The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Me...
Undoing the familiar notion of the Middle Ages as a period of religious persecution and intellectual stagnation, Maria Menocal now brings us a port...
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Sep 16, 2011
Dan
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"The fact that Ferdinand and Isabella did not choose the path of tolerance is seen as an example of the intractability and inevitability of intolerance, especially in the premodern era. But their actions may be far better understood as the failure to make the more difficult decision, to have the courage to cultivate a society that can live with its own flagrant contradictions. They chose instead to go down the modern path, the one defined by an ethic of unity and harmony, and which is lar
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Oct 01, 2008
Kelly
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First, some words of warning: do not approach this particular book as a historical documentation of a period, lest you be very frustrated within a few chapters. The Decline and Fall: The Moorish Way this is not. While Menocal does provide an outline of the events, rulers, and major actors of the era in the first chapter, it is nothing more than a quick sketch, intended to explain the backdrop of what she really wishes to talk about. Elsewhere, the historical information is presented in a very sh
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Jan 04, 2009
BunWat
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Well I tried, but in the end it had to go back to the library before I was done. And I am quite interested in the subject of al Andalus and the Muslim presence in medieval Spain. Maybe it was bad timing or maybe this book just wasn't the right fit at this point.
Its a series of vignettes about various different figures from 1009 to 1492 - well written vignettes, but for me it was too much hopping about from one person in one part of the territory for twenty pages and then another More...
Its a series of vignettes about various different figures from 1009 to 1492 - well written vignettes, but for me it was too much hopping about from one person in one part of the territory for twenty pages and then another More...
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Sep 06, 2007
John
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Since I was slow on the draw, I didn't read this until I was already in Andalucia, and didn't finish until I got back from the trip. Menocal's basic thesis, that we are pretty much totally used to considering that period from a Northern European perspective and are probably totally ignorant of the Andalucian renaissance, was completely correct for me, so it was pretty much mind=blown. Makes you nostalgic for that caliphate. I was psyched to return my copy to Brooklyn Public Library with my tic
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 18, 2007
Lorraine
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This was truly awesome! A scholar's work of bringing Medieval Spain and its people, cultures, languages, literature and art, and historical events to life was a revelation of how multi-culturalism and interfaith relationships can enrich the world and the people touched by them. It didn't always work, but when it did, the results were glorious. In the end, political ambitions, cultural shifts and religious intolerance swept through Spain, but the flowering of that Golden Age deserves to be bro
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Jan 30, 2009
Amani
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This book is scholarly. Not surprising given the fact that Menocal is Yale professor. If you are looking for an easy read, do not pick up this book. I found myself having to stop every few pages and look up words I didn't know--and I've been teaching English for 15 years! Menocal certainly shows us the extent of her vocabulary, routinely using words like "nabobs" and "consanguinous." She also constructs long, complex sentences--no doubt to convey the complex thinking tha
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Mar 20, 2011
Eli
rated it:
I read this is March 2011. By Maria Rosa Menocal.
She tells the story of Andalusian Spain from the mid-eighth century until 1492. She is trying to show how all 3 religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity lived together in something like harmony, although there were persecutions and repression. She tells the story of Abd Al-Rahman, last survivor of the Umayyad dynasty, who fled to Spain from Damascus and took over Muslim Spain. Some of the prominent Jews who figure in the story Shmuel H More...
She tells the story of Andalusian Spain from the mid-eighth century until 1492. She is trying to show how all 3 religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity lived together in something like harmony, although there were persecutions and repression. She tells the story of Abd Al-Rahman, last survivor of the Umayyad dynasty, who fled to Spain from Damascus and took over Muslim Spain. Some of the prominent Jews who figure in the story Shmuel H More...
Dec 10, 2010
Colleen
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Very interesting book, well written, accessible to the general reader. Especially in the wake of 9/11/01 it's important to know about a different face of Islam. It was through the Muslims in Spain, for example, that much of the writings of the ancient Greeks came down to us.
It's also relevant for the history of the New World, which I think is where most GoodReads readers live. Southern Spain was the source of much of the migration to the New World, including likely a lot of Jews who had co More...
It's also relevant for the history of the New World, which I think is where most GoodReads readers live. Southern Spain was the source of much of the migration to the New World, including likely a lot of Jews who had co More...
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Mar 08, 2010
Paul
rated it:
Extremely interesting book of historical interest that describes several hundred years in Spain following Muslim religious/political refugees from the Iraq/Syria area who ended up in Spain. There developed a very open society that was Islamic in nature but in which Christians and Jews thrived and were part of the fabric of the society. They spoke Arabic as well as other languages--Latin had still not developed into Spanish but this transition was in progress. This lasted until 1492 when the I
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Dec 17, 2009
Mari
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Because some of the historical facts I already knew appeared in this book with a certain spin, I never felt quite sure when I was reading history and when I was reading Menocal's opinion.
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May 17, 2011
Don
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This is definitely popular, not scholarly, history, but it was a lot of fun. I know very little about the history of Islam. Now I know a bit more. It's interesting that the intellectual and cultural center of European was Arabic speaking for several centuries and that the first return of Greek philosophy to Europe was via Arabic scholars.
My favorite part of the book was its focus on poetry. I knew some of the most famous Hebrew poets but did not know any of the poets who wrote in A More...
My favorite part of the book was its focus on poetry. I knew some of the most famous Hebrew poets but did not know any of the poets who wrote in A More...
May 31, 2009
Stephen
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"Ornament of the World," asserts that the history of modern life passed through medieval Andalusia and does a good job of making the case.
The subtitle to Maria Rosa Menocal's engaging volume is "How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain," but that doesn't say the half of it.
Which is fine, because the subtitle that can do justice to this alternately sweeping and efficient book probably doesn't exist.
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Jun 30, 2008
Robert
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Menocal makes this history of the Arab empire in the Iberian Peninsula pop by portraying history as series of personal stories. But even though her protagonists are all great in their own ways, this is not exactly a "Great Man Theory" historical treatment that attributes far more to the influence of powerful individuals acting in isolation than plausible (e.g. Reagan single handedly wacks the entire Soviet Union). Instead Menocal uses individual lives to add interest to a complex perio
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Jul 21, 2011
David
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This is an amazing and, today, mostly unknown history of how Muslims, Jews and Christians collaborated to produce a culture of tolerance on the Iberian peninsula from the mid 700's until 1492 when the Muslims and Jews were expelled from Spain. The members of the three religions not only tolerated each other they combined efforts to produce advances in science, technology and philosophy while the rest of Europe was mired in the Dark Ages. It's not an easy read but worth the effort.
Aug 15, 2010
Cameron
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Interesting vignettes of characters and events throughout the Andalusian region of Spain during the seventh and fourteenth century. The author identifies the major religious and intellectual currents of medieval European society in the Islamic empires, where Jews, Christians and Muslims coexisted and thrived. The sketches bounce haphazardly across seven centuries but they are nonetheless a very engaging read, particularly for someone with limited knowledge of the Muslim republics of the early mi
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Jun 14, 2011
Teeuhh
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At first I was kind of annoyed by the structure and breakdown of the book & how she chose to unfold her chapters, but the content and presentation of each chapter seen independently was heartbreaking, inspiring, and wondrous. I really agree with her passion and appreciation of that era, and the way she explained tidbits of the time period were amazing and almost stranger than fiction. All I could think of as I read was "I WANT TO KNOW MORE!"
Jul 06, 2010
A'ishah
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I really, really enjoyed the writing in this book, and overall I found it a pleasurable book about the time period. It is, however, somewhat cliched and oversimplified, and it's more of a sweeping narrative than a history as such. It's a pleasurable read and introduces you in an interesting way to many of the people who wrote and traveled and lived in the time period, but if you are looking for serious history, look elsewhere.
Jul 03, 2010
Kimberly
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This book was not at all what I thought it would be (the cover makes the history of the groups seem rosier than it was) but it was an enlightening and heartening read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the history of Spain or wonders how these three major religious groups could have co-existed peacefully.
Feb 06, 2010
Judy
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I have never been to Spain but found this story of the tolerant society there in medieval times quite inspiring. Sadly, this world ended in 1492 with the forcible expulsion of Jews by Isabella and Ferdinand. I&F are usually revered in the US as Columbus's patrons - but they really sent Spain down the path of the inquisition.
Oct 23, 2009
Sabah
rated it:
Menocal illuminates the Golden Era in the Jewish faith with narratives. It was a time Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in peaceful co-existence, spawning a rich academic culture, but then it was lost thru Catholic persecution. However, her writing style is not linear and vague and disjointed, so it is hard to follow her.
Jul 05, 2010
Fadoua
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It is certainly a difficult reading, but interesting. The author tells us true stories about a tolerant and peaceful world that gathered Muslims, Jews and Christians. The passage of Arabs in Medieval Spain provided a great environment for Christian and Jewish culture to prosper which prepared the ground for the scientific revolution in the west. It was a discovery to learn how Arabic language played an important role in this prosperity. That time, the language was alive, laic, popular and admire
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Jul 27, 2009
Kathryn
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Though the construct of this book was to provide lay access to scholarly insight, the author fell short of the mark. Paradoxically, in her own discourse she was not able to convey the richness and depth of the intermingling of the cultures, to speak the vernacular of common people, to convey information without being ponderous, dense, and repetitive. I learned much from this book but nearly abandonned it several times.
May 08, 2009
Cameron
rated it:
A glimpse into an “empire” in which diversity and education were apparently valued in ways possibly unknown on earth since 1492. This version of history can help us stop and pause and re-evaluate everything we have been calling “progress.”
Nov 11, 2007
Sue
rated it:
This book is a bit heavy going for non-scholar like myself, but has some very interesting stuff in it.
The scholarship of that fusion of religions was amazing.
I knew algebra came into Europe via the Moors in Spain, but so did the Greek Classics which had been translated into Arabic.
I now want to find out more about Spanish architecture.
Information about Islam was very useful, and their attitude to Christians and Jews was informed by the fact that t More...
The scholarship of that fusion of religions was amazing.
I knew algebra came into Europe via the Moors in Spain, but so did the Greek Classics which had been translated into Arabic.
I now want to find out more about Spanish architecture.
Information about Islam was very useful, and their attitude to Christians and Jews was informed by the fact that t More...
Jun 19, 2011
Daniel
rated it:
Being from Spain and having grown up in Granada is great to put into context to so many names and places I've heard of through out my life, many times without even asking myself where these came from. I have been fascinated by the events told in this book and, at the same time, it made me angry to think how the account that was given to me of this era was totally twisted and shaped by a national myth inspired by religion. It gave me more facts to some events that I vaguely knew and always questi
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Apr 09, 2011
Robert
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For seven centuries, Muslims, Jews and Christians peacefully shared the country that is now Spain, creating cross-currents of learning, art, architecture, and philosophy. María Rosa Menocal, of the Yale Dept of Spanish and Portuguese, has written a very readable book for a general (ie, non-academic) audience. This book inspired me to read further about this astonishing period. However, having read several other books about Muslim Spain, I now think that "Ornament of the World" pres
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Jan 09, 2010
Erica
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Good overview of snippets of history, but a little hard to piece together because of the volume of different people and places.
Jun 12, 2009
Adam
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As others have noted, this book skips around in time. Although it generally goes in chronological sequence it takes liberties to follow ideas and will then backtrack. However, in teh end it builds a satisfying picture of the major social, political, traditional and linguistic transformations from the pre-Arab condition to the post. For me personally i found it quite interesting and novel to consider how much of what we think of as Spanish tradition and language was actually of Arabic origin a
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Mar 26, 2009
Geoffrey
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the book that inspired so much modern scholarship on this era and place. Here's how multiculturalism works.
May 04, 2011
Tauheedah
rated it:
Backdrop of Al-Andalus. Why Moorish Spain will be as good as Europe will get...until Islam rises again.
