Ma's Literary Corner

Time to cosy up to Ma's bookshelf and see what the ol' lady's been reading of late. I was hoping to touch on Stephen King and Ravi Zacharias, but got waylaid by too many quotes from....

......"The Bookseller of Kabul," by Åsne Seierstad--translated by Ingrid Christophersen, New York, (Back Bay Books, 2004)
-written by a woman allowed to live and observe in an Afghan household, this book will make every female shudder to think of being born in Afghanistan, or any other country under the thumb of religious fundamentalism. Given the terrain, the historical roots of tribal feudalism, wars and the more recent "You can't do anything" rule of the Taliban, it is hard to imagine this country pulling together under one government.

The eldest son, 17-year-old Mansur is allowed on a rare pilgrimage away from home:

Mansur opens the third Coke, empties it, and throws it elegantly out of the car. Better to litter a bomb crater than mess up the car. (page 140)

A view of the view from a burka perspecitve:

They walk on, and weave their heads around in all directions to see better. Burka women are like horses with blinkers: they can look only in one direction. Where the eye narrows, the grille stops and thick material takes its place; impossible to glance sideways. The whole head must turn; another trick by the burka inventor: a man must know what his wife is looking at. (page 85)

The shoes walk on in the dust. All around are brown sandals, dirty shoes, black shoes, worn shoes, once a pair of nice shoes, and pink plastic shoes with bows. Some are even white, a color forbidden by the Taliban, as their flag was white. The Taliban forbade shoes with solid heels; the sound of women walking could distract men. But times have changed and if it were possible to click-clack in the mud, the whole bazaar would resound with an arousing cacophony of click-clack. Now and again one catches a glimpse of painted toenails under the burka, yet another little sign of freedom. The Taliban forbade nail polish and introduced an import embargo. A few unlucky women had the tip of a finer or a toe cut off because they had committed an offense against the legal system. The liberation of women during the first spring following the fall of the Taliban has on the whole restricted itself to the shoe and nail-polish level, and has not yet reached further than the muddy edge of women's burkas. (page 88)

Sultan, the family patriarch, concerning the country's prospects:

The political situation worries Sultan. "Dangerous. The Northern Alliance was given too much power by Loya Jirga; there is no balance. Karzai is too weak; he is unable to rule the country. The best thing would be to have a government consisting of technocrats appointed by the Europeans. When we Afghans try to appoint leaders, everything goes wrong. Without cooperation the people suffer. And besides, our intellectuals have not returned. There is an empty space where they should have been." (page 286)

There are a few references to material of an adult nature, so I would give that caution to those with attending sensitivities. Nothing I wouldn't allow my college-agers to read. (like I have that in my power :-) Nothing of an indecorous nature, but rather bits and pieces that help to tell the story.

This book was a fascinating read though somewhat depressing. It gives a realistic glimpse into an Afghani household--an average household within the first year of the Taliban's leaving.

One could hope there has been some lessening of the rigid norms and bleak opportunities.....

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