Ислам и Bluetooth

[perlovka_blog]

Пыталась найти книгу саудовской девушки, записки инсайдера, так сказать, о жизни тамошнего общества. Читала фрагмент в Financial Times, впечатлилась, но название забыла.

Стала искать... Оказывается, она еще не вышла на английском: The Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa al-Sanie:
The Girls of Riyadh is written by Rajaa al-Sanie, a 25-year-old dental student who comes from a family of professionals, has lived most of her life in Riyadh and attended King Saud University. A kind of Arab Bridget Jones’s Diary, the novel is popular across the Arab world and a bestseller at book fairs all over the Middle East. Published in Beirut last September, it was officially banned from distribution in Saudi Arabia until last month, a prohibition that created even more excitement. In Saudi Arabia itself, tens of thousands of copies have been circulating - from the internet or the black market. It is being read by men as much as women, its impact has been debated in newspapers and on television, and Rajaa has become a celebrity. 

Здесь ревью из FT целиком, то, которое я читала, но ссылка на фрагмент не работает, увы.

Пока искала, попалась статья из Forbes с говорящим названием "Saudi Arabia: Islam Vs. Bluetooth" 
Фрагментики: 

"....the Java Lounge opened its doors on Palestine Street, one of Jeddah's main drags.

It was as though the waters of the Red Sea had parted again. Throngs of young people arrived, waiting for hours at the velvet rope for admission, others took planes, even their private jets from Riyadh and beyond; some brought their parents. And all marveled at a beautiful, lavish, open lounge with casual seating where men and women could actually mix and mingle, where some dropped their veils entirely and others simply dropped some inhibitions.

There is, of course, no alcohol in the Java Lounge, nor indeed anywhere else in the Kingdom, no drugs, no hip-hop, no dancing all of which would call down the muttawa'a in an instant. But young people relax on the deep settees that line the walls, order thick fruit drinks and inhale deeply of sheesh -- the smoke from the hookahs (water pipes) that burn a mix of dried fruit and tobacco.

Some pull out their Bluetooth mobiles and check out the messages -- boys and girls seeking to hook up in the dim light of the second floor where singles can mix and mingle.

Omar flipped on his Bluetooth. Immediately there were messages from "Love Maiden" and "Big Girl."

"If you want a date, you come to the Java Lounge, turn on your Bluetooth and wait around," says Omar, who's 28 years old, divorced (far less of a stigma for a young man than a young woman) and very much a man-about-Jeddah

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Some 70% of the Saudi population is under the age of 25. At least 30% are unemployed, and even more, though it is unclear just how many, are grossly underemployed. Many spend their days hanging out in the malls, their nights at Omar's place on Palestine Street. All are disaffected, searching for something that will energize them.

и статья  "Saudi's troubled youth" с women24.com, в ней саудовская молодежь сравнивается с бомбой замедленного действия: