THE PLACES IN BETWEEN
Author: Rory Stewart
I grabbed this book barely an hour before I was due to embark on my own travelogue, or to be more precise, drivelogue – my trip from Johor to Trengganu on wheels, in late March 08.
I thought it would be the perfect companion (read: both on travels) in my foray across several states.
I was wrong. I was unable to read even a page during my 3-day drive. However, once I was back and have settled down to my normal routine, the book quickly became a constant companion.
My drivelogue is, obviously, nothing compared to Mr Stewart’s, a Scottish journalist – who WALKED across Afghanistan during the times when Taliban had just collapsed and whose journey took months, as it was part of an even longer route. He was adamant to follow in Babur’s (the first Emperor of Mughal India) steps in conquering the vast country on FOOT and while doing so, he successfully provides a travel narration that is engaging, witty and very much alive. His quirky writings enable you to see Afghanistan the way he saw it – sometimes, I swear, you could even smell the freshly-cooked naan and feel the scorching heat, and the biting cold.
It certainly helps that prior to TPIB, I have read a handful of stories that were set in Afghanistan. The places that Mr Stewart traveled to were so familiar, and I found that I could relate to the climate, the people and the culture.
TPIB reveals Mr Stewart’s love and deep respect for Afghanistan, and especially how he was very certain that he would somehow ended up ALIVE at the end of his trip, despite him being the very icon that the Afghans would love to hate.
I admire Mr Stewart’s ability in bringing to life a very huge country, with an equally colorful history and millions of shades in the characters that peopled this nation, via such powerful and invoking narration.
Author: Rory Stewart
I grabbed this book barely an hour before I was due to embark on my own travelogue, or to be more precise, drivelogue – my trip from Johor to Trengganu on wheels, in late March 08.
I thought it would be the perfect companion (read: both on travels) in my foray across several states.
I was wrong. I was unable to read even a page during my 3-day drive. However, once I was back and have settled down to my normal routine, the book quickly became a constant companion.
My drivelogue is, obviously, nothing compared to Mr Stewart’s, a Scottish journalist – who WALKED across Afghanistan during the times when Taliban had just collapsed and whose journey took months, as it was part of an even longer route. He was adamant to follow in Babur’s (the first Emperor of Mughal India) steps in conquering the vast country on FOOT and while doing so, he successfully provides a travel narration that is engaging, witty and very much alive. His quirky writings enable you to see Afghanistan the way he saw it – sometimes, I swear, you could even smell the freshly-cooked naan and feel the scorching heat, and the biting cold.
It certainly helps that prior to TPIB, I have read a handful of stories that were set in Afghanistan. The places that Mr Stewart traveled to were so familiar, and I found that I could relate to the climate, the people and the culture.
TPIB reveals Mr Stewart’s love and deep respect for Afghanistan, and especially how he was very certain that he would somehow ended up ALIVE at the end of his trip, despite him being the very icon that the Afghans would love to hate.
I admire Mr Stewart’s ability in bringing to life a very huge country, with an equally colorful history and millions of shades in the characters that peopled this nation, via such powerful and invoking narration.
The TRUIzM
This book is not only a travelogue, nor a novelist’s blind banter on his travels. This is a book about the true people of the real Afghan – its beauty, its history and its progress, or lack of. Above all, it is also a testament on the bountiful hospitality of the Afghan people and of Mr Stewart’s courage and guts in conquering this beautiful realm.
This book is not only a travelogue, nor a novelist’s blind banter on his travels. This is a book about the true people of the real Afghan – its beauty, its history and its progress, or lack of. Above all, it is also a testament on the bountiful hospitality of the Afghan people and of Mr Stewart’s courage and guts in conquering this beautiful realm.
