An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan
by Jason Elliot

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Book Reviews of An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan

Book Review: An Unexpected Joy
Summary: 5 Stars

I will admit that my primary motivation in seeking this book out was not to learn more about Afghanistan ... that was a secondary motive. I was seeking instead, as I always do, to read something beautifully written. The other books about Afghanistan I'd collected to choose among instantly fell away when I skimmed across the pages of Elliott's writing.

If you want to BEGIN to understand the current conflict, to begin to grasp its roots, let Jason Elliott be your guide. I cannot say anything, really, that does justice to his brilliance. Instead, I will quote a bit of his writing. For starters, the opening paragraph:

"From the beginning we became the captives of an unexpected light. Even as we stepped into its unaccustomed brightness that first morning, it seemed probable we had entered a world in some way enchanted, for which we lacked the proper measure."

And now, a passage ...

"It was late afternoon. Through hollow doorways suspended uselessly in columns of broken wall the sun shot long sloping lances of golden light. We walked along in stunned silence as the desolation grew, past what had once been a cinema where the scorched carcass of a crippled tank listed at a crazy angle against a mound of rubble. A few men were pulling carts of precious firewood on sacks piled piteously high, heaving at loads fit for animals...

"A cold wind began to whip up the dust along the street, and like animals that have wandered too far from their lairs, we knew instinctively it was a bad place to be lost as the sun went down. It had a lawless air. The shadows thickened as the golden light retreated, and at last its touch slipped upwards, first from the city itself and then from the mountains beyond."

"In a darkening doorway we glimpsed a one-legged man, rising on his crutches at the sight of us. He was young, perhaps thirty, with a rich black beard, and lured us nearer with an uncanny brightness in his eyes. Beckoning, and with a smile of improbable vigour, he asked if we would join him for a glass of tea."

The exchange that follows is both a heart-touching delight and a soul-stirring revelation ... the first of so many in the treasure trove of beauty that this book is.

Do yourself a favor ... buy this book. Then generously give yourself the time and space to take this journey with someone as brave as he is human, as humble as he is inquisitive, as respectful as he is humorous. Someone who will show you a people and a place quite marvelously unexpected.

Summary of An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan

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