The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
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Book Reviews of The Places In Between
Book Review: Slouching toward Kabul
Summary: 5 Stars
Think you know Afghanistan? Think again. Rory Stewart knows Afghanistan. Stewart got his boots on the ground for a five-week walk from Heurat to Kabul in 2002, in the wake of Taliban rule. He went village to village through the deepest part of winter across some of the worst terrain known to human beings: no tour guide, no hotels, just a mongrel dog and the ancient code of hospitality paid to travelers. His discoveries are hard-won: that women are almost never seen, much less heard; that kalishnikovs are not only prized possessions, sometimes they are someone's ONLY possession; that the Taliban were not an imported fighting force, they were as organic to Afghanistan as poppy farming. Stewart collects his story of Afghanistan from its rocks and streams, smiles and awkward silences, as well as from its books. It's a great read, a nuanced set of observations drawn from a truly non-conformist understanding of Afghan history. This is not tv Afghanistan; it's the real thing, dirt floors, violent partisans, and a tribal society that remains the backbone of Afghan identity as well as the source of great hospitality for travelers on foot.Book Review: A Wonderful Ride
Summary: 5 Stars
When this book came out it climbed bestseller lists, won awards, and impressed literary reviewers everywhere. I, however, only discovered it recently. When the author was to appear on public television's Bill Moyers Journal one Friday night in 2009, knowing nothing about Afghanistan except what is in the News I decided to read the book ahead of time and develop a better frame of reference. It was apparently a diary written on a journey so I followed along, page by page and day by day across the country. But for all of the intimate details faithfully documented on the road over many weeks there is very little drama, so by book's end I was quite surprised to find that I felt almost as overwhelmed as the author. It seems this wonderful little book had really taken me right across Afghanistan with Mr. Stewart. Now I feel that I do know the country better-the landscape, weather, godawful terrain, and (most importantly) the people. Read this book. Not just because it is entertaining and well-written but because it will help you to truly understand a country that has been terrribly misrepresented by many others.Book Review: For Sheer Audacity and a Touch of Lunacy !
Summary: 5 Stars
Rory Stewart is a mad man; a certified walking whacko who you just got to love for his sheer audacity in undertaking the damn foolish notion and stunt of walking across Afghanistan shortly after...(wait for it)... 9/11!
The walk is technically for the love of history, in the foot steps of Babur but Stewart makes it more than that. He makes us look at the various people and tribes that make up Afghanistan in a more human and, at times, a more troubling human light.
I loved how he rescued the old dog, named it Babur, and took it along with him. That alone told me more about the man than any book cover notes or publisher's new release.
Buy this book at full price and give Stewart his quarter or so royalty or tell yourself that you're being thrifty and buy a used copy on Amazon. He won't receive a dime of that transaction so if you ever meet him at book signing give him the quarter anyway.
The book- new or used-is good entertainment, wonderfully enlightening and will leave you realizing that this crazy Scot is one of the better boots on the ground travel writers out there.
Book Review: Understated Humor with Sadness at the Core
Summary: 5 Stars
Writing with the understated humor in the best of Magnus Mills' novels (Restraint of Beasts, All Quiet on the Orient Express), Stewart accounts his long, arduous trek on foot through the brutal landscape of Afghanistan. Thought to be a spy, he is often accompanied by mysterious "guards" hired by the new government to supervise Stewart's meanderings. The conflict between Stewart and these guards provides much of the book's humor. But then about a third into the book, Stewart is offered a dog, a huge bear-like creature who is described as wise and weary. The dog, whom Stewart names "Babur," has been abused and neglected all his life and Stewart adopts him and determines to take Babur with him back to Scotland. For me, Stewart's tender relationship with the endearing dog Babur is the heart of the book. It will make you weep. This storyline alone makes the book worth reading. Of course, this book is much more than a man meets dog story. It is a firsthand account of the grotequeries that seethe within a country in a state of violent upheaval.Book Review: a genuine journey of discovery
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fascinating book, a well told tale, and a genuine journey of discovery. Stewart combines a physically demanding expedition with cultural exploration and, in the process, achieves genuine insight into lives most of us will never have the faintest conception of. Some reviews of the book (e.g. Washington Post) miss the critical element of the journey that sets it apart from books that are entirely expeditionary in nature (like mountains climbed and rivers rafted) - and that is the Muslim cultural proclivity to welcome / shelter / feed travelers no matter how desperately poor they may be (and most in rural Afghanistan are very poor indeed). A critical talent that allowed Stewart to achieve this (besides his keen wit and prodigous writing skills) is his linguistic diversity, which allowed him to do what he did without getting killed or dying in the process. When the British Special Forces declare him a f'g nutter I found myself smiling along with Stewart at his formidable achievement.