The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
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Book Reviews of The Places In Between
Book Review: Lucky to read
Summary: 5 Stars
A beautiful travelog about humanity, culture and survival.
In January 2002, after walking 6 months trough Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal, Rory Stewart and his newly adopted dog Babur engage into a long, transformative and almost spiritual journey entirely by foot through Afghanistan deserted landscape, fierce winter and humble, magnificient and vindicatives tribes.
The author and his dog never know what tomorrow will bring as they depend for their lifes, food and lodging on the kindness and hospitality of middle age tribe rituals along the way.
The writing is sensitive, humble and respectful of the culture visited.
This book is a true gift from an open soul.
Book Review: A Truly Remarkable Journey
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first started reading this I thought the author was crazy for even attempting a walk across Afghanistan but as I got caught up in the story I was quite impressed with Mr. Stewart's guts to perservere in this quest despite the danger and hardships he describes. He writes engagingly about the landscape, the people and the political/social climate of a land that is far more complex than I had realized.
The areas he visits in the remote regions are so foreign to westerners and the lives of the villagers and warlords he meets along the way sound like something out of Marco Polo.
This is a totally engrossing book that entertained, enlightened and educated. Adventure writing at it's absolute best.
Book Review: Audio makes this even richer
Summary: 5 Stars
There are already many fine reviews of this book here, so I'll restrict my comments to the Audiobook. Despite my preference for something I can hold and makes notes on, I decided to listen to an excerpt of this audio prior to purchase. I was immediately taken. The reader (if not the writer himself) does an amazing job with tone and pacing. I wasn't just listening, I was THERE with him, walking side by side. I lent the audiobook to one friend and soon had three others knocking on my office door, forming a queue! That has never happened before. This is an extraordinary listen where the total is not just more than the sum of the parts, but something mesmerizing and unforgettable. Worth considering.Book Review: Courageous Steps taken so we could get a glimpse inside foreboding territory
Summary: 5 Stars
Courageous Steps taken so we could get a glimpse inside foreboding territory. Rory's descriptive accounting of a walk less traveled takes us through and to a place most of us have no desire to venture in, especially during the time frame he did when the world was up in arms and more in crisis than now.
Security aside, he did the unthinkable and took a journey into a country that was war torn and panic stricken. The journey will take you to Afghanistan as if you were walking right beside him. Talking as if he was sitting by a fire with you sharing his journey in a way that can only happen while sitting around a coffee mug, you won't want to put this book down even.
Book Review: Engaging account of a country in shambles
Summary: 5 Stars
In many ways, this book is an unintended sequel to the travel/adventure classic, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush. The Places In Between is a well-written, conversational-style work of one man's trek on foot through Afghanistan - not long after the fall of the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks on the US. The country was destitute, in shambles, and in so many ways completely rudderless. Stewart's account is compelling and thought provoking, despite (and possibly because of) the lack of any attempt at making sweeping insights of his own. Stewart allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, and I think that is one reason why this book succeeds.