The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
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Book Reviews of The Places In Between
Book Review: Beautiful and sad
Summary: 5 Stars
If you've been reading up on the politics and issues of Afghanistan, this is a welcome step back and shows the human side of that country.
Rory is a journalist/historian who knows Muslim customs and speaks local dialects somewhat and who is hiking through Afghanistan in 2002. It's not clear exactly what he is doing there, and it doesn't seem all that clear to him. But he relates his story of walking, one day at a time through an extremely poor country that has endured 30+ years of war. Whatever his Afghans protagonists are up to, and they are often up to little good, I don't know that people in any Western country could honestly expect to behave much better, were they to live in such a failed state. His recollections of villages often include a count of how many villagers were executed at what time and by which faction(s).
At one point, Rory says that he is generally not as well treated by Afghans as has been his experience as a guest in other Muslim countries. Some pages later, he seems to reconsider and expresses amazement at how he did get fed by people who had next to nothing. The book is also enlightening by what is _not_ in it, for example, the near total absence of female interlocutors.
Despite being mostly apolitical in his writing, Rory doesn't have much good to say about the Taliban. Nor does he think much of globe trotting UN personnel who never bother to learn about the country they are supposed to help. As he puts it, even old style colonial envoys, for all the faults of the systems they were upholding, were held accountable and had to truly understand the countries they operated in. His criticism is clearly limited to development experts, btw, not to the courageous folks operating to provide humanitarian relief throughout the countryside.
Book Review: Audio and book versions
Summary: 5 Stars
The book was first published as a hardcover by Picador in England on 4 June 2004 (ISBN 0330486330). A second revised edition was published as a paperback in England on 1 April 2005 (ISBN 0330486349). On May 8 2006 a further revised American paperback edition was published by Harvest Books (ISBN 0156031566). An audio recording was made in 2006 narrated by Rory Stewart while he was in Kabul and published by Recorded Books (ISBN 1428116702) based on the Harvest Books edition. I believe all three books have seen slight improvements with each new edition.
The audibook version is highly recommend as a supplement to the text. It is narrated by Rory (from a studio in Kabul) and his pronunciations of Afghan names and places are priceless, as well as his overall character and tone.
Comments: Scottish author and historian Stewart walked across some of the most difficult mountain terrain in Afghanistan in the early winter months of 2002 right after 9/11 (and lived to tell about it). He saw a land of contrasts: a culture based on feudal-like systems living in mud huts -- but with modern weapons and vehicles. Villages were people never traveled more than a few miles from home their whole life -- but had seen international forces from the USSR, USA, NATO and elsewhere pass through. People who were one step away from starvation willingly giving food to a passing stranger -- then shooting at him for sport and fun the next.
Afghanistan has always been resistant to understanding, but Rory, by traveling and living with the mountain tribe people who account for most of the countries population, comes as close as any to pulling back the curtain and revealing the character of the country in their own words and actions. A classic of travel literature, anthropology.
Book Review: Tangible Realism
Summary: 5 Stars
Rory Stewart's The Places in Between is a riveting account of modern day Afghanistan. By walking from Herat to Kabul in the middle of winter Stewart's journey unwraps the indescribable chaos caused by 25 years of war and western intervention. He does not make excuses for war. Rather his historical notes and cultural insights help to give shape to why western efforts to aid war torn Afghanistan are largely unsuccessful. His authentic account of rural Afghan culture and history illuminates the vunralbility to both Taliban and super power influences.
Stewart does not push a post modern agenda of democracy, human rights, and gender equality--or even "the war on terror". In some respects his writing seems self serving and arrogant. He is not in Afghanistan to help, but rather to complete a self driven mission--to walk across Asia. Yet, because of his drive he is able to communicate to the western world a first person account of areas that are largely untouched by the media. This is what makes his work important.
His writing is humane, respectful to the people that he meets along the way and his prose is often without emotion. It's his deadpan that captivates. His is a journey not many would undertake. Along the way he has many fellow walkers--some armed guards, some local village people, and a dog he names Babur. The incredulity of walking across a land that the world considers deadly shows both his tenacious spirit and his Scottish stubbornness. But readers are thankful that he made such a trek, because his journey helps teach and we are the better for having read it.
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.