Half the Sky: Transforming the Lives of Women Around the Globe

klm1780: I started reading this book but have since put it down. The stories are pretty hard to read

Canada on Jun 04, 2023

Lignel: Comment vous convaincre de lire ce livre et de le faire partager ? C'est vraiment ardue.
Ce n'est pas un livre facile à lire. C'est un livre qu'il faut lire petit à petit et il n'est vraiment pas reposant. Mais c'est un livre qu'il faut lire. Il faut le lire parce il est remplie des histoires des héros et héroines de nos jours.
Honnêtement les mots me manques, ce n'est pas pour rien que je suis lectrice et non écrivaine. J'ai lu ce livre, je l'ai relu et je l'ai recommandé à toutes les personnes que je connais. Homme, Femme, etc. J'ai dit lis le, durant certains passages tu vas me détester, dans d'autres tu vas haïr notre manque d'implication dans les actions charitables, mais dans beaucoup de passage tu vas juste être bouche bée devant la force des personnes mentionnées, la force de leurs volonté et leurs courage et tu te surprendre à espérer que le monde de demain soit différent.
Un livre à lire. Vraiment.

France on Feb 26, 2018

JustinHoca: I recently reviewed a host of books on the history and development of Islam and Middle Eastern history. I also read several which included some critiques along with views to the future and reform. I then worked through a list of books by Muslim women, most of which bring light to and critique inhumane practices found in their home countries. Included in this list was Nick Kristof's Half the Sky which looks at women's rights globally, and I'm also including another by someone who left Islam after an extensive intellectual and spiritual search. This book review is in the context of all of those books as a whole. The list (some reviews forthcoming):

Reform and human rights:
Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali (4.5 stars)
Heretic - Ayaann Hirsi Ali (4 stars)
Headscarves and Hymens - Mona Eltahawy (4 stars)
I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai (5 stars)
I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali (4.5 stars)
In the Land of Invisible Women - Qanta Ahmed (4.5 stars)
Between Two Worlds - Zainab Salbi (5 stars).
City of Lies - Ramita Navai (3 stars)
Half the Sky - Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (4 stars)
Seeking Allah Finding Jesus - Nabeel Qureshi (4.5...

United States on Aug 30, 2016

Amazon Customer: This book really opened my eyes to the humanitarian issues women and young girls face in developing countries. The two journalists writing about the many oppressive injustices such as sex trafficking, gender violence and honour killings bring to horrifying light what individuals face on a daily basis. The book investigates the plight of many impoverished women presenting their findings through anecdotes because the writers feel statistics will not carry so much impact. They do so with great compassion and empathy offering practical ways to alleviate some of these issues, for priveleged Westerners, like myself. To make difference in whatever small or larger scale that we can. The stories were heartbreaking, humbling me yet enraging me at the same time. At the end of the book there are steps suggested you can initiate if you want to become involved. I have made that small change in my life by donating to a cause, who knows what that will catalyse. Greatly recommend this book, this is not sensationalistic journalism but reality and how the Western World can support and empower women in developing countries to change cultural norms at grassroots level to eventually impact on society.

United Kingdom on Oct 20, 2015

Stephanie Jane (Literary Flits): I guess I have come to the Half The Sky book backwards as I have been an active member of Kiva for a couple of years, more recently joining their Half The Sky team as their goals matched my lending history. I was aware of the gist of the book and have now, finally, gotten around to reading it. The lovely people at ESPH, with whom I worked over the summer, gave me an Amazon voucher on leaving and that funded this book's purchase.
I'm not completely sure how I feel about Half The Sky now having read it. Its aims are obviously admirable and by appealing to such a wide audience and being bought in great numbers, its message will reach many people who might previously been unaware of the plight of many of our world's women. However, I felt a bit awkward at the patronising tone in some places. Written primarily for an affluent American audience, there is very much a 'them and us' feel to the writing. Abuses happen 'elsewhere' and the apparent importance and influence of American political decisions to life and death in other sovereign nations is unnerving. It reminded me of the power of the former British empire and of how many of our decisions were catastrophic to those on the...

United Kingdom on Jan 15, 2015

BT Invictus: The goal of this book is to pop the bubble of first world complacency and shed light on the oppression and cruelty that afflicts many women across the globe, particularly in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. Instead of inundating readers with statistics, which are often specious and difficult to fathom, Kristof and WuDunn profile women who have suffered at the hands of societies that don't recognize the inherent worth and dignity of the female gender. The suffering has a human face, and it's far more difficult to shirk off. Many of the women profiled have achieved amazing things for their communities, in spite of the adversity they faced. Their stories are heartbreaking, inspiring and humbling. My feelings alternated between smoldering rage at the perpetrators and a sense of sisterly solidarity with the victims. Needless to say, the content of this book is very difficult to digest, but so important to consider.

I would encourage anyone with the emotional fortitude to grapple with the horror in this book to read it. The authors accomplish their goals, risking their lives, at times, to do it. They are well-deserving of the accolades this book received.

As much as I...

United States on Apr 11, 2013

Whui W. Lim: This book opened my eyes up to the issues surrounding female rights around the world, from honor killings, rapes to female genital mutilation. While I was researching on Female Genital Mutilation to deliver a presentation, my friend introduced me to this book which I promptly read from cover to cover. Whilst reading each story, I was filled with anger at the circumstances these women were in, but yet, often at the end of each story, there would be a silver lining, portraying how a woman's strength and courage can lift them up and away from undesirable circumstances. The selflessness and bravado of these women led me to examine my own life and what I can do to help out in the future, in whatever small way I can.

I was always interested in female issues but never found something which would stop me in the tracks of my everyday life and make me think this hard as to what I can do to contribute. This book did just that. If you are interested in female rights, maternal mortality, or simply, what actually goes on in countries less advanced in terms of female rights progression than ours, this book is well worth a read.

United Kingdom on Dec 01, 2010