About this title: This profile of the pseudonymous Sultan Khan, proprietor of a Kabul bookstore whose passionately liberal ideas about literature and freedom to read are at odds with his traditional ones about the place of women, has been an international bestseller. It has also been the subject of controversy, as the actual bookseller in question--a man named Shah Mohammed Rais, took offence at his portrayal, calling it libel and invasion of privacy, and sought legal reparations from the author, who lived with the Rais family for four months in Kabul in 2002.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Acceptable. 2004-Paperback---Used-Acceptable. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 2004-Paperback---Used-Good. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 2004-Paperback---Used-Good. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Date Published: 2004-10-26
ISBN-13:9780316159418ISBN:0316159417
Description: Very Good. Binding is tight w/slight lean. Text is clean, bright and unmarked. No names, no marks, no stickers. No creases on covers or spine. 3 pgs dog eared. Careful packaging and fast shipping. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Date Published: 2004-10-26
ISBN-13:9780316159418ISBN:0316159417
Description: Very Good. Softcover. Not ex-library or remainder. Interior is completely clean. No marks, rips or tears. Cover shows light shelf wear. Binding is tight and secure. I ship carefully and quickly with Delivery Confirmation always included on US orders! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780316159418ISBN:0316159417
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. (A108_5/9)Book is in good condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 320 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: 4th Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780316159418ISBN:0316159417
Description: Near Fine. 8vo. Softcover. Very slight front cover edgewear, otherwise book fine, as new, unread. 288 page text, followed by 9-page A Reading Group Guide. "The most intimate description of an [contemporary] Afghan household ever produced by a Western journalist. " read more
"Seierstad is a good writer. As much as it is possible for someone of a western culture to try to live in a Muslim culture, and then report on it as objectively as possible, I think she did a very good job. Seierstad lived for a time in an Afghani family, where she observed firsthand the lives of the men and women of the family and environs. She was privy to some of their innermost thoughts-at least as far as she knew. Women are women universally, and it broke my heart to read about Afghani women of intellect, ambition, and aspiration whose lives are basically wasted-by their own reported assessment-in a life of toil, hardship, dirt, boredom, and tyranny.
Equally distressing are the men's stories, which describe their comparatively intense hopelessness, and anger over their form of enslavement due to their birth hierarchy or other cultural dictates. This book revealed to me how on any scale-national or familial- tyranny, force and coercion is deadly to growth, innovation, productivity, health and happiness.
Seeing the dismal existence of so many in Afghanistan makes me value my freedom, and our system of law and order in a civil society, and furthers my inquiry about what makes a society great? What fosters innovation, and creativity? In which cultures are the greatest number of people fulfilled while pursuing their happiness? These are questions fundamental to humanity, and by lifting the veil of the unfamiliar for the rest of us, Seierstad greatly contributes to the debate by showing graphically how life really is for those who don't enjoy our freedom."
By Bettie,
on the cusp of the orust riviera, Sweden
"A hard book to take and I did find some of the angles covered a tad bit implausible, from an investigative POV. Who in their right mind is going to tell this white western woman okayed by Sultan anything as disparate (and desperate) as their feelings about him. Yes, I am a little suspect of Seierstad's methods here but there is no doubt that the behaviours exposed are pretty true to life in Afghanistan at the moment."
"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."
"I really enjoyed this view, though I did try to keep in mind as I read something the author wrote herself as part of the foreword:
I have written this book in literary form, but it is based on real events or what was told to me by people who took part in those events. When I describe thoughts and feelings, the point of departure is what people told me they thought or felt in any given situation...I am not, of course, an omniscient author. Internal dialogue and feelings are based entirely on what family members described to me.
That being said, I really feel like I learned just a little bit about what life in Afshanistan is like for some of its people. Obviously this is a very small vignette of a family that has a relatively comfortable situation compared to those around them. Many other familied live in terrible and devastating situations. This small part of one family's story has nevertheless opened my eyes and helped me to be grateful for my life, my education, my family, and many other things."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
