maniera scomposta.
P.S. Grazie, madame.
P.S. Grazie, madame.
March 28, 2015
A very brave, unflinching portrait at what ails the Western World today. Oriana Fallaci has proved herself time and time again a remarkable woman. Her raw, honest interviews with world leaders such as the Ayatollah of Iran are extraordinary in their honesty. Fallaci never shied away from asking tough questions, so much so that she makes virtually all other journalists today look like ass-kissing vermin, remarkable only in their ability to shed all backbone. Not Fallaci. Alive today is something she unfortunately is not, much to the detriment of not just journalism, but of truth.
This, one of her last works, sums up everything Fallaci is famous for. Her complete lack of censorship, her passion, and her love for culture; that of her native Italy but in general the Western World. Here is a book which will flummox apologists and bewilder her opponents. Though extremely controversial on its release- lawsuits were brought in several European countries to try and ban it, to no avail- Fallaci tells it as it is and, best of all, never apologies for doing so.
The portrait she paints of Islam and Muslim culture is a broad and not favorable one, but more often than not she resonates. Fallaci saves her worst vitriol though, for apologists, for the "cicadas" who she says are helping to enable nothing less than the complete and utter destruction of Western Culture, all that real progressives and rights advocates, all that anyone with a heart, cherishes.
A resounding victory for free speech and honesty! Let's hope that Islamic-style censorship never gets its way, to put books like this on the pyre.
This, one of her last works, sums up everything Fallaci is famous for. Her complete lack of censorship, her passion, and her love for culture; that of her native Italy but in general the Western World. Here is a book which will flummox apologists and bewilder her opponents. Though extremely controversial on its release- lawsuits were brought in several European countries to try and ban it, to no avail- Fallaci tells it as it is and, best of all, never apologies for doing so.
The portrait she paints of Islam and Muslim culture is a broad and not favorable one, but more often than not she resonates. Fallaci saves her worst vitriol though, for apologists, for the "cicadas" who she says are helping to enable nothing less than the complete and utter destruction of Western Culture, all that real progressives and rights advocates, all that anyone with a heart, cherishes.
A resounding victory for free speech and honesty! Let's hope that Islamic-style censorship never gets its way, to put books like this on the pyre.
September 7, 2015
Uno scritto astioso, traboccante di ira, buttato giù “di pancia” sull’onda degli attentati dell’11 settembre 2001, in cui la guerrafondaia Fallaci si scaglia con odio verso i musulmani, raggruppati nella figura del nemico da distruggere prima che distrugga noi, secondo una concezione “talebana” di “coloro che stanno con noi e coloro che stanno contro di noi”, che, come disse Terzani in risposta al suo scritto, crea un clima di caccia alle streghe che imbarbarisce. Rispondere all’odio con l’odio porta solo all’ennesima spirale di violenza in cui Oriana Fallaci si lancia con la veemenza e la protervia che la contraddistinguono.
Però….
Molto di quello che la Fallaci scrisse 14 anni fa si sta avverando, è inutile anche parlarne, vediamo in questi giorni cosa sta accadendo alle frontiere orientali dell’Europa, le innumerevoli file di uomini, donne e bambini che fuggono dall’Oriente musulmano, l’inadeguatezza di questa Unione Europea a far fronte all’esodo, le risposte incerte di un’Europa che balbetta, che non sa cosa fare, in cui l’asse franco-tedesco, che da sempre ha fatto il bello e cattivo tempo, arranca per cercare una soluzione atta ad affrontare la difficilissima situazione, che di certo non durerà un mese o un anno ma porterà conseguenze di lunga durata.
Non si possono ignorare oggi più che mai le parole infiammate che la Fallaci scrisse nel Corriere della Sera dell’ottobre 2002, dopo oltre un anno dai terribili fatti di New York: “ ..Sapete, tutti definiscono La rabbia e l’orgoglio un pamphlet. Un saggio politico, un’invettiva, un pamphlet. Io lo definisco una predica, invece. Anzi, un j’accuse… E questa predica, questa requisitoria non l’ho diretta ai figli di Allah. L’ho diretta a noi stessi. Alle nostre vigliaccherie, alle nostre ignoranze, alle nostre inadeguatezze, alle nostre pagliacciate, alle nostre miserie. La miseria del nostro sistema educativo, ad esempio. L’ignoranza dei nostri insegnanti e dei nostri studenti. Le vigliaccherie e le pagliacciate dei nostri politici. Lo squallore e l’inadeguatezza dei nostri leader. Il bieco fascismo che si nasconde dietro il falso pacifismo dei nostri presunti rivoluzionari. E la licenza contrabbandata come libertà, ossia il rifiuto di capire che la libertà non può esistere senza disciplina anzi autodisciplina. Che i diritti non possono esistere senza i doveri…..J’accuse, io accuso gli occidentali di non avere passione….Per combattere la loro passione, per difendere la nostra cultura cioè la nostra identità e la nostra civiltà, non bastano gli eserciti. Non servono i carri armati, le bombe atomiche, i bombardieri. Ci vuole la passione. La forza della passione. E se questa non la tirate fuori, non la tiriamo fuori, io vi dico che verrete sconfitti. Che verremo sconfitti. Vi dico che torneremo alle tende del deserto, che finiremo come pozzi senz’acqua. Wake up, then! Sveglia, wake up.”
Però….
Molto di quello che la Fallaci scrisse 14 anni fa si sta avverando, è inutile anche parlarne, vediamo in questi giorni cosa sta accadendo alle frontiere orientali dell’Europa, le innumerevoli file di uomini, donne e bambini che fuggono dall’Oriente musulmano, l’inadeguatezza di questa Unione Europea a far fronte all’esodo, le risposte incerte di un’Europa che balbetta, che non sa cosa fare, in cui l’asse franco-tedesco, che da sempre ha fatto il bello e cattivo tempo, arranca per cercare una soluzione atta ad affrontare la difficilissima situazione, che di certo non durerà un mese o un anno ma porterà conseguenze di lunga durata.
Non si possono ignorare oggi più che mai le parole infiammate che la Fallaci scrisse nel Corriere della Sera dell’ottobre 2002, dopo oltre un anno dai terribili fatti di New York: “ ..Sapete, tutti definiscono La rabbia e l’orgoglio un pamphlet. Un saggio politico, un’invettiva, un pamphlet. Io lo definisco una predica, invece. Anzi, un j’accuse… E questa predica, questa requisitoria non l’ho diretta ai figli di Allah. L’ho diretta a noi stessi. Alle nostre vigliaccherie, alle nostre ignoranze, alle nostre inadeguatezze, alle nostre pagliacciate, alle nostre miserie. La miseria del nostro sistema educativo, ad esempio. L’ignoranza dei nostri insegnanti e dei nostri studenti. Le vigliaccherie e le pagliacciate dei nostri politici. Lo squallore e l’inadeguatezza dei nostri leader. Il bieco fascismo che si nasconde dietro il falso pacifismo dei nostri presunti rivoluzionari. E la licenza contrabbandata come libertà, ossia il rifiuto di capire che la libertà non può esistere senza disciplina anzi autodisciplina. Che i diritti non possono esistere senza i doveri…..J’accuse, io accuso gli occidentali di non avere passione….Per combattere la loro passione, per difendere la nostra cultura cioè la nostra identità e la nostra civiltà, non bastano gli eserciti. Non servono i carri armati, le bombe atomiche, i bombardieri. Ci vuole la passione. La forza della passione. E se questa non la tirate fuori, non la tiriamo fuori, io vi dico che verrete sconfitti. Che verremo sconfitti. Vi dico che torneremo alle tende del deserto, che finiremo come pozzi senz’acqua. Wake up, then! Sveglia, wake up.”
December 27, 2008
I truly admire this woman for speaking up when it put her on the death list for radical Muslims. She speaks the truth and it makes one angry (an understatement) about the reality of what is going on in this world and the "tolerance" we as Americans are REQUIRED to exhibit otherwise we face ridicule, scorn, and even death. However Muslims do not extend, require, respect, or tolerate anything except their own beliefs and customs.
May 24, 2012
I love this book an list it among my favorites. Why? Because it is someone of trained ear and writing who has allowed themselves 'release'. To write with emotion unleashed after that horrible day, September 11th. There is a sort of elegant chaotic manner to the delivery. It is someone of learned expertise going off script, off outline and just let run unapologetic. I dislike Sharia Law and this book is a great scream in the desert, for those that do not have the liberty to scream in the desert. Not a literal desert. This book was a letter Oriana had written and never intended for
Anyone to read but a chance to vent and when it was picked up, she knew that raw moment needed to be spoken of.
Anyone to read but a chance to vent and when it was picked up, she knew that raw moment needed to be spoken of.
December 19, 2021
Nulla di personale contro la Fallaci ( anche se non mi piace nemmeno come donna, sarò l’unica al mondo ) ma questa propaganda stereotipata avrebbe potuto scriverla anche Salvini, sarebbe stato uguale. Stesso livore, stessi luoghi comuni. Peccato che la disonestà intellettuale tutta italica benedica la prima e condanni il secondo. Io non discrimino anima alcuna, mi stanno sulle palle le posizioni di entrambi e amen
June 24, 2019
Cómo simpatizar con una “cultura” que amenaza, mutila, peca y mata?
Las opiniones son subjetivas pero los atentados terroristas son reales.
Detrás de una amenaza o un atentado terrorista hay muchas veces un musulmán.
Las opiniones son subjetivas pero los atentados terroristas son reales.
Detrás de una amenaza o un atentado terrorista hay muchas veces un musulmán.
March 19, 2011
The American influence can be felt nearly on every page of this book. One of the funniest aspects of this book is that Fallaci is describing Osama as new Hitler while her book full of hate can sometimes be compared to Mein Kampf. At some point the book becomes boring and you might find yourself counting pages. Mainly because the arguments (regarding the main topic) she gives literally drown in the ocean of epithets which most of the time demean a certain person, she (for this or that reason) hates. This makes this monologue very chaotic and its just a matter of time when you find yourself displeased and questioning her point of view as she literally goes on war with everything and everyone. In general I expected so much more from this book but instead I received a chaotic monologue of a woman full of pain and anger. I did hear she was a great journalist, I did hear she was controversial, but if great journalism is weighed by the amount of epithets that can be input into one book and by the amount of biased hate then I think that we have reached a time when being objective is no longer a value for journalists.
August 29, 2009
An earlier book by Fallaci, written in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Surprising in its venom and lack of coherence. Fallaci may have given vent to her own hatred of Islam but, like The Force of Reason, which I read earlier, this book cannot be regarded seriously as an argument. Aside from some factual errors, it completely dispenses with any notion of objectivity to present a position which is almost embarrassing in its one-sidedness. If we were living in the 1930s and the subject was Jews rather than Muslims, Fallaci would be a definite forerunner of Hitler's anti-semitism. In fact, her treatment of Muslims echoes some of Hitler's positions on Jews. Embarrassing that a Western intellectual who actually remembers World War II quite well should come up with such a screed. Embarrassing and troubling.
August 19, 2016
After all these years I have no other words than: today's world misses Oriana Fallaci. Her voice, her power, her strength. She would be devastated by everything that's happening - what had happened to her beloved United States, to Europe, to Italy...
She was the last one.
She was the last one.
September 16, 2022
Che caduta di stile.
July 14, 2008
Oriana Fallaci is an important writer and journalist: she continued to ask the important questions that her colleagues have stopped asking. I knew before starting this book that I would both agree and disagree with some of her points, and that is why her material is placed on my "better than school" bookshelf: she continues to make me think and want to research facts in order to draw my own conclusions.
June 14, 2007
Un libro amplia y políticamente incorrecto. La Fallaci, que murió hace poco, no tenía demasiados pelos en la lengua para decir lo que pensaba sobre los hijos de Alá y la hipocresía de los que les toleran todo, sólo para que no les llamen intolerantes a ellos. Lo disfruté mucho porque era como si alguien me fuera iluminando cosas que ya estaban dentro de mí.
July 3, 2022
Too angry, too unreasonable.
November 17, 2015
Questo libro mi ha messo addosso una gran tristezza. Io sono donna, quindi impura. Secondo l’Islam non ho diritti, non posso ridere (no, non è uno scherzo, è vietato davvero), è vietato cantare, mangiare carne, bere alcol. Non potrei uscire di casa, dovrei indossare un burqa, non potrei studiare. E io lo estendo ancora oltre, non potrei leggere, non potrei essere qui a commentare un libro e non potrei parlare con voi.
E la dottoressa che mi ha operata, donna, primario di reparto, non sarebbe medico, non salverebbe le vite che sta salvando. Moltiplicate il tutto, per tutte le donne che ci sono al mondo. Cosa sarebbe il mondo senza le donne? Cosa sarebbe il mondo sotto l’Islam? Un Islam che dice dal 1999 “Attraverso la vostra democrazia vi invaderemo. Attraverso la vostra religione vi domineremo”, testuali parole. Citazione scelta da me a caso, perchè qui ne ho lette tante altre da far venire i brividi.
Questo libro sarà anche pieno di rabbia, giustificata o no, ma andrebbe comunque letto da tutti per informazione.
voto: 4.5
E la dottoressa che mi ha operata, donna, primario di reparto, non sarebbe medico, non salverebbe le vite che sta salvando. Moltiplicate il tutto, per tutte le donne che ci sono al mondo. Cosa sarebbe il mondo senza le donne? Cosa sarebbe il mondo sotto l’Islam? Un Islam che dice dal 1999 “Attraverso la vostra democrazia vi invaderemo. Attraverso la vostra religione vi domineremo”, testuali parole. Citazione scelta da me a caso, perchè qui ne ho lette tante altre da far venire i brividi.
Questo libro sarà anche pieno di rabbia, giustificata o no, ma andrebbe comunque letto da tutti per informazione.
voto: 4.5
April 15, 2022
Il punto di vista di un'eminente giornalista internazionale, scritta poco dopo l'attentato alle Torri Gemelle. Da spunti assolutamente interessanti su Stati Uniti, Islam ed Italia (con tanto di frecciatina poco velata a Berlusconi). Libro breve ma esplicativo al punto giusto, non concordo con tutto quello che dice ma ha uno stile di scrittura ammaliante come pochi
May 16, 2021
“Гневът и гордостта” се появява на страниците на италианския вестник “Кориере дела сера” като една много обстойна статия по повод събитията от 11 септември. Редакторът на вестника предлага на Фалачи да публикува пълния текст на статията на два пъти, което тя отхвърля, защото “един вик не може да се публикува в две части”. И наистина, тази статия е като вик, като отговор, много личен, емоционален и категоричен отговор на разразилата се пред очите ни световна катастрофа. Впоследствие пълният текст на статията, в която Фалачи развива позицията (и гнева си), излиза в книга, която и до днес събира твърде противоречиви отзиви.
В основата на целия труд стои концепцията за една ключова разлика, която Фалачи държи да обясни - тази между контраста и конфликта. Контрастът тук е в смисъла на разнообразието, което мултикултурализмът носи. Това разнообразие може и да води към една романтизирана, утопична представа за общества, които съжителстват в пълна хармония, обединени в своите различия, но когато някое от тях поиска да се наложи или дори да асимилира другите, то рязко настъпва конфликт, който вече засяга всички. При общества, които по своята същност имат непримирими различия, такъв конфликт е само въпрос на време. Фалачи казва, че един от работещите подходи в журналистиката е да задаваш въпроси, които изкарват фактите налице, тъй като с това няма как да се спори и именно чрез примери и факти, тя очертава рязко, аргументирано и категорично границата между две различни общества и техните ценности (Запада и Арабския свят). Не се страхува да каже, че в сблъсъка на тези две цивилизации главният виновник е радикалният ислям и неговите метастази. Но и далеч не спира дотам, а осъжда и всички, които са готови да вземат позиция с широко затворени очи, и със своето действие или бездействие по-късно ще се окажат в основата на много опасни тенденции.
Фалачи разказва истории на абсурда и жестокостта, дава примери от репортажи с лидери на арабски държави и различни терористични групи, впуска се в пламенна защита на твърде демократичните (и поради това особено уязвими) САЩ, възпява Италия и нейните ненакърними корени и, разбира се, разкрива непосредствената заплаха пред Европа, нейните ценности и културно наследство. Тук за мен лично беше в повече противопоставянето на постиженията на европейската и арабската култура и твърдението, че арабската не може да се сравнява и няма особено ценен принос за света в тази насока. Стига дори до твърдението, че единственото изкуство, в което арабският свят е имал особено превъзходство, е изкуството на войната заради силно експанзивната си настройка. Въпреки директния, нелицеприятен начин да назовава нещата, това не ги прави по-малко верни - всички можем да сверим часовниците си, виждайки как още преди 20-30 години тя успява да предвиди много от това, което днес наблюдаваме да се случва на геополитическата сцена.
Това е първата книга на Фалачи, която чета и, ако първоначално бях изненадана от силно заредения емоционален тон и не съвсем убедена, че ми допада, то скоро след това го приех напълно. Разбирам и дори силно вярвам, че емоцията не може и не бива да бъде изключена от точно това уравнение, защото става въпрос за човешки животи, за борбата за истина, която е основен инстинкт на добрите журналисти. А в тази борба трябва да се подходи без компромис към цензурата и без особени съображения за дипломатичност. Смятам, че всеки би открил много правота и ценни насоки в думите ѝ, стига да се абстрахира от етикетите, които политическата коректност ѝ е поставила (Фалачи е заклеймена заради расистки и ксенофобски пристрастия). Препоръчвам и продължавам със следващите ѝ книги.
В основата на целия труд стои концепцията за една ключова разлика, която Фалачи държи да обясни - тази между контраста и конфликта. Контрастът тук е в смисъла на разнообразието, което мултикултурализмът носи. Това разнообразие може и да води към една романтизирана, утопична представа за общества, които съжителстват в пълна хармония, обединени в своите различия, но когато някое от тях поиска да се наложи или дори да асимилира другите, то рязко настъпва конфликт, който вече засяга всички. При общества, които по своята същност имат непримирими различия, такъв конфликт е само въпрос на време. Фалачи казва, че един от работещите подходи в журналистиката е да задаваш въпроси, които изкарват фактите налице, тъй като с това няма как да се спори и именно чрез примери и факти, тя очертава рязко, аргументирано и категорично границата между две различни общества и техните ценности (Запада и Арабския свят). Не се страхува да каже, че в сблъсъка на тези две цивилизации главният виновник е радикалният ислям и неговите метастази. Но и далеч не спира дотам, а осъжда и всички, които са готови да вземат позиция с широко затворени очи, и със своето действие или бездействие по-късно ще се окажат в основата на много опасни тенденции.
Фалачи разказва истории на абсурда и жестокостта, дава примери от репортажи с лидери на арабски държави и различни терористични групи, впуска се в пламенна защита на твърде демократичните (и поради това особено уязвими) САЩ, възпява Италия и нейните ненакърними корени и, разбира се, разкрива непосредствената заплаха пред Европа, нейните ценности и културно наследство. Тук за мен лично беше в повече противопоставянето на постиженията на европейската и арабската култура и твърдението, че арабската не може да се сравнява и няма особено ценен принос за света в тази насока. Стига дори до твърдението, че единственото изкуство, в което арабският свят е имал особено превъзходство, е изкуството на войната заради силно експанзивната си настройка. Въпреки директния, нелицеприятен начин да назовава нещата, това не ги прави по-малко верни - всички можем да сверим часовниците си, виждайки как още преди 20-30 години тя успява да предвиди много от това, което днес наблюдаваме да се случва на геополитическата сцена.
Това е първата книга на Фалачи, която чета и, ако първоначално бях изненадана от силно заредения емоционален тон и не съвсем убедена, че ми допада, то скоро след това го приех напълно. Разбирам и дори силно вярвам, че емоцията не може и не бива да бъде изключена от точно това уравнение, защото става въпрос за човешки животи, за борбата за истина, която е основен инстинкт на добрите журналисти. А в тази борба трябва да се подходи без компромис към цензурата и без особени съображения за дипломатичност. Смятам, че всеки би открил много правота и ценни насоки в думите ѝ, стига да се абстрахира от етикетите, които политическата коректност ѝ е поставила (Фалачи е заклеймена заради расистки и ксенофобски пристрастия). Препоръчвам и продължавам със следващите ѝ книги.
November 25, 2015
Riflessione ad alta voce, sfogo a cuore aperto, j'accuse guidato sì dalla rabbia e dall'orgoglio, ma non per questo privo di lucidità, razionalità e obiettività. Duro attacco al mondo islamico, che non risparmia però stoccate all'intera Unione Europea rea, secondo la Fallaci, di troppo lassismo verso la realtà musulmana e di troppa poca passione nel difendere i propri valori e la propria cultura da una religione che tutto è fuorché moderata. È un libro piccolo, ma ogni pagina, ogni riga, ogni parola, ti inchioda alla sedia, qualunque sia la tua posizione riguardo ai temi trattati. Con competenza e precisione chirurgica, Oriana Fallaci espone il suo pensiero in modo chiaro e diretto. Prende posizioni forti, sicuramente scomode, ma tutte supportate da dati e fonti certe. Libro coraggioso, scritto da una donna altrettanto coraggiosa che, pur dividendo l'opinione pubblica e i lettori, porta sempre a riflettere.
September 10, 2017
E' tutto nel titolo. Una Fallaci ferita in quel sentimento di libertà che ha coltivato fin da bambina. Una Fallaci iraconda, critica verso tutto e tutti. O si ama o si odia. Questo libro ne è un classico esempio. Leggendo i brani che parlano del suo "bambino", il suo romanzo di una vita, della sua vita, mi montava un senso di rammarico, di rimpianto. Non poter vedere, leggere più nulla di suo perché "Un cappello pieno di ciliege" sarà il suo romanzo postumo. Anche lei ne immaginava il parto "il cui primo vagito si udrà non so quando. Forse quando sarò morta."
January 4, 2024
Siempre es un gusto leer a Oriana, aún sabiendo que no estoy de acuerdo con ella en mucho, y también sabiendo que en otras cosas lo estoy, y le agradezco la valentía de decir lo que lamentablemente nos cuesta admitir por culpa de un discurso ridículo al que nos vemos sometidos. Para mí, ella es la imagen del feminismo que quiero, y lo será siempre. Sus vivencias y el legado que nos dejó como corresponsal de guerra (que cuenta las cosas como las vio, en vez de contar un hilo de twitter medio inventado, demagógico y bien queda, que es lo que tenemos hoy en día) y periodista, además de amante trágica de su patria, me inspiran. Pero creo que la pasión la embota, como a todos, y solo puedo pensar: ojalá. Ojalá Estados Unidos fuera como ella narra. Ojalá no hubiesen financiado a los mismos a los que critica. Aun así, la entiendo. Entiendo que cuando huyes de la hipocresía, cuando tus raíces te apuñalan, te sientes acogida por esa tierra nueva que sabe mejor que nadie dar discursos de unidad. Y no niego que me pasaría.
Más allá de esto, es un libro difícil. Específico en muchas cosas, hecho para italianos que viven y sufren Italia en su día a día. Pero como dice mi nonna: Oriana escribió en el momento justo.
Me quedo con que el problema no es tanto el tonto que mira el dedo cuando le señalas la luna, sino el que sabiendo que hay que mirar la luna, finge que mira el dedo. Y con los budas de Bamiyán. Y con la historia de Ali Bhutto. Permitimos mucho.
Más allá de esto, es un libro difícil. Específico en muchas cosas, hecho para italianos que viven y sufren Italia en su día a día. Pero como dice mi nonna: Oriana escribió en el momento justo.
Me quedo con que el problema no es tanto el tonto que mira el dedo cuando le señalas la luna, sino el que sabiendo que hay que mirar la luna, finge que mira el dedo. Y con los budas de Bamiyán. Y con la historia de Ali Bhutto. Permitimos mucho.
October 13, 2021
Non che non mi sia piaciuto, ma è stato tanto interessante quanto strano e complicato leggere di certe opinioni nel 2001…. anno ed evento sconvolgente quello dell’attacco alle Torri Gemelle, ma non meno d’impatto sono le opinioni di una giornalista che, sì, di viaggi e visioni ne avrà fatte, ma di opinioni condizionate dal tempo pure.
Mi avevano anticipato che Oriana Fallaci avesse fatto espressioni razziste e islamofobe, e anzi, in questo libro mi aspettavo anche di peggio, perché elabora comunque denunce alla violenza, alle imposizioni di culture e religioni, riporta persino le testimonianze di uomini e donne che lamentano la poligamia e le influenze fisiche e psicologiche. Porta dati sul terrorismo dei talebani dal giorno di quel tragico evento che scosse l’America e tutta l’Europa, e fa infatti collegamenti con le situazioni politiche e culturali di altri paesi e in primis l’Italia, verso cui si scaglia per “non essere più la stessa, non è la mia Italia”. È una prospettiva molto storica e dal tono individualista, ma ho apprezzato leggerla ponendola in quegli anni.
A sua volta però, va contestualizzato in quegli stessi anni anche il discorso negativo e discriminatorio del tipo “rispetto la loro cultura, ma a casa loro”, e per quanto sia vero che spesso in nome di Allah molti uomini agiscono con violenza e oppressione sull’esterno, ma è tanta anche quella che porta l’occhio europeo invasore verso di loro. Ci sono frasi in cui quasi incolpa le donne islamiche per lasciarsi sottomettere e per “farsi piacere” trattamenti in un paese in cui la condizione femminile è ancora più difficile, e parlarne così, solo con la colpa e la distanza, non è il massimo.
È anche vero però che, controversamente, denuncia il femminismo totalmente bianco e che non si cura della condizione delle donne di quel ceppo etnico-religioso, e anzi vuole andare a sostegno delle « sorelle afgane » (perifrasi che letta nel 2021 è anche importante visti i recenti colpi di stato in Afghanistan): riesce quindi a essere attuale denunciando la condizione di un paese ancora più retrogrado, dove le spose bambine e gli stupri per possesso sono sfortunatamente tutelati e normalizzati, risponde alle critiche fatte al suo libro portando l’attenzione su qualcosa di più grave. Sembra assurdo che parole come queste, positive, possano andare in parallelo ad altre, negative, nelle righe in cui invece ripudia la cultura dell’Oriente ed enfatizza le scoperte tecnico-scientifiche dell’Occidente, un classico tono intellettualoide da paese più sviluppato verso uno che non lo è del tutto o, comunque, si hanno in mente luoghi comuni a riguardo.
Per quanto Oriana Fallaci abbia visto tragedie che non sono da mettere in dubbio in paesi complicatissimi -e quale non lo è?- come Iran, Afganistan, Iraq e simili, specie nella guerra aperta dopo l’attacco all’America e quanto l’America stessa sia da incolpare per altrettanto grave uso di torture. Apprezzatissima per esempio la denuncia alla mentalità terrorista in generale, al fatto che « Non abbiamo smesso di essere nazisti quando ci siamo tolti le svastiche, non abbiamo smesso di essere fascisti quando ci siamo tolti le camice nere ». Fa paragoni interessanti con la Germania di Hitler, il dualismo nel comunismo di Mao Tze Tung, l’Italia di Mussolini di cui ancora vede la trac e giustamente ci si slancia contro.
Però è difficile giudicare questo libro se, su rette parallele, quasi nella stessa metà di testo, diventi lei stessa intollerante verso altre etnie con il solo fatto di essere geograficamente distanti; studia con occhi da giornalista obiettiva e scrive con valori e termini forti, ma a volte mette una soggettività da razzismo e islamofobia internalizzata di cui tutt’ora non ci si rende conto… figuriamoci all’epoca
Una bella sfida, insomma: contestualizzare e prendere le distanze dalle idee che cerchiamo di migliorare e rendere quanto più intersezionali possibili nel 2021, e come si spera, con meno controversie e incoerenze coincidenti, molti altri giornalisti un giorno potranno fare 📝
Mi avevano anticipato che Oriana Fallaci avesse fatto espressioni razziste e islamofobe, e anzi, in questo libro mi aspettavo anche di peggio, perché elabora comunque denunce alla violenza, alle imposizioni di culture e religioni, riporta persino le testimonianze di uomini e donne che lamentano la poligamia e le influenze fisiche e psicologiche. Porta dati sul terrorismo dei talebani dal giorno di quel tragico evento che scosse l’America e tutta l’Europa, e fa infatti collegamenti con le situazioni politiche e culturali di altri paesi e in primis l’Italia, verso cui si scaglia per “non essere più la stessa, non è la mia Italia”. È una prospettiva molto storica e dal tono individualista, ma ho apprezzato leggerla ponendola in quegli anni.
A sua volta però, va contestualizzato in quegli stessi anni anche il discorso negativo e discriminatorio del tipo “rispetto la loro cultura, ma a casa loro”, e per quanto sia vero che spesso in nome di Allah molti uomini agiscono con violenza e oppressione sull’esterno, ma è tanta anche quella che porta l’occhio europeo invasore verso di loro. Ci sono frasi in cui quasi incolpa le donne islamiche per lasciarsi sottomettere e per “farsi piacere” trattamenti in un paese in cui la condizione femminile è ancora più difficile, e parlarne così, solo con la colpa e la distanza, non è il massimo.
È anche vero però che, controversamente, denuncia il femminismo totalmente bianco e che non si cura della condizione delle donne di quel ceppo etnico-religioso, e anzi vuole andare a sostegno delle « sorelle afgane » (perifrasi che letta nel 2021 è anche importante visti i recenti colpi di stato in Afghanistan): riesce quindi a essere attuale denunciando la condizione di un paese ancora più retrogrado, dove le spose bambine e gli stupri per possesso sono sfortunatamente tutelati e normalizzati, risponde alle critiche fatte al suo libro portando l’attenzione su qualcosa di più grave. Sembra assurdo che parole come queste, positive, possano andare in parallelo ad altre, negative, nelle righe in cui invece ripudia la cultura dell’Oriente ed enfatizza le scoperte tecnico-scientifiche dell’Occidente, un classico tono intellettualoide da paese più sviluppato verso uno che non lo è del tutto o, comunque, si hanno in mente luoghi comuni a riguardo.
Per quanto Oriana Fallaci abbia visto tragedie che non sono da mettere in dubbio in paesi complicatissimi -e quale non lo è?- come Iran, Afganistan, Iraq e simili, specie nella guerra aperta dopo l’attacco all’America e quanto l’America stessa sia da incolpare per altrettanto grave uso di torture. Apprezzatissima per esempio la denuncia alla mentalità terrorista in generale, al fatto che « Non abbiamo smesso di essere nazisti quando ci siamo tolti le svastiche, non abbiamo smesso di essere fascisti quando ci siamo tolti le camice nere ». Fa paragoni interessanti con la Germania di Hitler, il dualismo nel comunismo di Mao Tze Tung, l’Italia di Mussolini di cui ancora vede la trac e giustamente ci si slancia contro.
Però è difficile giudicare questo libro se, su rette parallele, quasi nella stessa metà di testo, diventi lei stessa intollerante verso altre etnie con il solo fatto di essere geograficamente distanti; studia con occhi da giornalista obiettiva e scrive con valori e termini forti, ma a volte mette una soggettività da razzismo e islamofobia internalizzata di cui tutt’ora non ci si rende conto… figuriamoci all’epoca
Una bella sfida, insomma: contestualizzare e prendere le distanze dalle idee che cerchiamo di migliorare e rendere quanto più intersezionali possibili nel 2021, e come si spera, con meno controversie e incoerenze coincidenti, molti altri giornalisti un giorno potranno fare 📝
December 8, 2012
The late Oriana Fallaci wrote this stinking pile of garbage after the 9/11 attacks. The death of about 3.000 innocent people apparently provided her with plenty of material to stigmatize and demonize all muslims.
How to further characterize this incoherent mess of a book: It is like the Mein Kampf for islamophobists (pointing out the demographic threat that muslims apparently pose and the need for Italians to procreate more), like the exact opposite of Edward Said's Orientalism (condescending view of all things from the Middle East/Islamic world; ignoring even the brilliance of art, science, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, literature, poetry, filmwork etc., just discarding it straight into the trashbin of her right wing, xenophobic brain.)It contains precisely the same reasoning as that of the Islamic regime of Iran and of Al Qaida (us vs. them, the need to fight a holy war/crusade/jihad).
It is raving lunatics and racists (yes, you hated persians and arabs and pakistanis etc. so you were racist mme Fallaci) like Fallaci who have spurred on their own radicalism (Front National, Geert Wilders) and terrorism (the man who shot African immigrants in a market in Northern Italy, child mass murdered and selfproclaimed anti-jihadist Anders Bering Breivik). Thus further antagonizing fanatics in the muslim world but worst of all victimizing every muslim, whether they be sunni, shia, soefi or whatever, in the process. Not only are they in this fashion victimized by the Pamela Geller's and Robert Spencer's of this world they are also the largest group victimized by Islamic terrorism (during Ashura etc.) To use their suffering as an excuse for bigotry is beyond disgusting. Fallaci isn't paying tribute to these victims, she is mocking them and misusing their stories to make a cheap political point in this book.
This booklet is filled with inciting rhetoric, warmongering thoughts and meant to install fear for a greatly over exaggerated threat into the hearts of its readers. Not meant for rational, caring individuals.
How to further characterize this incoherent mess of a book: It is like the Mein Kampf for islamophobists (pointing out the demographic threat that muslims apparently pose and the need for Italians to procreate more), like the exact opposite of Edward Said's Orientalism (condescending view of all things from the Middle East/Islamic world; ignoring even the brilliance of art, science, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, literature, poetry, filmwork etc., just discarding it straight into the trashbin of her right wing, xenophobic brain.)It contains precisely the same reasoning as that of the Islamic regime of Iran and of Al Qaida (us vs. them, the need to fight a holy war/crusade/jihad).
It is raving lunatics and racists (yes, you hated persians and arabs and pakistanis etc. so you were racist mme Fallaci) like Fallaci who have spurred on their own radicalism (Front National, Geert Wilders) and terrorism (the man who shot African immigrants in a market in Northern Italy, child mass murdered and selfproclaimed anti-jihadist Anders Bering Breivik). Thus further antagonizing fanatics in the muslim world but worst of all victimizing every muslim, whether they be sunni, shia, soefi or whatever, in the process. Not only are they in this fashion victimized by the Pamela Geller's and Robert Spencer's of this world they are also the largest group victimized by Islamic terrorism (during Ashura etc.) To use their suffering as an excuse for bigotry is beyond disgusting. Fallaci isn't paying tribute to these victims, she is mocking them and misusing their stories to make a cheap political point in this book.
This booklet is filled with inciting rhetoric, warmongering thoughts and meant to install fear for a greatly over exaggerated threat into the hearts of its readers. Not meant for rational, caring individuals.
August 24, 2018
Fallaci was a fearless writer and didn't care anything for political correctness. She is straightforward in observations on radical Islam and terror creeping into Europe. Some people are offended by her writings but I think she raising valid points. Before she died she asked to meet Ayaan Ali Hirsi because Fallaci felt Hirsi was the only female writer today that was truly using her voice to speak out against the oppression of women and radical Islam.
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