The Places In Between
by Rory Stewart
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Book Reviews of The Places In Between
Book Review: Premise seemed interesting
Summary: 4 Stars
I borrowed this book from a friend, he explained a Scot crosses Afghanistan on foot shortly after 9/11/01. Seems like it would be action packed? Not quite, it must be hard to write a revealing travel journal about a people that aren't very revealing themselves. Although the Muslims do consider themselves first class in terms of hospitality towards travelers believe it or not.
Well, it's a welcome window on a world that we are educated on very little and as you read further you understand why so little is known. First, it is very hard to get to. Second, literacy and technology seem to be very sparce and thus info on this area does not travel far.
An interesting excerpt, one night Mr. Stewart is going to bed as villagers listen to a translated BBC transmission of Bill Gates explaining bundling Internet Explorer with Windows; these villagers marry their first cousins and do not use toilet paper they could not possibly have an idea what Mr. Gates is talking about.
You have to respect Rory's timing in all this, to him it is simply an opportunity to finish his epic trek. And after the reader finds out he can speak Persian fairly fluently that "danger element" an American reader might have intially presumed about his adventure seems to dissolve into a snapshot of conversations that seem perfectly logical.
Bottom line, it's worth your time. But perhaps a little reading up the modern history of Afghanistan wouldn't hurt. Stewart skims the political history in a way that I would have felt shorted if I hadn't read up on it elsewhere.
Book Review: I liked it!
Summary: 4 Stars
I read Stewart's other book "The Prince of the Marshes" and like his dry wit and his candid approach to pompous sheiks, village elders or slick bodyguards. A man of his age and smarts can do what most of us can't: walk across Afghanistan and live to write about it.
Why would ANYONE walk across such a god-forsaken country as Afghanistan in the first place? All the people seemed to be of the same beggar gene: give-me-money-or-we-will-shoot-you mentality. After his first week on the road with his "bodyguards" I am surprised he remained steadfast to walk this trip alone. Eventually he outsmarted and out-walked his bodyguards and the pace improved.
I agree with some of the reviewers that parts of the book seem to drag on. Where there really so many nasty people in Afghanistan? Were they all after only one thing from Rory--money--and were they all so ignorant? Apparently so, from the book, but I blame that more on the route he took than on the country overall. Rory walked a trail that most people would not have chosen. Would this trip had been any more interesting had he taken the "road less traveled?" To quote Robert Frost, the road Rory took in the end "made all the difference."
I think walking with Babur halfway through the journey definitely added some adventure to what could have been a rather boring trip. Pooy guy met such an unjust end, but I think that was also part of the bigger story behind the walk itself.
Rory knows his subject matter and makes a great diplomat.
Book Review: Mr. Rory's travelogue is a window to Afghan history, and an accurate depiction of its people
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is essentially a travelogue of Rory Stewart's walk across most of Afghanistan, from Herat (near the Iranian border) and Kabul in early 2002, immediately after the fall of the Taliban.
I spent a year deployed in Afghanistan with the US Army, working daily with a battalion of Afghan National Army soldiers. While I didn't visit all same the places Mr. Stewart did, I could see some of his story within my own. We patrolled all over northeastern Afghanistan, meeting many Afghan leaders along the way and visiting sites of cultural signifigance. I found Rory's description of Afghan customs and culture to be spot-on with my own experiences.
However, I was more impressed by the knowledge the author clearly has of Afghanistan and southern Asia. This is by no means a history book. Mr. Stewart does not beat you over the head with his knowledge of history. Rather, it comes out in glimpes and glances in the form of topical references and tangents. As a student of history, I found these to be gems pepppered throughout the text. If only there was a text as readable as this on Afghan history; I'd love to read it.
My only complaint with the book would be that I feel some understanding of Afghanistan is necessary as a prerequisite to get maximum enjoyment from this book. Nonetheles, that would not stop me from recommending this book to anyone with an interest in Afghanistan or in traveling in troubled parts of the world. His style is easy to follow, self-effacing, yet intellectually stimulating.
Book Review: An Amazing Journey
Summary: 5 Stars
Rory Stewart is a cool customer. He plows through chest-deep snow, faces semi-psychotic, gun-toting goons, and is told outright "you will die." Although he may have actually yelled, cried, and prayed fervently during this Kafka-esque series of events, he reports on his historic trek with the aplomb of James Bond ordering a martini while dodging bullets.
Personally, I believe his surprising sangfroid in the face of danger is not exaggerated to impress the reader. Stewart also earns respect for his expert knowledge of early architecture. He rather obtrusively weaves the historic accounts of Babur's original travels through the text, but the canine, v. royal Babur portions of the narrative add color and interest to the tale.
It's unsettling to read a book in which an entire gender is missing, but despite traveling hundreds of miles through many villages, the women are sequestered.
I spent a fair amount of time mulling over the courage/stupidity equation (if he has a family, I can't imagine their worry), but am grateful that we have someone to witness and chronicle this important place and time with clarity, pragmatism, and ultimately, compassion. (Although it's at least a little ironic that we congratulate those of us who travel through these regions, never mind the people who are actually trying to survive there.)
Thanks to Stewart, we have a much richer view of a complicated land and diverse people. May he survive to tell more tales.
Book Review: Rory Stewart's A Nutter, In A Good Way
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife kept insisting I should read this book. "No", I say to the wife, "I've already read "Three Cups of Tea" and I don't want to hear any more about some westerner who is trying to help the people of Afghanistan, while those vile Afghani warlords interfere with his do-gooder quest and try to block all the help". "Ah-ha" she replies, "this book is very different. In fact, the author doesn't try to help change the country at all". Hmm, I think, now that might be worth reading about.
And sure enough, the book is fascinating in a kind of perverse way - I kept thinking the author must have actually died somewhere along the way - murdered by some crazed opium warlord, and his body left in a drift of snow on some mountain pass. Perhaps his diary was found by somebody who could read English, and it became a posthumous book for Mr. Stewart. Maybe this happens, maybe this doesn't happen - I'm not giving away any of the book's secrets.
I became convinced that the author is actually a mentally disturbed man who would be just as happy banging his head against a brick wall repeatedly as to do anything the conventional way. Still, even if the man is a nutter, he sure is adventurous, eloquent, and a good writer. His story was so compelling, I felt like I was walking beside him on his journey. It sure was cold, and I got tired of eating dry bread. If you read this book, you will most likely be drawn into his fascinating journey as I was.