Parvana's Journey

Book Description

In Parvana’s Journey, the Taliban still control Afghanistan, but Kabul is in ruins. Parvana’s father has just died, and her mother, sister, and brother could be anywhere in the country. Parvana knows she must find them. Despite her youth, Parvana sets out alone, masquerading as a boy. She soon meets other children who are victims of war — an infant boy in a bombed-out village, a nine-year-old girl who thinks she has magic powers over landmines, and a boy with one leg. The children travel together, forging a kind of family out of sheer need. The strength of their bond makes it possible to survive the most desperate conditions. Royalties from this book will go toward an education fund for Afghan girls in Pakistani refugee camps.

Customer Reviews:

parvana`s journey.......2007-05-16

the story was super good i loved very moment i don`t usually read but this time i finish the book in one day. i was brilliant that my opinion.
i fell sorry for parvana she was on a adventure and hassan she had to help and the two other children.the girl was trying to get food when the bomb fell as she stop putting food to the ground as she did not have any.

The Golden Rule in Afghanistan.......2007-01-28

When Parvana sets out on her long journey to find her mother, sisters and brother, she is a new person. For the journey she cut her hair and put on boys clothes. The Taliban is ruling Afghanistan and Parvana cannot be wandering around, alone as a girl. In the beginning of her journey, Parvana stops at a village, left in ruins after a bomb. While she is wandering around the village, she hears a noise. Not an animal noise, but a human noise. She looks inside the hut with the noise and finds a thin, crying baby. In front of the baby is the body of a woman, with the flap of her burqa (a long garment covering the whole body) flipped up. Parvana decides to bring the baby with her on her journey. She names the baby Hassan and treats him as if he is her son. Along the way Parvana meets two more people. Asif is a one-legged, selfish and angry boy and Leila is a curious, caring and young girl. Parvana does not get along easily with Asif and Asif tends to throw rocks at her and insult her when he is mad. Hassan can sometimes drive Parvana crazy with all of his crying and Leila wanders off into mine fields and goes into villages when they are being bombed even when Parvana tells her not to. The most interesting thing about the story is that even though she can get very frustrated with them and their not always nice to her, Parvana always shares her food with them (even when theres only a little bowl of rice for their food), shares her blankets with them and treats them as though they were never ever mean, frustrating or annoying to her. Parvana is a perfect example of the Golden Rule. She treats Asif, Leila and Hassan the way she would want to be treated.

Awards for this book.......2006-10-03

In 2004, a Special Commendation of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award was awarded to "The Breadwinner Trilogy". (Deborah Ellis' "The Breadwinner", "Parvana's Journey", and "Mud City".) It was given by the Jane Addams Peace Association and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. The Jane Addams Children's Book Award is given to books that effectively promote peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races, as well as, meeting conventional standards of excellence.

for teachers.......2006-08-13

Great edition to your classroom collection of books. After reading part 1, The Breadwinner, you want to know what happens to Parvana. This is a great story of a young girl living in warzone Afghanistan.

Outstanding book....you'll want to read more.......2006-08-04

I read The Breadwinner and couldn't put the book down, it was excellent. I just completed Parvana's Journey and I was even more thrilled with this book. As you read the book, you feel as if you are right next to Parvana as she travels miles and miles in search of her mother. I would recommend this book to any student 6th grade and above. Excellent!

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lisa from sgs
Natalie from SGS
Linnea from SGS
Under the Persimmon Tree
Salome from SGS

Under the Persimmon Tree
Suzanne Fisher Staples
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374380252
Release Date: 2005-07-14

Book Description

Intertwined portraits of courage and hope in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Najmah, a young Afghan girl whose name means “star,” suddenly finds herself alone when her father and older brother are conscripted by the Taliban and her mother and newborn brother are killed in an air raid. An American woman, Elaine, whose Islamic name is Nusrat, is also on her own. She waits out the war in Peshawar, Pakistan, teaching refugee children under the persimmon tree in her garden while her Afghan doctor husband runs a clinic in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.

Najmah’s father had always assured her that the stars would take care of her, just as Nusrat’s husband had promised that they would tell Nusrat where he was and that he was safe. As the two look to the skies for answers, their fates entwine. Najmah, seeking refuge and hoping to find her father and brother, begins the perilous journey through the mountains to cross the border into Pakistan. And Nusrat’s persimmon-tree school awaits Najmah’s arrival. Together, they both seek their way home.

Known for her award-winning fiction set in South Asia, Suzanne Fisher Staples revisits that part of the world in this beautifully written, heartrending novel.

Customer Reviews:

lisa from sgs.......2007-02-21

i thought that the book was a fair read. it wouldn't be worthwhile to me to read it again and it hasn't been added to the list of books i would recommend, but to the author's credit, it was well written. i feel the ending left something to be desired, and it could have used more of what was going on in the character's surroundings; it became monotonous after awhile.

Natalie from SGS.......2007-02-18

I suppose it was alright, but it was a little bit dull at times, with some stereotypes about women that I don't really agree with. I think it gave me as a reader a good sense of what it was like to live in Pakistan during that time. I'm not sure I would really reccomend this book, as I am not a big fan of the two-perspective stle. The perspectives skip around a lot, and it's very hard to keep track of what's going on where. All in all, it wasn't a bad bok, but it could have been better.

Linnea from SGS.......2007-02-15

I felt that the story was overall really well done and the ideas were great. However I really wish that the author could have gone into more detail about what happened to the characters in the end. I also wish that the reader could hear more about what was happening to Nur and
Baba-jan. I felt like someparts were to long and some too short and I didn't feel very connected to the character. I think that the story has a lot of power but the way the story is described does not.

Under the Persimmon Tree.......2007-02-15

Salome from SGS.......2007-02-14

The book had an excellent story line, one with plenty of potential. the only problem was that the author did not take this potential into thought. the plot line went all over the place, and there was very little character development. very few things were explained to there full extent, and the ending was short and unexplanatory, with the idea that the author had either been rushed to finish the story or simply lost interest in the whole thing. the suprising thing was that many of the authors other work is exceptional. i hope that there will be many more books from this author, and hope that the books that are to follow will be better then "under the persimmon tree".

Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics

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A pithy review
A must read on this subject
Complete History of Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Tragedy Heaped Upon Tragedy
A country ravaged by centuries of war

Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics
Martin Ewans
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060505087
Release Date: 2002-09-17

Book Description

A fascinating chronicle of a nation's turbulent history and a must read for anyone interested in the historical evolution of one of today's most dangerous breeding grounds of global terrorism.

Starting in seventh century AD, Martin Ewans shows Afghanistan's early days – of powerful dynasties, fierce tribal rivalries and stunning architectural feats. In Ewans߬ucid and dispassionate prose, a once powerful empire is revealed, whose traditions and political stability have over the years slowly been reduced to ruins.

Martin Ewans carefully and concisely weighs the lessons of history to provide a frank appraisal of Afghanistan's fragile relationship with its neighbouring countries.

Customer Reviews:

A pithy review.......2006-03-05

I liked this book, had no problem reading it, and recommend it. Presumably when reviewers refer to it as "dry", they mean in comparison to such popular histories as Peter Hopkirk's fascinating "The Great Game". But, Hopkirk's point of view lends to the events an air of "the plucky British soldiers" fighting against "incredible odds" in their 19th century incursions into Afghanistan. What happened is that the disciplined British military with the aid of superior tactics and weaponry massacred numerous Afghanis in their quest to keep their Indian empire secure (from a Russian invasion that might never have occurred anyway), and, in due course, suffered some massacres of their own. I don't suggest Hopkirk whitewashed these events. Rather, he knows a story is more appealing with "heros" and "villains", and constructing these is how the very readable "The Great Game" makes a century of fairly detailed Central Asian history palatable.

Ewans's book lacks heros and villains. It's briefer and is consciously even-handed, written with a diplomat's grasp of how the personalities of leaders and the policies of powerful countries towards poor ones steer events. If you want a pithy review of Afghanistan's interactions with the world's great powers, its politics, and the succession of leaders from Dost Mohammed forward, this is your book. It certainly served me well.

Weaknesses of this book include, first, the sketchiness of the pre-19th century history and, second, a sharp focus on leaders and politics giving little idea of how ordinary Afghans lived, especially in rural areas (that is, until the closing chapters dealing with the Communist government, Soviet invasion, and regimes of the Mujahidin and Taliban). I'd like to know more about life in and leaders of the powerful rural tribes, who for 150 years have erected road blocks to the policies of kings, prime ministers, and presidents.

One source for conditions in the country-side are the travelogues of 20th century adventurers: Robert Byron "The road to Oxiana" (1930s - 6 stars out of a possible 5, though about 2/3s of that book concerns Iran), Eric Newby "A short walk in the Hindu Kush" (1950s - humor in the mountains), and Peter Levi "The light garden of the angel king" (1970s - next on my stack to read, but seems highly regarded by all).

A must read on this subject.......2005-11-03

This book can be recommended to anyone interested in the history of the general mess now known as Afghanistan. In addition to being scholarly (which some people call "dry") and concise, Ewans, as a former diplomat, tends to be honest about many issues which Westerners were previously clueless or not bothered about, or which they deliberately "fudged up", so as to justify their anti-Soviet policy. That is commendable, on part of a Western writer. But it may be too late to do any good now. Before "9/11" most Western books on this subject tended to be hysterically biased in favour of the "Mujahideen" Islamic war of resistance, funded by capitalism; now of course, ever since that fateful day of 9/11, on which Bin Laden and his Taliban cohorts gave the West a tremendous kick in the backside, the books are hysterical in a different way. Actually, I agree more with the latter type of hysteria (and not at all the former). It has more than an element of truth in it. In this review, I take the opportunity to add my personal experience to Mr. Ewans' narrative and thereby enhance it. I belong in Peshawar, on the Pakistani side of the ethnic Pashtun (the basic majority Afghan ethnicity, from which it the word "Afghan" is derived) area. This area was conquered and split, by the British, from Afghanistan and added to their Indian Empire under a treaty finalised in 1893. For that I am thankful in more ways than one. I am half-English, and twenty years ago, as a college student, was a Marxist supporter of Afghanistan's Soviet supported Communist "Saur" Revolution. Though experience has since nullified most of my beliefs in Marxism and also disillusioned me regarding the nature of Afghan communists - who have proven to be no different than their opposite brethren, the truth of what happened in that war between the Soviets and the American Jihadist Islamic resistance can not be altered. Many Western writers - now that they see what the policies of their countries have led to - try to absolve their countries of blame by dismissing the Afghan episode as resulting from a "Vietnam revenge" policy of the US. That is childish to say the least; however, it may be the best excuse they can find, since pre-9/11 Western opinion in this regard was that they were "freeing" the Afghan people so that the latter "could live freely according to their own culture and religion..." But comparisons with Vietnam are also false and futile. Vietnam's story was the fight of an awakened people for national and economic self-determination against capitalist enslavement; Whereas Afghanistan's was the fight of one of the most misguided, subnormal, gladly backward and morose minded people the world has ever seen - against the benefits of social modernisation; and in this the Afghans were aided by criminal modern world powers who thought that doing so would further their greedy geopolitical objectives ("9/11" proved otherwise though! The USSR, Capitalism's "greatest enemy" is nowhere to be seen, and has been replaced by rabid Islamic fanatics who "can't be seen" till they explode!) The Booklist editorial review of Martin Ewans' book on this page is rightly pessimistic when it says that only "modern" (19th and 20th c.) Afghan history matters to the world, since: "There aren't a lot of bright spots in modern Afghan history. The people share no linguistic, religious, or ethnic traditions and have come together only to fight common enemies. Two wars with the British and the mujahadeen resistance against the Soviets devastated both the people and the economy, but the anarchy following the wars was equally crippling. Often lacking a centralized government, the few rulers Afghanistan has known, from Daoud to Mullah Omar, have been charismatic personalities but hugely ineffective leaders... Afghanistan has known no peace in 40 years and little peace in all its history..." That speaks for itself. The mess is even more exacerbated by the devastating Islamic fire the West and its lackeys kindled in the world because of this; and shame be upon those traitorous "modern" Afghans who fled to the West to live a "better life" so easily.

Complete History of Afghanistan.......2005-09-28

Martin Ewans, who previously served as a British diplomat in Afghanistan, is clearly someone who is very knowledegable of Afghan history and its people. However, the title "A Short History" may be a bit misleading, as this is, in fact, a thorough examination of Afghan history with some rather dense writing. Certainly it is more for those seriously interested in the subject matter rather than the casual reader.

Another thing to consider is that this book covers Afghanistan from its earliest days to the modern era. Personally, I was most interested in Afghanistan's ancient history as well as the contemporary period, especially the Taliban and the current U.S. military presence. Instead its ancient history is only briefly discussed, with the bulk of the book being devoted to the 1800's and 1900's. The book does offer substantial and insightful coverage of the Soviet occupation, the mujahidin and the Taliban. But, since the book was written in 2002, it's not completely up to date on what is currently happening in Afghanistan. So someone primarily interested in post-Taliban Afghanistan might do better with one of the many books devoted solely to the contemporary era.

Still Ewans is a extremely intelligent man and has tremendous amounts of information and insight to convey regarding Afgan history. This one is worth reading for those with a serious interest in the country

Afghanistan: Tragedy Heaped Upon Tragedy.......2004-10-15

Afghanistan's history is almost entirely one of war, hostility and revenge. Martin Ewans' short work, although providing only a high level view, covers these bloody events that traverse the centuries.

Unfortunately, Ewans' work is often not easy reading. His prose is dry and wordy. It requires a patient mind to persevere. However, attention to detail can be rewarding as Ewans slowly unravels the internecine politics of Afghanistan.

To understand the modern history of Afghanistan, one needs to understand the broad sweep of history. Afghanistan has, in recent times, been the home of modern terrorism. This terrorism has found root in a soil of prejudice and injustice. Indeed, Afghanistan must surely be teetering on the edge of being a failed state. Perhaps it is already at this point?

Afghanistan is a tragedy. Yet it is has always been so. Ewans meticulously outlines how this tragedy has unfolded. It is a further tragedy that the West has turned a blind eye to this benighted country. Its people deserve better.

A country ravaged by centuries of war.......2004-03-01

This is a great history of Afghanistan, easily written for those who do not lknow much about the area. It gives a wonderful overview of the history of Afghanistan, the origins of its tribes and languages. For anybody interested in Afghanistan this is a good place to start.

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afghan guide
The unknown Afghanistan
Excellent Book

Afghanistan: A Companion and Guide
Bijan Omrani , and Matthew Leeming
Manufacturer: Odyssey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 9622177468

Book Description

Thanks to 20 years of civil war and its association with terrorism, Afghanistan is often unjustly thought of in the West as a barbarous backwater. This guide dispels that image in a comprehensive introduction to 3,500 years of Afghan culture. Starting with a full history of the country from 1500 BC, each chapter looks at the major cities and regions, describing their distinctive cultural and ethnic traditions, and their associations with poets, artists, musicians, travelers, and holy men, as well as warriors and conquerors. Ancient and modern sources from Afghanistan are extensively quoted, as well as the thoughts, musings, and experiences of writers from America, Europe, Russia, China, India, and the Middle East. Wonderfully illustrated, this book also features engravings, paintings, and images of priceless museum artifacts. A number of specialist essays by leading experts present topics such as archeology, architecture, carpets, flora and fauna, miniature painting, and music.

This new edition contains the latest travel updates from the ground, a new special topic on Kabul's Bala Hissar—one of the world's greatest but least well-known Mughal forts—and a new essay on Afghanistan's search for unity, providing the full historical background for the political struggle which Afghanistan is now facing. 307 color photos, 19 maps & plans.

Customer Reviews:

afghan guide.......2007-03-27

A comprehensive guide to everything about Afghanistan from carpets to stupas. Its excellent photographs and abundant maps leave the reader with a desire to visit this fascinating country. The book is heavy to hold but difficult to put down. A must for all travelers (armchair or footworn) of distant horizons.

The unknown Afghanistan.......2007-01-12

This hefty tome oozes quality. From its 768! pages printed on very fine paper to the wonderful photographs to the heavy duty binding. The authors convey a deep love for this intriguing country so often only heard of in terms of war and violence. This is also a most comprehensive history of Afghanistan. Its blue lapis lazuli was used as ornament on The Mask of Tutankhamun. Coins of the Graeco-Bactrion kingdoms of Afghanistan reveal life in the lost "Atlantis of the East". As a travelling guide you get "down to earth" advice: "Driving in Kabul is a contact sport. (An airline)... fly, when they feel like it. "The Worst Hotel in the World." etc. Some places are presently out of reach for the ordinary traveller due to war - again. For the Afghans, I sincerely hope peace will prevail. They are proud and tough people despite, or maybe because of, their many hardships. This book tenfold improved my understanding of their beautiful and complex country. Possibly you would bring the several pounds of guide book along in your rucksack? Probably not. On the final page, as in many places in this "tour de force", there is a fine underlying humour: "Published to appeal to the armchair traveller". I'll be travelling often with this good companion.

Excellent Book.......2006-11-16

Very helpful. Filled throughout with fact and history, as well, as suggestions for modern day travelers. I have purchased a lot of books on Afghanistan, and this one gets a LOT of use.

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Afghanistan (Cultures of the World)
Sharifah Enayat Ali
Manufacturer: Benchmark Books (NY)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0761420649

Afghanistan (Enchantment of the World. Second Series)

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Afghanistan (Enchantment of the World. Second Series)
Miriam Greenblatt
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0516226967

El pan de la guerra: The Breadwinner (Libro Tigrillo)

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El pan de la guerra: The Breadwinner (Libro Tigrillo)
Deborah Ellis
Manufacturer: Groundwood Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 088899592X

Book Description

El pan de la guerra (The Breadwinner) brings to life an issue that has recently exploded in the international media - the reality of life under the Taliban. Young Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan. Her father, because he has a foreign education, is arrested by the Taliban, the religious group that controls the country. Since women cannot appear in public unless covered head to toe, or go to school, or work outside the home, the family becomes increasingly desperate until Parvana conceives a plan. She cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy to earn money for her family. Parvana's determination to survive is the force that drives this novel, set against the backdrop of an intolerable situation brought about by war and religious fanaticism.

Deborah Ellis spent several months talking with women and girls in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Russia. This suspenseful, timely novel is the result of those encounters.

The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War

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The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War
M. Nazif Shahrani
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0295982624

Book Description

An extended new preface and a new epilogue, written after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, place The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan in the context of a vastly changed world. The original book, first published in 1979, describes the cultural and ecological adaptation of the nomadic Kirghiz and their agriculturalist neighbors, the Wakhi, to high altitudes and a frigid climate in the Wakhan Corridor, a panhandle of Afghanistan that borders Pakistan, the former Soviet Union, and the Peopleís Republic of China.

The new Preface challenges the assumption that the root cause of terrorism is religious. Shahrani asserts that the problem of terrorism is fundamentally political and is historically linked to the inappropriate model of the centralized nation-state introduced to Afghanistan by colonial regimes.

The differing responses of the Kirghiz and Wakhi to the Marxist coup are discussed in the new Epilogue. Shahrani has closely followed the flight of the Kirghiz to Pakistan in 1978 and their eventual resettlement among resentful Kurdish villagers in eastern Turkey in 1982. The ethnographic documentation and analysis of the transformation of Kirghiz society, politics, economics, and demography since their exodus from the Pamirs offers valuable lessons to our understanding of the dynamics and true resilience of small pastoral nomadic communities.

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A wonderful and rich look at everyday life in Kabul

Reading as a Dangerous Activity

A fascinating look at Afghanistan

Bookseller is the Best

Not So Simple

The Bookseller of Kabul
Asne Seierstad
Manufacturer: Virago Press Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel

The Glass Castle: A Memoir

Suite Francaise

ASIN: 1844080471

Download Description

For more than twenty years, Sultan Khan has defied the authorities, whether communist or Taliban, to supply books to the people of Kabul. He has been arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned, and has watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. Yet he has persisted in his passion for books, shedding light in one of the world's darkest places. This is the intimate portrait of a man of principle and of his family - two wives, five children, and many relatives sharing a small four-room apartment in this war-ravaged city. As they endure the extraordinary trials and tensions of Afghanistan's upheavals, they also still try to live ordinary lives, with work, relaxation, shopping, cooking, marriages, rivalries, and shared joys. Most of all, this is an intimate portrait of family life under Islam. Even after the Taliban's collapse, the women in Khan's family must submit to arranged marriages, polygamous husbands, and crippling limitations on their ability to travel, learn, and communicate with others. Seierstad lived with Khan's family for months, experiencing first-hand Afghani life as few outsiders have seen it. Stepping back from the page, she allows the Khans to speak for themselves, giving us a genuinely gripping and moving portrait of a family, and of a country of great cultural riches and extreme contradictions.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful and rich look at everyday life in Kabul.......2007-09-19

A year in the life of a wealthy (by Afghan standards) bookseller whose focus is the preservation of literature and books for the next generation. The lengths to which he will do this often compromise his family, best revealed in the irony of denying his sons the privilege of going to school so they can work in his shops. Beautifully observed and touching, particularly the roles of women in the patriarchal family structure, who must carefully manage how much they can dream about their own lives. You won't soon forget this story after you have read the last page.

Reading as a Dangerous Activity.......2007-08-23

This amazing story follows an Afghani bookseller and his family, who opened their doors to a Western journalist (Norwegian Asne Seierstad). She becomes part of the family in a desire to understand what daily life is like for Afghanis in their own country, particularly women. In this book, Seierstad shares this family's hardships, sorrows, and joy. Reeling from the ravages of war, mired in poverty, and limited by traditions of the Taliban, the Afghanistan that Seierstad brings us is even more compelling because of its inside look at what one middle class family must endure.

She brings us into the heart of matters: the bookseller's determination and drive to continue his trade (which included spending several years in jail, as well as living under censorship and illegal border crossings to bring books to the people of Kabul). She also examines the life of his children and his two wives. No other book captures so graphically what it is like to be a woman in a burka living in Afghanistan today. This book will have every Western woman thanking her lucky stars that she was born into more tolerant conditions that allow her a choice of career, marriage partner, and pursuit of her own happiness...freedoms most Westerners take for granted.

Because of her journalist status, Seierstad is able to show us the stories of both men and women. With a war correspondent's background, she is able to fill in the historical perspective while still maintaining an unprecedented level of intimacy in this tale. This is truly a remarkable book, well written and compelling. Its value is sure to stand the test of time.

A fascinating look at Afghanistan.......2007-08-23

The Bookseller of Kabul is a fine book which illuminates a culture and country with both honesty and understanding. It is written like a novel, yet the reader is convinced of the authenticity of the narrative; and Seierstad is clear when she expresses her own opinions. It is not difficult to share her views of the treatment of women in the Afghan household where she herself is hospitably and generously treated. The lack of opportunity to escape the stifling and destructive prison of womanhood in Afghanistan is tragic. She also examines the power of the authoritarian head of the family who denies his own children an education or freedom to make some choices of their own.

It is evident that the thoughtless acceptance of traditional beliefs of the role of women or the rights of the "man of the house" cannot be easily changed or even modified. I closed the book with a feeling of sadness and hopelessness, but with admiration for Asne Seierstad's skill and sensibilities.

Bookseller is the Best.......2007-07-19

A gripping story and personal insight into a wealthy Kabul family. I could hardly put it down and learned a lot about modern Afghanistan life.

Not So Simple.......2007-07-01

At first blush, this book appears to be about a "modern" man in Afghanistan, but alas as you read further it is not so simple. Sultan is a complex character as is the country he lives in. For the first few chapters you grow to like Sultan and his strong moral compass, by the end (as the author does too) you can not help but grow to despise him and his despotic ways. The female characters are painful and enlightening. Painful to see such potential thwarted at every turn and enlightening to see how others live. Sadly, the conclusion is that Afghanistan is doomed to exist as a 3rd world country for the foreseeable future as Sultan is one of the more modern thinkers in this complex land. Beware: this is not an uplifting look at the potential for a modern Afghanistan.

Afghanistan in Pictures (Visual Geography. Second Series)

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not many pictures

Afghanistan in Pictures (Visual Geography. Second Series)
Alison Behnke
Manufacturer: Lerner Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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Count Your Way Through Afghanistan (Count Your Way)

ASIN: 0822546833

Customer Reviews:

not many pictures.......2007-08-05

Considering the price, the book lacks what its title suggests, pictures. There are only a handful of pictures with brief text to describe the different areas of the country. Fortunately I was able to return the book for a full refund.

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