The Rage and the Pride

I bought this book soon after the 9/11 attacks. I was shocked by its vehemence. Could this be true? I asked myself. I read Fallaci's other book "The Force of Reason". Again I was shocked by its tone. Again I asked was it true?Sadly after years of reading more temperate books, studying the Islamic threat, following the news and examining what Muslims say and do I have come to the conclusion that what Fallaci wrote was true.As Fallaci makes clear militant Islam is a threat to all mankind as it was in centuries past. No amount of bluster will disguise that fact. Muslims are locked into a belief system that guarantees endless strife. They have been at war with each other ever since Islam was invented 1400 years ago. It's the longest-running sectarian war in history. And when they're not fighting one another Muslims are fighting everyone else. There's something wrong with their religion, but the religious zealots are too irrational to examine its faults.Edward Said denounced this book when it first came out. He would! But can anyone truthfully argue that Islam means peace? Look at its history. Look at what it's doing right now all over the world. The West is under attack. The threat to democracy, free speech and human rights is real. The clash of civilisations is happening.I wish I could condemn Oriana Fallaci and say she got it wrong. I wish I could say Islam is no threat to anyone. But that is impossible. Fallaci's language may be intemperate, but she got her facts right. That's what's so shocking about her books. People need to heed her warnings.We will be lucky if we escape a third world war. Millions of Muslims want one. They should try thinking instead.

This book, while not exactly a `rant', is certainly a harsh polemic against Islam. Fired up by the 9/11 attacks and the continuing encroachment of what she saw as an alien culture in her beloved Italy, La Fallaci sat down and wrote a hostile critique of Islam for an Italian newspaper. The article met with widespread support and, encouraged, she expanded the article to book length and published it as "The Rage and the Pride." Both her rage and her pride come across strongly in her highly subjective writing and her arguments are far less reasoned than in her second book "The Force of Reason."Such passionate and politically incorrect writing is becoming a rarity these days and Oriana Fallaci is to be congratulated for her courage. The brutal honesty she displays in this book though cost her dear. Faced with arrest in Europe for inciting hatred she was forced to spend the twilight years of her life in exile in the United States returning to Italy only to die in her home town of Florence - cheating her detractors of the show trial they so craved.Although the book's literary merits are slim, it deserves to be read for its passion and brutal honesty. It is a call to arms from someone concerned their civilisation is being destroyed and who feels duty bound to try and wake up her compatriots before it is too late. In her own words... "There are moments in life when keeping silent becomes a fault, and speaking an obligation. A civic duty, a moral challenge, a categorical imperative from which we cannot escape."

Starts ok but is a very angry book (as the title suggests). Whilst it raises issues of incompatibility between Islam and the West, it loses any credence with what becomes just an ongoing rant!!

Once you get past the preface (it can feel a bit list orientated and angry), this is really quite an interesting book by a powerful and passionate woman who has been moulded by her experiences.

Excellent book. She is a brave lady who dares to tell the truth. I hope I will be able to read similar books from her in the future.

Oriana Fallaci is surely missed. She had an incredible sense to watch, listen and write. Her life's experiences enabled her to write this book with her true thoughts of what was happening and what is in our future.

Short book and somewhat interesting

Very interesting read