The Places In Between by Rory Stewart Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Places In Between
Book Review: A Singularly Important Book
Summary: 5 Stars
This goes on the IMHO List for Top 5 most important non-fiction books. It is a fascinating book if you want to vicariously go to a place you would never go to (rural Afghanistan) and do something you would never (in your right mind) want to do, walk across it. But it joins "A Bright Shining Lie," "Cycles of American History," "The Devil Came on Horseback, and "Parting the Waters" as books every American should read.
"A Bright Shining Lie" tells the story of the generation-defining war in Vietnam through the life of someone who believed in it. "Cycles of American History" explains our historical, psychological (schizophrenic!) tension between the private and the public. "Parting the Waters" chronicles the Civil Rights movement, not as some mythologized magic moment, but as a movement of fallible individuals responding to a system of disenfranchisement and terror. "The Devil Came on Horseback" explains Darfur, and how easy can that be?
"The Places in Between" explains a culture that is very, very alien to us. But it does it by introducing us to people, who have had to adapt to a harsh land and a harsher history, but they are still people, just like us. If I were to caveat my glowing review of this book, I might say that it is best if read along with another non-fiction story of great compassion and understanding, "Three Cups of Tea," also about Afghanistan.
Book Review: A Small, Magnificent Epic....
Summary: 5 Stars
The Places In Between is the true story of a young man's journey on foot across the rugged Afghanistan landscape, an adventure that began just six weeks after the Taliban had been driven from power there by the allied offensive led by the US after 9/11. Or had they?
Rory Stewart, a Scotsman with a passion for people and a unique knowledge of Muslim customs and Persian languages, takes you along on the last leg of his trek across the Middle East, along paths taken by Babur, the first emperor of Mughal India, in the 15th century. His attention to custom, place and texture automatically transports you into the villages that he visited along his way. You learn of the hospitality and the values of the Afghans. You also feel Stewart's awareness of the dangers, his fatigue and his sense of purpose. It's a story that keeps your anticipation for the next challenge and the next success on edge... right up until his poignant epilogue.
While each page is fascinating, one passage remains foremost in my mind. At a point when Stewart, a diplomat and an historian, was talking with a group of Hazara village elders about Afghani politics, he recalled how some policy makers in Kabul perceived these people, "Villagers are not interested in human rights. They are like poor people all over the world. All they think about is where their next meal is coming from."
What he was seeing was that these peasant farmers had a better idea than most about where their next meal was coming from. They defined themselves chiefly as Muslims and Hazaras, not hungry Afghans. And without the time and imagination needed to understand their diverse experiences, policy makers would find it impossible to change Afghan society in the way they wished to. Tribal traditions of honor and issues of ethnicity were still not understood in Kabul and were consequently being ignored again.
In today's turbulent times, that sobering thought is one that more people should be made to recognize, as Afghanistan begins to move to the center of the world stage once more.
Bob Magnant is the author of The Last Transition... - the ultimate Internet adventure - a fact-based novel about Iran and terrorism.
Book Review: A Travel Book Like No Other
Summary: 4 Stars
In theory, it is easy to hate an Eton educated upper class Scotsman who decides it'd be a lark to walk across Afghanistan six months after the fall of the Taliban. But after reading Stewarts book, I have to say it is extremely good. We learn next to nothing about Stewart here outside of the details of daily walking. He is cold, he has dysentery, he is hungry, etc other than that, the focus is almost entirely on the people he meets, and I cannot think of a travel book that does a better job of honestly relating the lives of the people the writer meets.
Not every Afghan in this book is a noble tribesman; some are downright unkind to Stewart. Others are incredibly welcoming. Some are Taliban supporters; some are not. Some are drug dealers and some are subsistence farmers. I think the honestly in Stewart's portrayal of the Afghans he meets is very respectful and his writing of this book is the best outcome of this kind of experience I can imagine.
Book Review: A Truly Remarkable Journey
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first started reading this I thought the author was crazy for even attempting a walk across Afghanistan but as I got caught up in the story I was quite impressed with Mr. Stewart's guts to perservere in this quest despite the danger and hardships he describes. He writes engagingly about the landscape, the people and the political/social climate of a land that is far more complex than I had realized.
The areas he visits in the remote regions are so foreign to westerners and the lives of the villagers and warlords he meets along the way sound like something out of Marco Polo.
This is a totally engrossing book that entertained, enlightened and educated. Adventure writing at it's absolute best.
Book Review: A Unique Read
Summary: 4 Stars
I've long believed that there is a fine line between lunacy and bravery. Considering that it chronicles Rory Stewart's choice to stroll across Afghanistan mere weeks after the fall of the Taliban and in the dead of winter over mountain passes well over 10,000 feet, I felt I had to read what could possibly compel someone to undertake such a journey. Stewart isn't crazy. In fact he's fairly well prepared, he speaks Farsi, and knows the customs and history of the area, some of which he imparts to the reader. Unfortunately, as many other reviewers point out, Stewart doesn't write much about the human aspects of his journey. There is no resolution, no understanding Stewart or what learns or hopes to learn on his journey and not too much written of the people he encounters outside of the basic facts.
Despite its shortcomings I found myself completely engrossed in the book, the journey is fascinating after all, and found it very difficult to put down. So if you have an interest in exotic cultures, enjoy travel or history I think you will enjoy this book.