I once again would like to share my thoughts on the last book I've read. It's a very easy reading piece about a man, the writer himself Martino Pillitteri, and his experience of a lifetime in the Islamic world. The original title in Italian "Quando le musulmane preferiscono gli infedeli" (When the Muslim women prefer the unfaithful), I think is such a better title than "The difficult love between Muslims and non-believers". The actual translation calls them "unfaithful", and it's not referred in a way of not being faithful to a partner, but it means to have no faith in Allah, I just think it's way more powerful. On a technical point of view the book is very easy to read although some parts drag a bit, and make you want to scream "I get it! I got the point!". Aside from that the whole story is full of humor and insight in a world that has by now surrounded us all, but maybe we are still so foreign to their life styles. I'm referring to the Islamic countries. We know in theory, we know what we read and hear on the news. But few of us have had the opportunity as the lead character of this book to experience it fully. I'm not talking about taking a trip to Morocco or having a job in Dubai. The story evolves around a young Italian man who loves working and living in NYC and then finds him in Egypt to follow the love of his life.
As soon as Martino starts his romance with the Egyptian beauty, we discover that those women are in charge. Something we don't often think about. They will tell their man when they want to be married, they will make them pay for their dinners and all of their friends' too! I honestly think it's quite funny. But the biggest deal seems to be around faith and religion, and how a non-Muslims must convert in order to be even considered to take part to a family and marry their daughter. Martino makes it look like they are so different from the Western world.... are they really? I'm not so sure! I was just on the bus yesterday, right here in Milan... which is considered to be the most progressive city in Italy. There was a man chatting with the bus driver, he kept on complaining that his daughter "by disgrace" has started to date the son of some Diplomat from the Syrian Embassy. He kept on repeating that although he was a very nice guy, very smart, with a good future ahead career wise... well, he could not stand the fact that he would not convert to become a Catholic!!! Here is the proof that we are all the same! We can wear different clothes, physically cover our faces or not, judge others by their customs... but in the end we all wear some sort of Hijab or Burka that blocks us from fully understanding or fully accepting others.
However I do highly recommend to read his book. It's brilliant, as he shows all the different types of people he has to deal with. Although I would like to point out one more thing before I try not to ruin the story for all of you; I don't understand why he keeps on complaining about how "puritan" and strict they are... from his story he seems to have gotten laid quite a bit from several different Arab girls on his short stay in Egypt... while he was supposed to be engaged to his beautiful Noor. No wonder the doorman of his apartment complex would play tricks on him, such as turn off his hot water! Did that just make you wonder? Nope, nothing to wonder about! Men are Men! They want it, they want it now, and then once they got it they will still complain and pretend to be the ones who got ripped off!
