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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I am torn with this book. I would definitely say that there is not anthropological merit to it considering her special "bi-gendered" creature (her words) stature. She rides a line between how an outside women is able to act and what an Afghan women is limited to. It is depressing to see the oxymoron that is life in this world. In one instance Sultan Khan talks of empowering women but then treats them in the traditional fashion - he only has his past with which to guide his actions.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Misogyny, War
It gave me new insight about the life, norms, and culture of Afghanistan, and the people living there - and more importantly the women of Afghanistan. The book is well written, and even though it was released in 2002 (12 years ago), it still feels relevant. If Åsne ever wrote a book about what happened to the people and the Khan's, I would definitely read it
emotional
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
Very interesting, but frustrating. I felt so bad for the women. I ended up hating the Afghan men because of their degradation of women.
It was an interesting book, maybe not as important as the hype would lead you to believe but interesting, nonetheless. Apparently, the 'bookseller' has sued the author, for 'invasion of privacy'.
If you're looking for an in-depth, behind the scenes, view of Afghanistan, surely, there must be better books out there than this one.
3 Stars = Okay. Not sorry I read it.
If you're looking for an in-depth, behind the scenes, view of Afghanistan, surely, there must be better books out there than this one.
3 Stars = Okay. Not sorry I read it.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
This book had the potential to be so interesting : a man smuggles and sells books banned by the Taliban in an attempt to preserve his cultural heritage. Instead, the author makes it yet another cliched "portrait" of the poor oppressed Afghan women and the barbaric Afghan men.
By writing herself out of the book almost entirely, she writes the novel in a presumptious and omniscient tone, using disgustingly condescending and orientalist language (which I wish I could quote so you can judge for yourself but there are far too many examples). She even referred to the man's young wife as "his delicious child-woman". The worst by far, and this took place throughout the novel, was the way she referred to Afghan women as "the burka". Yeah. Not even "the woman wearing a burka", just "the burka". The burka looked surprised, the burka haggled with the shopkeeper, the burkas scurried away, the very pregnant burka, the happy burka etc. I'm sure this was meant to be clever or something. This woman meant to highlight the mistreatment of these poor enslaved creatures and ironically manages only to dehumanize them herself.
The story becomes less about the bookseller and more about individual's stories and the state of Aghanistan (actually, I'm not even sure what the book focuses on, because even the author clearly couldn't decide. This made the novel even more tedious to read). I know none of the family members could possibly have narrated their experiences, thoughts and feeling with her the way she writes them, leading me to believe a lot of them were embellished or outright fictionalized. She literally cannot decide whether she should write as a journalist (presenting only facts) or whether to take the sappy and "poetic" route.
TLDR, if you were hoping for a well-written story with real insight into Afghanistan and Afghan culture, read something else.
By writing herself out of the book almost entirely, she writes the novel in a presumptious and omniscient tone, using disgustingly condescending and orientalist language (which I wish I could quote so you can judge for yourself but there are far too many examples). She even referred to the man's young wife as "his delicious child-woman". The worst by far, and this took place throughout the novel, was the way she referred to Afghan women as "the burka". Yeah. Not even "the woman wearing a burka", just "the burka". The burka looked surprised, the burka haggled with the shopkeeper, the burkas scurried away, the very pregnant burka, the happy burka etc. I'm sure this was meant to be clever or something. This woman meant to highlight the mistreatment of these poor enslaved creatures and ironically manages only to dehumanize them herself.
The story becomes less about the bookseller and more about individual's stories and the state of Aghanistan (actually, I'm not even sure what the book focuses on, because even the author clearly couldn't decide. This made the novel even more tedious to read). I know none of the family members could possibly have narrated their experiences, thoughts and feeling with her the way she writes them, leading me to believe a lot of them were embellished or outright fictionalized. She literally cannot decide whether she should write as a journalist (presenting only facts) or whether to take the sappy and "poetic" route.
TLDR, if you were hoping for a well-written story with real insight into Afghanistan and Afghan culture, read something else.