The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.05 You Save: $13.90 (93%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Places In Between
Book Review: Gives excellent insight into the other side.....
Summary: 5 Stars
A quick read that covers in his eye's the way of life of a people or culture that most of us will never comprehend. I don't know why he did it either; maybe it's that some people are apt to roam the world. Stewart is not a Novelist, as some people have tried to critique him on unfairly, but does write in a fashion that you can relate to. It is more of a journal than a story but I found it very interesting and informative. Why some reviews have tried to compare Rory Stewart to Barbour who is the original traveler, explorer extraordinaire is beyond me. I don't think he ever really tried to make himself out to be someone he is not although he is an accomplished Diplomat and PR veteran from the first Gulf War. My opinion is that we should all read this short book just to gain some insight into the minds of the Afghanistan culture. They are a proud people that in some ways more respectful and polite, especially to travelers, than anyone in the western world (not in all ways but in some).Book Review: remarkable
Summary: 5 Stars
Travelling in rough countries like Afghanistan is to a traveller like to be an astronaut is for a kid, the thing is you're in your thirties or close. You have pretty much no idea of what is going to happen, when or why you chose such a destination. But if you're a traveller these indefinitions will exactly be the main reason for you to go: "I will go and answer for myself".
Compared to Colombus, Babur, Vasco da Gama, Marco Polo we (travel lovers) are simply afortunate persons that have the bless to be able to travel and/or enjoy travel literature.
The author Rory Stewart goes for a country whose images I saw came more from imageguided missils than from 8mm cameras, by the time they were actually being filmed.
Dealing with phisical hunger and several diseases he does a magnificient walk through a pre-civilized country side.
If thought I was a traveller and had "some stories" after this book I felt ridiculous...
Hail Rory
Book Review: A Post 9-11 Travelogue Through Afghanistan
Summary: 5 Stars
Mr. Stewart has written an entertaining account of his walk across Afghanistan in 2002. The country was in shambles, the Taliban had just fallen and the Twin Towers had fallen a few months ago. As a nation, Afghanistan doesn't exist -- just a collection of warlords ruling their fiefdoms and encroaching each other's territories. So Mr. Stewart enters the county from Iran without a visa as if he was climbing Mount Everest -- because it was there.
The author is a superb storyteller and once the book has started, the reader will not be able to put it down. His writing style is conversational, as if he just arrived home and is telling you of his recent adventures. Why Harvest Books did not put this book out in hardback is beyond me. The reader should be aware that his next travel book "The Prince of the Marshes," will be out in August, 2006 where Mr. Stewart decided to move on to a less dangerous country than Afghanistan -- he went to Iraq.
Book Review: Walking Across Afganistan with a Dog and a Stick
Summary: 5 Stars
Rory Stewart's "The Places in Between" is a recounting of the people and daily situations he met as he walked across the interior of Afghanistan -- from Herat to Kabul -- accompanied by a retired war dog and an iron-ended stick.
Stewart, from Scotland -- and a fellow at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government -- survived to complete the trip using his wits and his knowledge of Urdu and Farsi. His trek across Afghanistan followed a 16 month warm-up walk across Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
Stewart entered Afghanistan after the Twin Towers had fallen and the U.S. and collision forces had beaten down the Taliban, leaving the country in shambles and lawlessly run by warlords.
The writing style is like that that of a reporter who produces his book by relying on daily notes and sketches made as he journeyed.
"The Places in Between" is an excellent book that is worthy of 5 stars.
Book Review: Excellent, captivating read
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow!!! I don't have a great attention span but this book kept me glued to its pages. While Rory's adventure to walk from Herat to Kabul in the footsteps of the Emperor Babur is an audacious one, he provides excellent insights into the cultural diversity that Afghanistan is, and the rich heritage that the country has. His walk, following those in India, Nepal and Iran is made difficult by the route he chooses to follow in the height of winter, through the central highlands of the province of Ghor which all conquering armies for the last 2,000 years have chosen to avoid. Yet, this land once became the seat of power in Afghanistan with its capital at the Turquoise Mountain. He provides an excellent account of the changing political landscape of the country by vividly providing accounts of the various people he met and dealt with, from feudal lords to mujahideen to servants and to ex-Russian allies.