After telling us her story in ‘Desert Flower’, Waris Dirie has dedicated Desert Dawn entirely for her long awaited visit to her relatives. It was a troubled time in Somalia and against all the warnings from people around her, she decides to make the visit. You can see the same stubborn and determined spirit which made her to run away as a young girl urging her to make the visit against all advices.
The incidents and feelings are presented in a very straight forward, yet moving manner. Waris’ struggle in trying to fit in to two cultures that are worlds apart is evidence. This same difference makes it difficult her relatives to understand her achievements. Despite of all the disagreements with her family, it shows how strong the family bonds are in their culture.
It is disappointing to see how hard it is to change the ideas rooted into the culture no matter how illogical they are. And how helpless Waris is in helping out her family and loved ones. All throughout the book it shows how dearly you can love your root, love your culture, at the same time rebelling against the setbacks.
It gives both insider’s and outsider’s view of Somalian life probably only somebody in Waris’ situation can give.

دومین کتاب واریس دیری ست
شرح سفرشبعد از بیست سال بازگشت به وطن
توی کتاب بیشتر راجع به کشور و فرهنگش گفته و ظلمی همیشگی که به زنان سومالیایی میشه
زنهایی که بیشترین کار و مسئولیت و کمترین حق رو در جامعه دارن

Ik heb haar eerste boek, die Waris’ reis van Somalië naar het Westen beschrijft, niet gelezen. Ik denk dat het daardoor komt dat ik dit boek enorm kan waarderen. Het beschrijft juist de terugkeer van Waris naar haar Somalische familie, niet haar vlucht ervan. De terugkeer komt nadat ze twintig jaar heeft doorgebracht in Londen en de US. Ik vind het waanzinnig mooi en interessant hoe westers liberaal denken samenkomt met Waris’ diepe liefde en genegenheid voor haar familie en land. Rondom thema’s als FGM, vrouwenrechten en armoede levert die westerse ‘bagage’ van Waris soms spanning op, maar er is in het boek vooral verzoening en blijdschap. Dat is een perspectief wat naar mijn mening onderbelicht is, en ik vond het megaverfrissend en verheffend. Daarom 5 sterren!

In Desert Flower, Dirie told her story of a nomadic childhood in Somalia and her eventual escape immigration to the West; here she describes returning to Somalia for a visit after more than twenty years away.

It's true what they say; there is no feeling like it--there is no feeling like home. Oh how I missed that feeling of belonging to something much greater than myself. (180)

It's a homecoming, but Dirie also knows that she was right to leave Somalia, that she is better off in New York. Her visit is a complicated one, with Dirie at once completely at home in the desert, with her family, and also at odds with their more conservative mores and traditions. She describes clashes with her male relatives, who want her to cover up and be quiet (Dirie is willing to compromise on the former but has absolutely no interest in the latter), but also an understanding that although she was right to leave, her mother was right to stay; this is her home. It's clear, though, that change -- positive change -- will be slow.

The writing is, as with Desert Flower, energetic but rather scattered. She can be quite perceptive -- and isn't averse to turning her lens on herself as well as on others -- but the story could use a stronger framework. Still, she touches on a lot of things without easy answers. (Take for example her cousin, living in Amsterdam as a refugee -- no real interest in moving back to Somalia, but also no right to work or study in Amsterdam until conditions are 'better' in Somalia...whenever that might be. Talk of life being put on hold...)

Not sure I'll be able to find a copy of book 3, but I'd like to.

Tiesiog būtina ją perskaityti!!!

Patiko, vėl sukrėtė.. bet kartojosi kai kuri informacija

Desert Dawn is the sequel to the very popular & appreciated book "Desert Flower". While the first one was excellent from almost all aspects be it content, writing style, readability, somehow the second one fails in almost everything.

The first one had an agenda, a message which was put across very strongly. The issue of female genital mutiliation was shocking which was presented with utmost care and sensitivity.

This one is about Waris journey back to her roots in Somalia. But it just come across her struggles in her journey and how she despite missing her life in Somalia still feels connected and strongly about it.

The writing style is rudimentary and misses the assertiveness.

Overall, I didnt find the book inspiring.

4.5

Okay so I bought this book while thrifting and thought to myself, “this book seems interesting, why not buy it?” So I did, I bought it after doing my research on the book synopsis and all (completely missed out on the fact that it was the second book written by Waris Dirie, good research there Arsh). Anyway, I started reading it on the bus, and since then I was hooked on this book.

Loved reading it, and it simply didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the first book, and once I got into the book I just simply embraced it and kept reading it on my way to school/home.

For anyone who wants to know about this book, it’s a memoir (autobiography) shedding light on the life the author had while living in New York City, after fleeing from Somalia, from her family (father) who (almost) forced her into marrying an old man. The book follows her life, how she managed to establish a career (becomes a famous model) and have a family (she met another African man, whom she fell in love with and had a child with but he was abusive too) so therefore she left him. Waris Dirie was like any other girl during her time, genitally mutilated (könsstympad in Swedish) and is now an UN ambassador fighting for female rights and is also the face of the fight against female genital mutation. It is really inspiring to read her book and seeing how she longs to once again go back to Somalia and show her family, especially her father, the woman she’s now grown into, in order to show them that perhaps a woman can be independent and doesn’t in-fact need to marry in order to live a healthy and successful life.

Also in the book she mentions her mother a lot, as well as every chapter is introduced by a verse from some Somalian song or a verse (ayat) from the holy Qur’an. As a muslim she talks about her beautiful religion, and criticises her culture for how they misrepresent their religion since the majority of the Somalian population (the girls at that time and many men as well) were illiterate. I love how she talks about her family and also tries to both criticise alongside with giving an explanation to their certain behaviour and so on.

The reason why I loved reading her book was partially because of the way she writes, but also because of her way of seeing the positive things even when life has nothing to offer. Seeing how she always stays grateful and keeps fighting, really is indeed inspiring for me as a young woman. Her way of describing how we (people in the western countries) need to fill some kind of void through the consumption of materialistic things, meanwhile her family, like any other nomad family in Somalia, only own the things they can carry in order to move around easily. The way she’s honest about the flaws of her government, culture and the sexism that characterises her country and family’s way of thinking, is phenomenal. It’s beautiful to see how she describes the love she has for her family despite their imperfections, like any other human being on this planet. This book made me understand, or more accurately ’accept’ how people still can love and embrace a culture, although it may have some flaws and a mindset that needs to be changed. Simply loved it.

This is a follow-up ... of sorts ... to Waris' first book Desert Flower. In this book, she goes back to Somalia, after more than 20 years away, to visit relatives and friends ... especially her dear mother. It was nice to be able to peek inside her Somalian family's life, and see how she responds to them after being away for so long, and vice versa. A story of going home.

3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.

Αυγή στην Έρημο - Γουόρις Ντίρι
Πρώτ' απ' όλα, αυτό που κρίνεται εδώ δεν είναι μυθιστόρημα, αλλά περισσότερο μια καταγραφή των ημερών της ακτιβίστριας-μοντέλου Γουόρις Ντίρι που υπέστη κλειτοριδεκτομή μετά την πρώτη έκρηξη αντιδράσεων, η επιστροφή της στην Σομαλία και η προσπάθεια επαφής της με την οικογένειά της. Επομένως, αφήνουμε στην άκρη τα λογοτεχνικά κριτήρια (που έτσι κι αλλιώς θα έδιναν τα εύσημα για μια ρεαλιστική και ταυτόχρονα αισθαντική απόδοση των εντυπώσεων από τη γενέθλια χώρα) και πάμε στο θέμα. Το οποίο είναι τραγικό, δεδομένου ότι πουθενά στο βιβλίο δεν θα δεις την Ντίρι να κατηγορεί τους γονείς της για την απόφασή τους να την ακρωτηριάσουν. Αναφέρει παντού την οδυνηρά επικίνδυνη άγνοιά τους συνυφασμένη με την πεποίθηση ότι έπραξαν αυτό που θεωρούσαν καλύτερο για το παιδί τους. Και παρότι στο ταξίδι φαίνεται το απίστευτα πρωτόγονο περιβάλλον της Σομαλίας και ο κατάφωρος μισογυνισμός των αντρών, η συγγραφέας μέχρι την τελευταία σελίδα υμνεί την ομορφιά της χώρας της και την αγάπη της προς τη μητέρα της. Διαβάζεται απνευστί και δείχνει πόσο μονόπλευρη ιδέα έχουμε για τις φτωχές αφρικανικές χώρες (ιθαγενείς που χορεύουν με κόκαλο στη μύτη, γύρω από μια φωτιά...) και πόσο βάθος έχουν στην πραγματικότητα οι κοινωνίες αυτές, όσο δηλαδή έχουν και οι δικές μας.

This bravely honestly told story left me deeply impressed. I chose to read this, because I'm interested in human rights and women's position in the world. It tells a story about being a top model from a different ankle and it succeeded to dispel my prejudice towards models and the modelling branch. Waris Dirie uses at times so bold language and tells her story so honestly without even trying to embellish it that at some points it made me gasp in shock. I knew before about the dangers of female circumcision and I knew how ethically wrong it is, but after this book I find the tradition more cruel than ever before, because I hadn't known HOW they do it. Desert Dawn is an amazing testimony and I read it in 3 days.

كتاب رو خيلي دوست داشتم
بابت ضرب المثل ها و حتي آياتي كه اينداي هر فصل داشت
ولي از اون مهم تر و دلنشين تر برام يه ايجاد تعادل و واقع بيني بين سنت و مدرنيته(؟) بود كه كتاب داشت.
واريس ديري علني و جدي مخالفت خودش رو با بعضي از آداي و رسوم سومالي نشون داده ، توي كتاب از محروميت و مشكلات سياسي و فرهنگي كشورش به خوبي صحبت كرده اما همه اينا باعث نشده كه خوبي ها و مهربوني و نكات كثبت رو ناديده بگيره
اين براي من خيلي دلنشينه كه اين فرد نسبت به هر لايف استايلي سعي كرده منصفانه نظر بده و قضاوت كنه
چيزي كه به نظرم توي جامعه خودمون كمبودش به شدت حس ميشه