The Bookseller of Kabul

[SFG75]

Purchased this one this past weekend. I've read a lot of good reviews about it, so I took the plunge and gave it a try. The author lived among the family of a man who (obviously) sells books and documents the travails of his occupation. From Soviet occupation and facing Najibullah's thugs who burned his works, to Taliban members of the board of virtue and the extermination of sin(now there is a cabinet department!) who did the same thing to his works before 9-11, the life and times of this man and his family are meticulously detailed by the author. You can't help but shake your head as you read accounts of how he has volumes upon volumes of books stored in the attics of houses that his friends own. He also hollowed out walls to hide the most rare(and illegal) books that would have earned him a few lashes or death itself from the Taliban.

Rather than viewing the bookseller as a patron saint, the author does a wonderful job of detailing the personal life of the women in his household. After living with his first wife for many years, the 50 year old bookseller then marries a much younger woman(girl in all reality) through an arranged situation and the girl's plight is keenly noted. While she may object, it would be bad for her to do since the marriage would benefit her family and their social position in the village. This was a real eye-opening book not only about books and their use in Afghanistan, but in regards to the people whose hard-scrabble life we just hear bits and pieces about. If you haven't read this one-do!.

 

[Prairie_Girl]

bump!

I'm about halfway through this one, and I can NOT put it down, has anyone else read this? I"ll post more later.

 

[SFG75]

AWESOME book!

I agree, it's definitely one that you just can't put down. It is a well written book and the author really got to know the subject well as she dressed up in traditional garb and became a part of the family. The life of the women in this book were just beyond description. Marriage at an early age where technically it was your choice, but wasn't so due to the pressure to help your family out financially through marriage and the ties that come along with it. I've heard of stories about Taliban repression before, but this book just really goes beyond the surface of what people know and shows you how things really occur over there. Amazing at how such a patriarchal society was so two faced--men would rape women due to the fact that it's a stigma in their country and that there was no recourse for them. Absolutely crazy.

A link of good substance is the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

 

[Stewart]

I have a signed copy of it on my shelf and I'm waiting until I've read her other book, With Their Backs To The World, before I bother with it.

 

[abecedarian]

I have a signed copy of it on my shelf and I'm waiting until I've read her other book, With Their Backs To The World, before I bother with it.

Did you ever get around to this one? If so, what did you think?

 

[Balmy Westwind]

I have just finished reading The Bookseller of Kabul and I enjoyed it very much. I thought that it was fascinating to read about everyday life in Kabul after the Taliban.

It is a remarkable story.

 

[Lyra]

I must admit I didn't really like this book - it was ok but I just couldn't connect to any of the characters and I just didn't care that much what was happening to them.

Maybe this was because I had just finished reading 'The Kite Runner' which I had been totally emotionally involved in as well as finding the insight into day-to-day Afgan life fascinating. However I know that The Kite Runner has been quite slated on this forum so I guess I am in the minority there.

 

[Clara]

I thought it was ok but quite badly written/translated. I also wondered how she verified some of the stories that she hadn't been witness to and how much artistic licence was used.

 

[SFG75]

I didn't know it until I did some searching, but the man who took the author into his family turned on her and filed a lawsuit against her. I'm not certain how it turned out, but here's the article from The U.K. Guardian.

Guardian review

Observer review