Book : Bookseller Of Kabul - Asne Seierstad

-Titulo Original : Bookseller Of Kabul

-Fabricante :

Back Bay Books

-Descripcion Original:

This phenomenal international bestseller is an admirable, revealing portrait of daily life in a country that Washington claims to have liberated but does not begin to understand (Washington Post).This mesmerizing portrait of a proud man who, through three decades and successive repressive regimes, heroically braved persecution to bring books to the people of Kabul has elicited extraordinary praise throughout the world and become a phenomenal international bestseller. The Bookseller of Kabul is startling in its intimacy and its details - a revelation of the plight of Afghan women and a window into the surprising realities of daily life in Afghanistan. The most intimate description of an Afghan household ever produced by a Western journalist...Seierstad is a sharp and often lyrical observer. -New York Times Book Review Review The most intimate description of an Afghan household ever produced by a Western journalist. . . . Seierstad is a sharp and often lyrical observer. Richard McGill Murphy, New York Times Book ReviewAn admirable, revealing portrait of daily life in a country that Washington claims to have liberated but does not begin to understand. Seierstad writes of individuals, but her message is larger. Mark Hertsgaard, Washington Post Book WorldA compelling portrait of a country at a crossroads - desperate for tranquillity, factionalized beyond imagination, struggling both to uphold tradition and to modernize, hoping to prove to itself and the rest of the world that it knows peace and stability. Scott W. Helman, Boston GlobeAn unusually intimate glimpse of a traditional Afghan family. . . . Seierstad imbues a grim story with language of desolate beauty. S. L. Allen, Entertainment WeeklyA compelling book. . . . Seierstad infiltrated a world most readers will never see. Steve Weinberg, Denver Post About the Author Asne Seierstad has reported from such war-torn regions as Chechnya, China, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. She has received numerous awards for her journalism. She is the author of A Hundred and One Days as well as The Bookseller of Kabul, an international bestseller that has been translated into twenty-six languages. Seierstad makes her home in Norway and travels frequently to the United States. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Bookseller of KabulBy Asne SeierstadBack Bay BooksCopyright © 2004 Asne SeierstadAll right reserved.ISBN: 9780316159418Chapter OneThe ProposalWhen Sultan Khan thought the time had come to find himself a newwife, no one wanted to help him. First he approached his mother.You will have to make do with the one you have, she said.Then he went to his eldest sister. Im fond of your first wife,she said. His other sisters replied in the same vein.Its shaming for Sharifa, said his aunt.Sultan needed help. A suitor cannot himself ask for a girls hand.It is an Afghan custom that one of the women of the family conveythe proposal and give the girl the once-over to assure herself thatshe is capable, well brought up, and suitable wife material. Butnone of Sultans close female relations wanted to have anything todo with this offer of marriage.Sultan had picked out three young girls he thought might fit thebill. They were all healthy and good-looking, and of his own tribe.In Sultans family it was rare to marry outside the clan; it wasconsidered prudent and safe to marry relatives, preferably cousins.Sultans first candidate was sixteen-year-old Sonya. Her eyes weredark and almond-shaped and her hair shining black. She was shapely,voluptuous, and it was said of her that she was a good worker. Herfamily was poor and they were reasonably closely related. Hermothers grandmother and Sultans mothers grandmother were sisters.While Sultan ruminated over how to ask for the hand of the chosenone without the help of family women, his first wife was blissfullyignorant that a mere chit of a girl, born the same y