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65th out of 101 books
—
3 voters
The Girl Who Fell to Earth
When Sophia Al-Maria's mother sends her away from rainy Washington State to stay with her husband's desert-dwelling Bedouin family in Qatar, she intends it to be a sort of teenage cultural boot camp. What her mother doesn't know is that there are some things about growing up that are universal. In Qatar, Sophia is faced with a new world she'd only imagined as a child. She...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
November 27th 2012
by Harper Perennial
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Award-winning filmmaker and writer Sophia Al-Maria’s The Girl Who Fell to Earth is a funny and wry coming-of-age memoir about growing up in between American and Gulf Arab cultures. With poignancy and humor, Al-Maria shares the struggles of being raised by an American mother and Bedouin father while shuttling between homes in the Pacific Northwest and the Middle East. Part family saga and part personal quest, The Girl Who Fell to Earth traces Al-Maria’s journey to make a place for herself in two
I absolutely loved this book because of its very different subject matter, perspective taking, and cultural comparisons, all from the authors own views and experiences. The Author's mother is American and father is Bedouin. They are polar opposites when it comes to cultural upbringing but end up falling in love, marrying and having children. Cultural differences do divide them eventually and this book is the author’s memories and experiences as she "bounces" between two cultures. The author’s co...more
Towards the end of the book, there's a scene where Sofia al-Maria reviews the video tapes she made during a summer job filming Bedouin in the Sinai as part of an ethnographic research project, and realizes to her horror that much of the tapes consist not of revealing footage of her Bedouin subjects' lives, but of...her talking about herself!
The same could be said of this pleasant but ultimately disappointing book. Sofia moves between fascinatingly different worlds--American small town, resettled...more
The same could be said of this pleasant but ultimately disappointing book. Sofia moves between fascinatingly different worlds--American small town, resettled...more
I always wanted to read a book written by a young Arab author touching on existing normal Arab life. Something that was more profound than the stuff that came out earlier this year about life in Dubai. Something that spoke to a generation of girls who lost their identities living away from their home countries in the midst of so many different nationalities, cultures and religions. A book that dealt with issues around Islam and conservatism in the modern way we grew up in and struggled to find t...more
When I stop to think about it, I’m amazed at how small our world is becoming. With the advent of the internet, social media and all the news that comes with it, I believe we, as world citizens, are connected to each other more than ever. In my eyes, that’s a good thing, a great thing, but I do believe we have some learning to do, some understanding to do, of the different cultures in the world. In that context, this book enlightened me.
The Girl Who Fell To Earth: A Memoir by debut author, Sophia...more
The Girl Who Fell To Earth: A Memoir by debut author, Sophia...more
I stayed up way too late two nights in a row, reading this book obsessively. The author has had a very unusual life and provides an intimate look inside two very different cultures. Her Bedouin father met her American mother when he went to Tacoma, Washington to study. She was the result of their love affair and marriage. After the family moves to Qatar, however, things begin to fall apart as her father is away from home three weeks out of four, working on an oil rig. When he marries a second wi...more
This book is the story of a woman with a Qatari father and an American mother and her life growing up in Qatar, the US, and Egypt. I felt like the author skimmed over the things that were really interesting, and gave too much information about the less interesting parts of her life. I wanted to hear more about her parents and their relationship. Her mother and father met with very little language in common and in a short period of time they were married and she converted to Islam, and not much m...more
Sophia Al-Maria's memoir focuses on her life growing up in Washington State, Qatar and Cairo. Al-Maria's father is from a Bedouin tribe in Qatar and her mother is from Washington. Over the course of her childhood and teen years, Al-Sophia moves from the U.S. to Qatar and then back again. While in Qatar during her teen years, she lives with her extended Bedouin family who had been relocated from their nomadic lifestyle in the desert to a government created urban setting.
The subject matter for th...more
The subject matter for th...more
I would give this 3.5 stars. It is a memoir of Sophia Al-Maria and her life split between her American mother living outside of Seattle and her decision in high school to go and live with her father's family in Doha. Her father comes from a Saudi Bedouin tribe who comes to the U.S. meets her mother, but after having two daughters decides to go back to Saudi. Her mother moves there with the girls briefly, but ultimately moves them back home. This book is really mostly about her teenage angst in b...more
This book tells an unusual story of a girl born to a Qatari father and an American mother. She feels that she neither truly belongs to either culture nor is completely comfortable in either. Compounding this is the fact that neither of her parents seem to take much of a concerted interest in who she is, where she is or how she will develop into an adult. She spends time living in both America and in Qatar rather aimlessly. Some of the writing is very humorous and enjoyable but I realize that it'...more
The book began nicely with Al-Maria outlining her father’s Bedouin boyhood and cultural background--although awkwardly written because it wasn’t clear who she was referring to until many pages in--and how he ended up in Puyallup, Washington and met the author’s mother. Their unlikely meeting and love story was interesting and entertaining.
As the story moves into Al-Maria’s childhood and teenage years bouncing back and forth between the Middle East and Washington, it loses a lot of steam and jus...more
As the story moves into Al-Maria’s childhood and teenage years bouncing back and forth between the Middle East and Washington, it loses a lot of steam and jus...more
I'm going ahead with another four star review because this was a light, fast, and interesting read. This is an almost casual story of a young Qatari-American girl growing up in between cultures. It's a very personal memoir, probably to be read more for ambiance than seriousness. I found her story fascinating, and in many ways I felt I could sympathize with the author. (I, too, feel caught in between or outside the cultural norm.)
My biggest hang-up about the book - it is written from the self-ass...more
My biggest hang-up about the book - it is written from the self-ass...more
Straight from the heart. Sophia's memories of growing up in two different cultures and synthesizing them to form her world view was entertaining and often humorous as she looks back at her formative years. She paints an accurate picture of what it is like living in 2 worlds with families as far apart culturally as you can get. She is able to transcend those differences and make it work even as she struggles through her teenage years and her relationship with her mom. A wonderful coming of age st...more
I really expected there to be some wisdom or insight that Sophia gained from her interesting life and experiences that she would share that would make the book worth reading. But it seems that her conclusion was that there really is no meaning to life, love or sex, and life is merely a compilation of unrelated experiences without meaning. This would appeal to people who don't believe that they can make what they want of this life and don't take responsibility for their response to the experience...more
While I identify with many aspects of the author’s story, I want to commend her for successfully achieving the feat of writing about the intimate details of her life (and her family’s), without turning her account into a sensationalistic report about a ‘mysterious, incomprehensible, backward’ Arab/Bedouin world. We are invited to discover her new world with her, and as she does her best to adjust and stay out of trouble (she really does conform for a long period!), we are given what seems to me...more
I totally enjoyed this. Her account of her father's childhood and parents' courtship is really, really hilarious. When she talks about her own life, some of it gets whiny and ridiculous - of course, because she's talking about being a teenager, and all teenagers are whiny and ridiculous, honestly - but she's so self-aware and self-deprecating that it didn't bother me. I wished it were a bit longer, though - the ending came very suddenly.
i liked the author's memoir of how she came to live with a foot in both the Arab and American worlds. I particularly enjoyed her rendition of how she tried to acclimate into the Beduoin world after growing up in the U.S. Since there is little written or known about this culture, I found the book educational. The author also writes with honesty, which I appreciated.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading, and I have to admit I was a little intimidated at first. This turned out to be a compelling memoir that reads like great fiction. Sophia Al-Maria could have just written her way on to my Top Five favorite living authors list.
I liked how this book opened my eyes to a different way of life but there were times when I wanted more descriptions times when I lost interest in the story. I wish we learned more about her parents' relationship and her relationship with her sister. The author glosses over a lot of details that I was curious about.
Interesting memoir by a woman with an American mother and Beduin father. I think I would have been more interested in reading her mother's or father's memoirs (or having her interview them for a book.) I never quite connected with the author and felt the book left a lot of gaps.
Lovely! Initially felt like it might break under the weight of all the alien and space metaphors, but fortunately those fade away just enough (they're still very apt). Very interesting look into not-so-well-off Qatari life.
I found this book completely disjointed. There are some sections that are well crafted and readable but overall the narrative does not hold together across the various countries and characters.
I think this book was perfectly fine. I'm sure it was probably better than fine but I've been totally off reading lately so a book like this that should have taken me a day to read took three weeks instead. I would totally ignore this review when it comes to deciding whether or not you should read this book.
Fascinating read, especially about planning and development in Qatar, though I did wish Islam was a more positive element in the characters lives!
A very unusual memoir by a Muslim American woman who lived in Washington state and Qatar Her experiences are very interesting as she "comes of age"
Insight into a world rarely seen (Bedouin) and a capture of being between two worlds.
Such a fascinating tale. Totally reads like fiction... Except it's not. Definitely recommend for others to read.
Millennial woe-is-me drivel
Once again, I stumbled through mixed reviews on a book: one prompted me to read this; another to pick it apart. While I enjoyed many of the insights of Sophia's journey, I find myself challenged by this genre. This is, however, a quick read - quite suitable for airplane disruptions - and does lend itself to think about a youth without borders while bound by cultural expectations.
Loved it
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