THE LOOMING TOWER
AL-QAEDA AND THE ROAD TO 9/11
First off I would like to point out that this was a phenomenal book. It was a non-fiction story that was filled with history and knowledge of one of the most well known events in our country's past, but what Lawrence Wright did was beyond the broadcast version of this event. This man took his time to perfect this book. He based on more than 500 interviews; including bin Laden's best friend from college to the former White House counter-terrorism chief. This man had information from all different sources, which is something quite different than our average, American take on this event.
He spends most of his time taking us on a journey, in detail might I tell you, in which he describes the events that shaped Al-Qaeda's and more specifically bin Laden's attitude and feelings towards the United States.
A specific portion I would like to pull from the book is when Wright is writing about how Al-Qaeda began and who affected it. He said that it "depended on a unique conjunction of personalities." Two of those people involved are bin Laden himself and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, the bright thinker behind their morals and ideas, which were that only violence could change the nation.
This book gave me so much more insight into the event of 9/11. Sadly, I'm not one of those people who can just sit down and remember every specific event that happened to every specific person, whose name I don't know, because let me tell you there are a lot of names that I can barely type, much less say.
I really enjoyed this story and I would suggest it to anyone who has any interest in history, 9/11, terrorism, or to those who need a non-fiction book to read for their AP Comp class. Not a bad read.
There is just one last idea I would like to leave you with. The title of this book, "The Looming Tower," is not just a reference to the tragic event of 9/11, but it is also a small section of the Koran that bin Laden quoted when getting the 19 hijackers who were supposedly going to become martyrs to get their minds wrapped around what they were about to do for their nation and for their God. That section was, "Where ever you are, death will find you/even in the looming tower."
I bet my bottom that was an interesting read! I should look into reading this, for sure. It's one of those events that's crazy to think about. I mean, we were actually alive when this happened, yet I the only thing I can remember about it is how my mother reacted. I have a hard time letting events like Pearl Harbor sink in, as it was so long ago. I can't even comprehend it, really. I don't know too many details about 9/11, but I'd certainly like to learn more since it is still pretty recent history.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really good and different than a normal non-fiction novel. As you and Erin said, we can't really remember what happened. It's weird because we have always been taught in a way where everyone remembers where they were when it happened, so it's hard for our age group to relate in a way. I think this book would help with that. Overall, sounds like a great novel!
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