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The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan
Twenty-one-year-old Christina Lamb left suburban England for Peshawar on the frontier of the Afghan war. Captivated, she spent two years tracking the final stages of the mujaheddin victory over the Soviets, as Afghan friends smuggled her in and out of their country in a variety of guises.
Returning to Afghanistan after the attacks on the World Trade Center to report for Britain's Sunday Telegraph, Lamb discovered the people no one else had written about: the abandoned victims of almost a quarter century of war. Among them, the brave women writers of Herat who risked their lives to carry on a literary tradition under the guise of sewing circles; the princess whose palace was surrounded by tanks on the eve of her wedding; the artist who painted out all the people in his works to prevent them from being destroyed by the Taliban; and Khalil Ahmed Hassani, a former Taliban torturer who admitted to breaking the spines of men and then making them stand on their heads.
Christina Lamb's evocative reporting brings to life these stories. Her unique perspective on Afghanistan and deep passion for the people she writes about make this the definitive account of the tragic plight of a proud nation.
Returning to Afghanistan after the attacks on the World Trade Center to report for Britain's Sunday Telegraph, Lamb discovered the people no one else had written about: the abandoned victims of almost a quarter century of war. Among them, the brave women writers of Herat who risked their lives to carry on a literary tradition under the guise of sewing circles; the princess whose palace was surrounded by tanks on the eve of her wedding; the artist who painted out all the people in his works to prevent them from being destroyed by the Taliban; and Khalil Ahmed Hassani, a former Taliban torturer who admitted to breaking the spines of men and then making them stand on their heads.
Christina Lamb's evocative reporting brings to life these stories. Her unique perspective on Afghanistan and deep passion for the people she writes about make this the definitive account of the tragic plight of a proud nation.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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3451 people want to read
About the author
Christina Lamb
25 books355 followersChristina Lamb OBE is one of Britain's leading foreign correspondents. She has been named Foreign Correspondent of the Year five times in the British Press Awards and What the Papers Say Awards and in 2007 was winner of the Prix Bayeux Calvados - one of the world's most prestigious prizes for war correspondents, for her reporting from Afghanistan.
She has won numerous other awards starting with Young Journalist of the Year in the British Press Awards for her coverage of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1988; was part of the News Reporter of the year for BCCI; and won the Foreign Press Association award for reporting on Zimbabwean teachers forced into prostitution, and Amnesty International award for the plight of street children in Rio.
She was named by Grazia magazine as one of their Icons of the Decade and by She magazine as one of Britain's Most Inspirational Women. The ASHA foundation chose her as one of their inspirational women worldwide www.asha-foundation.org with her portrait featuring in a special exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery. Her portrait has also been in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. She was awarded the OBE in the 2013.
She has won numerous other awards starting with Young Journalist of the Year in the British Press Awards for her coverage of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1988; was part of the News Reporter of the year for BCCI; and won the Foreign Press Association award for reporting on Zimbabwean teachers forced into prostitution, and Amnesty International award for the plight of street children in Rio.
She was named by Grazia magazine as one of their Icons of the Decade and by She magazine as one of Britain's Most Inspirational Women. The ASHA foundation chose her as one of their inspirational women worldwide www.asha-foundation.org with her portrait featuring in a special exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery. Her portrait has also been in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. She was awarded the OBE in the 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
September 12, 2018
I wouldn't place this among the best books I have read about Afghanistan but it still was a decent read. Christina Lamb, co-author of I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, covered the Afghan war during the late 1980s. She returned to Afghanistan after September 11th to write about the people who lived under Taliban rule. This book was first published in 2002 and contains an afterword from Fall of 2003.
Having spent time covering the war in the 1980s really turned out to be a huge asset for the author as she was able to interview key people for this book including Hamid Karzai who became Afghanistan president in December 2001. By far, the best parts of this book were the stories of the people of Afghanistan. Even though I have read quite a few books, specifically on the women in the country, I still learned quite a bit of info. While I knew books and museum artifacts had been destroyed under Taliban rule, I had never heard the story of an artist who used watercolors to cover over the faces and bodies of people on oil paintings so they wouldn't be destroyed.
My biggest criticism of the book is it just didn't have a cohesive flow and at times could be hard to follow. I would not recommend this book if you aren't already familiar with the country and what has taken place in the last few decades. The history bits were usually placed in the middle of chapters and didn't really transition well. At times it felt like way too much unnecessary info was being provided. I much would have rather heard more from the people she interviewed and their experiences.
I have to say it was interesting reading this book knowing that it was written over 15 years ago. I found myself wondering what has happened to some of the people she interviewed. There was a particular prediction from a man that is pretty spot on. He essentially stated the Taliban will never be defeated and they will just come back under a new name. It was pretty chilling to read his words knowing that the battle against terrorism in some ways is even more difficult now.
I think this book probably had more of an impact when it was first published but in my opinion there are better books now on the market if you are interested in learning about Afghanistan. It certainly wasn't a wasted read but this isn't a book I would go out of my way to recommend like I have with others.
Having spent time covering the war in the 1980s really turned out to be a huge asset for the author as she was able to interview key people for this book including Hamid Karzai who became Afghanistan president in December 2001. By far, the best parts of this book were the stories of the people of Afghanistan. Even though I have read quite a few books, specifically on the women in the country, I still learned quite a bit of info. While I knew books and museum artifacts had been destroyed under Taliban rule, I had never heard the story of an artist who used watercolors to cover over the faces and bodies of people on oil paintings so they wouldn't be destroyed.
My biggest criticism of the book is it just didn't have a cohesive flow and at times could be hard to follow. I would not recommend this book if you aren't already familiar with the country and what has taken place in the last few decades. The history bits were usually placed in the middle of chapters and didn't really transition well. At times it felt like way too much unnecessary info was being provided. I much would have rather heard more from the people she interviewed and their experiences.
I have to say it was interesting reading this book knowing that it was written over 15 years ago. I found myself wondering what has happened to some of the people she interviewed. There was a particular prediction from a man that is pretty spot on. He essentially stated the Taliban will never be defeated and they will just come back under a new name. It was pretty chilling to read his words knowing that the battle against terrorism in some ways is even more difficult now.
I think this book probably had more of an impact when it was first published but in my opinion there are better books now on the market if you are interested in learning about Afghanistan. It certainly wasn't a wasted read but this isn't a book I would go out of my way to recommend like I have with others.
December 17, 2020
I read this,when it came out in 2004.British journalist,Christina Lamb returns to Afghanistan,following the US invasion and the fall of the Taliban,after having already been there during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.(Those days are described in her Pakistan book,Waiting for Allah).
For some reason,she has a strong affinity for the Afghan fighters,who in addition to fighting the Soviets and the Americans,have spilled the blood of their countrymen with abandon,too.
There are some chilling depictions of the atrocities committed by the Taliban,and the restrictions and bans imposed by them.
Lamb also renews her acquintance with Hamid Karzai,whom she had met earlier in Pakistan.He was President of Afghanistan at that time.
Interestingly,while she finds a lot of fault elsewhere,particularly with Pakistan,she is quiet about the impact of the US invasion on the lives of Afghans,who were subjected to a massive aerial bombing campaign.
She moves through Afghanistan,writes about the hardships of the lives of women and talks about receiving letters from an Afghan woman at periodic intervals.
Despite being slanted and cynical,it is fairly interesting.
For some reason,she has a strong affinity for the Afghan fighters,who in addition to fighting the Soviets and the Americans,have spilled the blood of their countrymen with abandon,too.
There are some chilling depictions of the atrocities committed by the Taliban,and the restrictions and bans imposed by them.
Lamb also renews her acquintance with Hamid Karzai,whom she had met earlier in Pakistan.He was President of Afghanistan at that time.
Interestingly,while she finds a lot of fault elsewhere,particularly with Pakistan,she is quiet about the impact of the US invasion on the lives of Afghans,who were subjected to a massive aerial bombing campaign.
She moves through Afghanistan,writes about the hardships of the lives of women and talks about receiving letters from an Afghan woman at periodic intervals.
Despite being slanted and cynical,it is fairly interesting.
October 16, 2017
In these memoirs the author writes about her experiences in Afghanistan, a country with which she has come to care deeply about and to explore intimately.
She details her experiences with people she has interviewed and come to know in Afghanistan and what she has come to witness in her years there.
Through the book she shapes a history of Afghnanistan, a rich land of many nations which has been invaded by many from the armies of Alexander the Great, the Persians and Mongols, the British and Russians/Soviets and most recently the Arab and Pakistani Islamists.
We learn that most of the Taliban were not Afghans at all but Arabs and Pakistani Islamo-Nazis barging into a county were they found it easy to wage their nihilist jihad and foist Islamo-Nazism on a hapless population.
The author explores the totalitarian and insane laws forced on the people by the Taliban in Afghanistan during the Taliban reign of terror, there, such as forcing women to be covered by a burka, to be not allowed out unless accompanied by a male relative, any woman who had her nails painted was to have her fingers cut off, and any woman who showed her ankles was to be whipped.
Music was banned, laughing in public was baned, chess was banned, card were banned, flying kites were banned, keeping any pets including birds was banned.
Of course the people of Afghanistan welcomed the American liberation of that country from the Taliban hell, even if Islamic jihadis and left wing fanatics around the world did not.
The people of Afghanistan wanted to be free, even if the likes of Noam Chomsky and the Satanic Stalinist Workers World Party in America or George Galloway's 'Respect' did not.
The author highlights memoirs of the holocaust perpetrated by the Soviets on the Afghan people, Isn't it ironic that the same Communist rabble around the world that supported Soviet atrocities in Afghanistan should be the same ones who loudly join in the hyena chorus against the USA for liberating Afghanistan from Taliban terror.
And why are radical feminists in the West so silent about atrocities against women in Islamic states, by the same Islamists these Western radicals are so quick to champion.
We also learn how the Afghans yearned for the peace and claim of the reign of the enlightened King Zahir Shah before 1973.
Zahir Shah had spilled no blood and allowed a peaceful and enlightened country to flourish in which women enjoyed full rights.
Afghanistan was plunged into the hell of the Soviet holocaust and then Islamist tyranny from 1978 when the Communists were foisted by the Soviets like a bacillus onto Afghanistan.
A very colourful, highly readable and exciting window into the tragedy of Afghanistan and it's liberation.
It was beautiful to read of the freedom enjoyed by women and girls after the Taliban were forced to flee.
Young women could wear lipstick and trousers and enjoy a full range of freedoms under the presidency of Hamid Karzai.
But still that country struggles under the terror of Islamist terrorism and the fear that the Taliban and Al Qaeda may regain control and reinstall their regime of terror.
She details her experiences with people she has interviewed and come to know in Afghanistan and what she has come to witness in her years there.
Through the book she shapes a history of Afghnanistan, a rich land of many nations which has been invaded by many from the armies of Alexander the Great, the Persians and Mongols, the British and Russians/Soviets and most recently the Arab and Pakistani Islamists.
We learn that most of the Taliban were not Afghans at all but Arabs and Pakistani Islamo-Nazis barging into a county were they found it easy to wage their nihilist jihad and foist Islamo-Nazism on a hapless population.
The author explores the totalitarian and insane laws forced on the people by the Taliban in Afghanistan during the Taliban reign of terror, there, such as forcing women to be covered by a burka, to be not allowed out unless accompanied by a male relative, any woman who had her nails painted was to have her fingers cut off, and any woman who showed her ankles was to be whipped.
Music was banned, laughing in public was baned, chess was banned, card were banned, flying kites were banned, keeping any pets including birds was banned.
Of course the people of Afghanistan welcomed the American liberation of that country from the Taliban hell, even if Islamic jihadis and left wing fanatics around the world did not.
The people of Afghanistan wanted to be free, even if the likes of Noam Chomsky and the Satanic Stalinist Workers World Party in America or George Galloway's 'Respect' did not.
The author highlights memoirs of the holocaust perpetrated by the Soviets on the Afghan people, Isn't it ironic that the same Communist rabble around the world that supported Soviet atrocities in Afghanistan should be the same ones who loudly join in the hyena chorus against the USA for liberating Afghanistan from Taliban terror.
And why are radical feminists in the West so silent about atrocities against women in Islamic states, by the same Islamists these Western radicals are so quick to champion.
We also learn how the Afghans yearned for the peace and claim of the reign of the enlightened King Zahir Shah before 1973.
Zahir Shah had spilled no blood and allowed a peaceful and enlightened country to flourish in which women enjoyed full rights.
Afghanistan was plunged into the hell of the Soviet holocaust and then Islamist tyranny from 1978 when the Communists were foisted by the Soviets like a bacillus onto Afghanistan.
A very colourful, highly readable and exciting window into the tragedy of Afghanistan and it's liberation.
It was beautiful to read of the freedom enjoyed by women and girls after the Taliban were forced to flee.
Young women could wear lipstick and trousers and enjoy a full range of freedoms under the presidency of Hamid Karzai.
But still that country struggles under the terror of Islamist terrorism and the fear that the Taliban and Al Qaeda may regain control and reinstall their regime of terror.
March 24, 2016
يتحدّث الكتاب كما هو واضح من عنوانه عن مذكّرات مؤلّفته في تلك البلاد وما رأته وما عاشته وسمعته من معاناة أهلها..
أحزنني جدّاً الكتاب كما أذهلني في الوقت نفسه..
كيف يتم تطبيق السّيناريو ذاته في كلّ بلد..
أناس طيّبون يعيشون بسلام وأمان في بلد جميل وافر بالخيرات المادّيّة والمعنويّة..
زاخر بتاريخه العريق..
يأتي من يدمّر كلّ ذلك في لمحة عين.. ويذهب كأن لم يكن..
ولكن بعد أن دمّر كل ما كان..
ولم يُبق إلّا شذرات من بقيّة أمل في نفوس من تبقّى من أهله ممّن هم في مقتبل عمرهم، على أمل أن يعيدوا اسم بلادهم ومجده كمان كان.. فالوطن غالٍ.
عشت مع شخصيّات الكتاب وكأنّي ألقاهم أمامي مرأى العين..
حزنت على تلك التي كانت ابنتها تموت بين يديها وتحتاج لأدنى مساعدة ولكن هيهات..
بكيت مع أمين المتحف وهو يشرح كيف تمّ تحطيم الكنوز الأثريّة التي كانت فيه حتّى غدت أثراً بعد عين..
شاهدت كتب المكاتب العامرة أمامي تحترق وتبعثر أوراقها..
كنت مع إصرار السّكان على متابعة الدّراسة رغم المخاطر والمعوّقات..
كنت مع معاناة كل شخص فيها..
ورأيت كلّ ذلك مكرّراً في بلدي والنّاس من حولي..
وفي البلدان من حولي أيضاً..
ربّما هذا ما جعلني أعيش مع أحداث الكتاب وتداعيات أهله وأبطاله..
وفكّرت كثيراً..
كيف يتجرّد الإنسان من إنسانيّته لمجرّد الأهواء والمصالح الزّائلة الزّائفة..
كيف يهنأ عندما يدمّر حياة ومستقبل أناس كانوا يعيشون بخير وحب ولا يشكّلون أيّ تهديد أو خطر له..
تفصلهم عنه آلاف لا مئات آلاف من الكيلومترات فيأتي ليقلب بلدهم رأساً على عقب.. ويغادر وكأنّ شيئاً لم يكن..
بصراحة..
كنت أتألّم أكثر من قبل عندما أرى بلداناً تهدم وآثاراً تُباد وأناس يقتلون..
ولكن.. بتُّ أذكر قوله تعالى: (يوم تبدّل الأرض غير الأرض والسّموات..)
فأصبحت هذه الآية تهدّئ كثيراً من روعي وتخفّف من حزني..
أقول تلك نهاية آتية لا محالة..
لا شيء يدوم..
البقاء لله وحده وهذه سنّة الدّنيا التي خلق الدّنيا عليها (ولا يزالون مختلفين إلّا من رحم ربّك..)
وهؤلاء مجرّد جنود بيده سبحانه.. ليقضي أمراً كان مفعولاً..
ولا همّ يدوم ولا سرور..
من مات عسى أن يتقبّله الله عنده بواسع رحمته..
ومن بقي فلن ينساه ربّنا تعالى..
أيّام تطوى وسنعرض بين يديه سبحانه فيقتصّ الظّالم من المظلوم ولا يظلم ربّك أحداً..
كتاب جميل أراني أبحث عن من يشاركني قراءته لكثر ما أحببته واستمتعت به رغم قساوة قصّته..
وفاء
آذار 2016
أحزنني جدّاً الكتاب كما أذهلني في الوقت نفسه..
كيف يتم تطبيق السّيناريو ذاته في كلّ بلد..
أناس طيّبون يعيشون بسلام وأمان في بلد جميل وافر بالخيرات المادّيّة والمعنويّة..
زاخر بتاريخه العريق..
يأتي من يدمّر كلّ ذلك في لمحة عين.. ويذهب كأن لم يكن..
ولكن بعد أن دمّر كل ما كان..
ولم يُبق إلّا شذرات من بقيّة أمل في نفوس من تبقّى من أهله ممّن هم في مقتبل عمرهم، على أمل أن يعيدوا اسم بلادهم ومجده كمان كان.. فالوطن غالٍ.
عشت مع شخصيّات الكتاب وكأنّي ألقاهم أمامي مرأى العين..
حزنت على تلك التي كانت ابنتها تموت بين يديها وتحتاج لأدنى مساعدة ولكن هيهات..
بكيت مع أمين المتحف وهو يشرح كيف تمّ تحطيم الكنوز الأثريّة التي كانت فيه حتّى غدت أثراً بعد عين..
شاهدت كتب المكاتب العامرة أمامي تحترق وتبعثر أوراقها..
كنت مع إصرار السّكان على متابعة الدّراسة رغم المخاطر والمعوّقات..
كنت مع معاناة كل شخص فيها..
ورأيت كلّ ذلك مكرّراً في بلدي والنّاس من حولي..
وفي البلدان من حولي أيضاً..
ربّما هذا ما جعلني أعيش مع أحداث الكتاب وتداعيات أهله وأبطاله..
وفكّرت كثيراً..
كيف يتجرّد الإنسان من إنسانيّته لمجرّد الأهواء والمصالح الزّائلة الزّائفة..
كيف يهنأ عندما يدمّر حياة ومستقبل أناس كانوا يعيشون بخير وحب ولا يشكّلون أيّ تهديد أو خطر له..
تفصلهم عنه آلاف لا مئات آلاف من الكيلومترات فيأتي ليقلب بلدهم رأساً على عقب.. ويغادر وكأنّ شيئاً لم يكن..
بصراحة..
كنت أتألّم أكثر من قبل عندما أرى بلداناً تهدم وآثاراً تُباد وأناس يقتلون..
ولكن.. بتُّ أذكر قوله تعالى: (يوم تبدّل الأرض غير الأرض والسّموات..)
فأصبحت هذه الآية تهدّئ كثيراً من روعي وتخفّف من حزني..
أقول تلك نهاية آتية لا محالة..
لا شيء يدوم..
البقاء لله وحده وهذه سنّة الدّنيا التي خلق الدّنيا عليها (ولا يزالون مختلفين إلّا من رحم ربّك..)
وهؤلاء مجرّد جنود بيده سبحانه.. ليقضي أمراً كان مفعولاً..
ولا همّ يدوم ولا سرور..
من مات عسى أن يتقبّله الله عنده بواسع رحمته..
ومن بقي فلن ينساه ربّنا تعالى..
أيّام تطوى وسنعرض بين يديه سبحانه فيقتصّ الظّالم من المظلوم ولا يظلم ربّك أحداً..
كتاب جميل أراني أبحث عن من يشاركني قراءته لكثر ما أحببته واستمتعت به رغم قساوة قصّته..
وفاء
آذار 2016
April 1, 2010
This book was just an ego book for the author about HER journey and what SHE did rather than exploring the life of the people that she met. It was a 'As I was going through the town, here is what I was doing' instead of telling us about the town and its people. The title of the book is misleading as well as you only meet the women briefly in one chapter of the book and never hear from then again. I was expecting a book about these brave women meeting in secret to defy the hardline men but they were barely spoken about! I'm glad I only got this book from the library as it was a huge letdown!
December 29, 2008
I finished this book but had a hard time with it. The book meandered through scads of tribal history, introducing what felt like hundreds of names, without giving providing a clear picture of the historical events or their context. It needed an editor with a sharper eye to readability and continuity.
December 14, 2013
The best nonfiction book I have ever read on Afghanistan. Compelling story, vivid description, meticulous investigation, word class storytelling. It brought Afghanistan and Afghans come to live, this book even introduces Hamid Karzai as a person with humane feelings, not merely a president we used to see on press conference.
The most mindblowing chapter for me is Chapter 9:Face to Face with the Taliban, about Taliban and Pakistan interference in Afghanistan history and future.
"So many people had blood on their hands over Afghanistan, probably nobody came out of it well, from the commanders who had enriched themselves, to the journalists who had tried to make their name then moved on to other 'sexier' wars, to the foreign powers who used the mujaheddin as Cold War proxies then abandoned them. But as I looked back and saw the [Pakistani ISI] general standing at his door laughing, I saw a man who had tried to play God with the fates of innocent people in another country because his own country had failed to live up to its promise."
The most mindblowing chapter for me is Chapter 9:Face to Face with the Taliban, about Taliban and Pakistan interference in Afghanistan history and future.
"So many people had blood on their hands over Afghanistan, probably nobody came out of it well, from the commanders who had enriched themselves, to the journalists who had tried to make their name then moved on to other 'sexier' wars, to the foreign powers who used the mujaheddin as Cold War proxies then abandoned them. But as I looked back and saw the [Pakistani ISI] general standing at his door laughing, I saw a man who had tried to play God with the fates of innocent people in another country because his own country had failed to live up to its promise."
October 31, 2011
This is a very compelling book. One that I took me quite some time to finish because I was unable to read more than a few pages at a time. Very disturbing. Another one of those, “Thank God I live in the United States” books.
Ms. Lamb traveled to the region in the 1980s and was captivated by the Afghans, the mujaheddin who was fighting the Soviets. She rode on motorbikes with the bearded mujaheddin and was literally in the trenches with them as they fought for their country’s freedom.
After the bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001, Ms. Lamb returned to Afghanistan to find the motorcycle mullahs now Taliban leaders. Then men she once talked with freely no longer tolerated her. Her journey across Afghanistan takes her to Herat, an ancient Persian city, where, under the guise of sewing circles, carried on the city’s tradition of writing. Their attempts at hiding art and valuable artifacts from Taliban destruction is truly at act of bravery.
Ms. Lamb traveled to the region in the 1980s and was captivated by the Afghans, the mujaheddin who was fighting the Soviets. She rode on motorbikes with the bearded mujaheddin and was literally in the trenches with them as they fought for their country’s freedom.
After the bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001, Ms. Lamb returned to Afghanistan to find the motorcycle mullahs now Taliban leaders. Then men she once talked with freely no longer tolerated her. Her journey across Afghanistan takes her to Herat, an ancient Persian city, where, under the guise of sewing circles, carried on the city’s tradition of writing. Their attempts at hiding art and valuable artifacts from Taliban destruction is truly at act of bravery.
August 30, 2010
Christina Lamb is a journalist from England who has traveled to Afghanistan several times in her career. These visits to this country have ranged from before and after 9/11 and the terrorist attack on the United States.
This book is checkered throughout with letters from a young lady, Marri, in Afghanistan who explains of her love of dancing and red lipstick. However, Marri's letters are also full of fear, anger and hurt because of the men who force her to hide beneath the burqa.
In this book, Christina provides pieces of Afghanistan's history; the beauty the country used to possess. She speaks of interviews with members of the Taliban. She discusses wars and how children are brought up, not to play and love, but to fight, hate and win. Christina explores and writes about every side and she does so unbiasedly; as a good journalist should.
This is the book The Hubble chose for me for July. Yes, I've been reading it for 2 months. This is not a page turner by any means. In fact, when I finished the book I simply sat there holding it for a good 5 minutes before taking it back to The Hubble in the other room. When I walked out and handed him the book he asked me "how do you feel." The only answer I could give was "drained."
This book made me feel many emotions. I felt anger toward the men who beat Marri's mother because she removed her burqa to look at a swatch of fabric. I felt sad for the families who found their loved ones hanging from tree branches. I felt scared for the women who would have secret lessons so as to continue educating the young girls in the country.
It amazes me to see pictures of women walking through the streets of Afghanistan with heels, skirts, books and their hair done in modern styles. I can hardly envision the landscape when the country is described to have been a paradise with trees, gardens, birds and exquisite beauty. Afghanistan once was a tourist destination!
But 23 years of fighting has definitely marred our memories and perceptions of this once great land. But if I feel that way, how can I imagine it would feel to be a child brought up in that environment. Can it ever change??
When I read this book, I kept thinking this is why we are there. I couldn't help but be touched by Marri's distress or the tales of men being forced into the Taliban by being threatened. On the other hand, Christina Lamb described, in such amazing detail, the hatred some people in Afghanistan feel for Americans that I found myself wondering why the Hell should we help them?? They just want to kill our people!
I don't know if this country will ever have peace. I keep thinking about the movie "Lady in the Water." There's a part in the movie where they talk about the author of a book. This book will be written and it will be found by a young boy. This boy will take this book and read it. This boy will change the world because of this one book. I keep thinking we need that one book and that one boy. But even if the book and the boy were to meet, that boy wouldn't be able to read that book. Education in that country is gone.
When The Hubble was in Afghanistan last year, he got to talking with his interpreter during a recon mission. The Hubble asked his interpreter "Will Afghanistan ever have peace?" To this, the interpreter replied "Without education there will be no peace."
This book was difficult and emotional to read but I'm glad I did. I've been having trouble understanding why The Hubble is SO passionate about these people and why he wants to get back as quickly as possible. After reading this book...I get it. I absolutely get it....
This book is checkered throughout with letters from a young lady, Marri, in Afghanistan who explains of her love of dancing and red lipstick. However, Marri's letters are also full of fear, anger and hurt because of the men who force her to hide beneath the burqa.
In this book, Christina provides pieces of Afghanistan's history; the beauty the country used to possess. She speaks of interviews with members of the Taliban. She discusses wars and how children are brought up, not to play and love, but to fight, hate and win. Christina explores and writes about every side and she does so unbiasedly; as a good journalist should.
This is the book The Hubble chose for me for July. Yes, I've been reading it for 2 months. This is not a page turner by any means. In fact, when I finished the book I simply sat there holding it for a good 5 minutes before taking it back to The Hubble in the other room. When I walked out and handed him the book he asked me "how do you feel." The only answer I could give was "drained."
This book made me feel many emotions. I felt anger toward the men who beat Marri's mother because she removed her burqa to look at a swatch of fabric. I felt sad for the families who found their loved ones hanging from tree branches. I felt scared for the women who would have secret lessons so as to continue educating the young girls in the country.
It amazes me to see pictures of women walking through the streets of Afghanistan with heels, skirts, books and their hair done in modern styles. I can hardly envision the landscape when the country is described to have been a paradise with trees, gardens, birds and exquisite beauty. Afghanistan once was a tourist destination!
But 23 years of fighting has definitely marred our memories and perceptions of this once great land. But if I feel that way, how can I imagine it would feel to be a child brought up in that environment. Can it ever change??
When I read this book, I kept thinking this is why we are there. I couldn't help but be touched by Marri's distress or the tales of men being forced into the Taliban by being threatened. On the other hand, Christina Lamb described, in such amazing detail, the hatred some people in Afghanistan feel for Americans that I found myself wondering why the Hell should we help them?? They just want to kill our people!
I don't know if this country will ever have peace. I keep thinking about the movie "Lady in the Water." There's a part in the movie where they talk about the author of a book. This book will be written and it will be found by a young boy. This boy will take this book and read it. This boy will change the world because of this one book. I keep thinking we need that one book and that one boy. But even if the book and the boy were to meet, that boy wouldn't be able to read that book. Education in that country is gone.
When The Hubble was in Afghanistan last year, he got to talking with his interpreter during a recon mission. The Hubble asked his interpreter "Will Afghanistan ever have peace?" To this, the interpreter replied "Without education there will be no peace."
This book was difficult and emotional to read but I'm glad I did. I've been having trouble understanding why The Hubble is SO passionate about these people and why he wants to get back as quickly as possible. After reading this book...I get it. I absolutely get it....
June 20, 2012
The "sewing circles" were an excuse for girls to gather under the Taliban. Surreptitious classes were given, and a half-finished dress was kept handy for when the Taliban police showed up to check. Of all the books I have read about Afghan culture--a misnomer really, since the country is a collection of peoples that no empire could handle--Christina Lamb seems to know it best and have the greatest sympathy. She travelled with some of the Taliban when they were just a group fighting the Russians and knew Hamid Karzai when he got along with them. Her understanding of the tormented history, from the medieval learning center of Herat to the troubled monarchy to the crammed Afghan refugee quarters in Pakistan, is strong without overwhelming the narrative. The book is slightly dated, as the old warlords she discusses, Ismael Khan and Rashid Dostum have been eased from the roles in the Afghan government, and as the book closes, Karzai is just beginning his ascent. This is a book that gathers power as each piece is fit into place, culminating in Lamb finding a woman whose letters had been smuggled out of Afghanistan during the Taliban. What emerges as most powerful is the sheer courage, not of the men with guns, but of the women who insist, after everything that has happened, all the tribal codes and the Taliban, that they have so much to contribute.
October 7, 2017
've lost count of how much fiction on or by Afghans I've read over the years - starting from Rabindranath's Kabuliwala and MM Kaye's Far Pavilions to Rumi and then to Khaled Hosseini, Nadia Hashimi, Yasmina Khadra, Asne Seierstad....Afghanistan has always been the darling of writers and journalists because few countries can claim a more poignant and moving history, which is still in the making.
This one, however, is special in its own way; the author is both a writer and a journalist; weaving a tautly written personal memoir with many relevant facts, figures and photographs which make the story come alive.
Last such account of a foreign (and how!) country that I liked so much was Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick.
"I felt like a parasite, sucking up all these tales of tragedy to regurgitate in newsprint for people thousands of miles away, and with no tangible advantage to those I interviews. I had no answer to why the world had done nothing."
This one, however, is special in its own way; the author is both a writer and a journalist; weaving a tautly written personal memoir with many relevant facts, figures and photographs which make the story come alive.
Last such account of a foreign (and how!) country that I liked so much was Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick.
"I felt like a parasite, sucking up all these tales of tragedy to regurgitate in newsprint for people thousands of miles away, and with no tangible advantage to those I interviews. I had no answer to why the world had done nothing."
May 29, 2008
Enjoyed this book recommended to me by my dauther Elizabeth. Written by a British woman journalist, it details her two trips to Afghanistan. It includes a great deal of history and accounts of her interviews with powerful Afghan leaders. The sewing cirlce potion of the book is minimal, but it does contribute to the general theme of the book which is the tragedy that has befallen a once proud country.
August 19, 2012
I admire Christina Lamb's journalism and this book is an exceptional example of her in depth knowledge of her chosen subjects. My only criticism would be that at times I found myself questioning her objectivity but that might be unfair. Having met her at a litfest, I'm sure she would happily debate that point as she is one of the most intelligent journalists I've listened to or read.
January 11, 2018
This is a bit of a “wow!” book in the sense I kept thinking “wow - how did you get access there!”
It covers a lot of Afghan history (you have to concentrate because it does jump around, but it’s important). We learn about the centuries old tribal enmities, the royal period. In the period of the mujahideen fighting the soviets, Lamb is in the ditches during battle with the jihadis!
Twelve years after leaving after the Soviets are (briefly) victorious, Lamb goes back, after 9/11 and after the Taliban.
I was fascinated by the people she meets & talks to - women and men who throughout it all managed to keep teaching secretly in Kabul, who preserved the literary culture of Herat, the head of Pakistani intelligence, a chief protaganist. She manages to gain access to one of the madrasses
In Pakistan training young boys to be Taliban fighters. She locates the family of the last person executed by the Taliban before their official demise in Herat. We meet Hazaras on the run and Pashtun fighters (of various tribes) and women who are trying the best they can against the odds.
Lamb has the advantage of having access to both women and men and so we also enter the purdah sections of houses occasionally.
We learn how men switched from being mujahideen to Taliban, and back again. We are shocked (as she was) that after reading of all the atrocities of human upon human how emotional the reaction to the destruction at the National Museum in Kabul, and are amused and astounded by the way many paintings were preserved in the National Gallery. (Peraonally I think the emotional reaction is because of the poignancy of the gentle humans who in the midst of all this bloody tribal warfare remained full of hope and even now loom to the future)
Lamb doesn’t hold back on the atrocities. Some of the descriptions are truly awful, and make you think “this place is fucked.”
A theme which runs throughout is of a young woman teacher in Kabul who wrote letters to Lamb (whom she had never met) describing daily life amidst the oppression and chaos. She is jubilant when the Taliban are driven out of Kabul. In the latter part of the book Lamb searches for this woman named Marri through the rubble of Kabul. No spoilers about the outcome!
Hamid Karzai, who became president is an old friend of Lamb’s and we meet him several times. One of the most outstanding is on the eve of his becoming president, when he is in the remains of the old royal palace, sharing the building with his hostile predecessor.
I have a fascination with Afghanistan since my aunt lived there in the 1960s, and I found this a fascinating and informative read - it takes you right inside this fiercey proud, and warring country.
It covers a lot of Afghan history (you have to concentrate because it does jump around, but it’s important). We learn about the centuries old tribal enmities, the royal period. In the period of the mujahideen fighting the soviets, Lamb is in the ditches during battle with the jihadis!
Twelve years after leaving after the Soviets are (briefly) victorious, Lamb goes back, after 9/11 and after the Taliban.
I was fascinated by the people she meets & talks to - women and men who throughout it all managed to keep teaching secretly in Kabul, who preserved the literary culture of Herat, the head of Pakistani intelligence, a chief protaganist. She manages to gain access to one of the madrasses
In Pakistan training young boys to be Taliban fighters. She locates the family of the last person executed by the Taliban before their official demise in Herat. We meet Hazaras on the run and Pashtun fighters (of various tribes) and women who are trying the best they can against the odds.
Lamb has the advantage of having access to both women and men and so we also enter the purdah sections of houses occasionally.
We learn how men switched from being mujahideen to Taliban, and back again. We are shocked (as she was) that after reading of all the atrocities of human upon human how emotional the reaction to the destruction at the National Museum in Kabul, and are amused and astounded by the way many paintings were preserved in the National Gallery. (Peraonally I think the emotional reaction is because of the poignancy of the gentle humans who in the midst of all this bloody tribal warfare remained full of hope and even now loom to the future)
Lamb doesn’t hold back on the atrocities. Some of the descriptions are truly awful, and make you think “this place is fucked.”
A theme which runs throughout is of a young woman teacher in Kabul who wrote letters to Lamb (whom she had never met) describing daily life amidst the oppression and chaos. She is jubilant when the Taliban are driven out of Kabul. In the latter part of the book Lamb searches for this woman named Marri through the rubble of Kabul. No spoilers about the outcome!
Hamid Karzai, who became president is an old friend of Lamb’s and we meet him several times. One of the most outstanding is on the eve of his becoming president, when he is in the remains of the old royal palace, sharing the building with his hostile predecessor.
I have a fascination with Afghanistan since my aunt lived there in the 1960s, and I found this a fascinating and informative read - it takes you right inside this fiercey proud, and warring country.
September 24, 2020
I picked this book up at a 2nd hand bookshop, I was totally ignorant of the politics of Afghanistan, what a mess this country is in. The British, Americans and Pakistan have a lot to answer for. This book has left me with wanting to know more about this country. Christina Lamb was very brave to have undertaken her trips into Afghanistan. Recommended reading to know a little more about this country.
Read
January 28, 2020Christina Lamb is a British journalist. In the 1980s she reported on the Afghans' war with Russia. She thrived on danger, disguising herself to get as close to the front as she could, riding on motorbikes with mujaheddin, some of whom would go on to become leaders of the Taliban, and one of whom, Hamid Karzai, who would go on to become President of Afghanistan. Then she returned home, married, and had a child.
After 9/11 she went back. This time she found an Afghanistan struggling to recover from the damage done by the Taliban. She tells about once-beautiful cities destroyed by war, all the flowering trees cut down, and the birds gone. She tells the stories of the people she meets-- tales of beatings and executions, of artworks and books and ancient artifacts destroyed, of women imprisoned in their homes.
She also tells inspiring stories of secret resistance. The sewing circles of Herat is one of those. Women were pretending to meet for sewing lessons, but were really studying literature from a male university professor, something that probably could have gotten them all killed. Preparing for a possible raid, they had a half-made dress ready to hold up, and a child on guard, warning the professor to run out the back.
Another inspiring story is that of a painter who showed up at the art museum, claiming "I have been contracted to restore the paintings." No one had hired him, but no one checked. He raced to paint over all the faces and figures in the paintings, before the Taliban could scratch or cut them out. After the Taliban left, he washed off the water-based paint he had used.
Most of the stories were just sad. She visits the football stadium where the Taliban had performed so many public executions, and finds a young man hosing down the ground. The water washed the blood out of the soil, and there was so much blood, the water continued to run red for days.
Along the way, Lamb tells stories of the history of Afghanistan, which is admittedly hard for most of us Westerners to follow, but is full of betrayals and murders, but also of glories of music and art and poetry. Between the chapters she includes letters sent to her by an Afghan woman named Marri. Marri, an educated woman, a teacher, risks imprisonment at least by writing to a foreigner about conditions for Afghanistan's women.
At the end of the book, Lamb goes searching for Marri, which takes her door to door, meeting many broken families, who all invited her in for tea. There is so much thrown into this book (history, interviews, observations) that it is something of a jumble at times, but there are many, many moving bits, and it helps to paint a fuller picture of Afghanistan than we usually see here on our news.
After 9/11 she went back. This time she found an Afghanistan struggling to recover from the damage done by the Taliban. She tells about once-beautiful cities destroyed by war, all the flowering trees cut down, and the birds gone. She tells the stories of the people she meets-- tales of beatings and executions, of artworks and books and ancient artifacts destroyed, of women imprisoned in their homes.
She also tells inspiring stories of secret resistance. The sewing circles of Herat is one of those. Women were pretending to meet for sewing lessons, but were really studying literature from a male university professor, something that probably could have gotten them all killed. Preparing for a possible raid, they had a half-made dress ready to hold up, and a child on guard, warning the professor to run out the back.
Another inspiring story is that of a painter who showed up at the art museum, claiming "I have been contracted to restore the paintings." No one had hired him, but no one checked. He raced to paint over all the faces and figures in the paintings, before the Taliban could scratch or cut them out. After the Taliban left, he washed off the water-based paint he had used.
Most of the stories were just sad. She visits the football stadium where the Taliban had performed so many public executions, and finds a young man hosing down the ground. The water washed the blood out of the soil, and there was so much blood, the water continued to run red for days.
Along the way, Lamb tells stories of the history of Afghanistan, which is admittedly hard for most of us Westerners to follow, but is full of betrayals and murders, but also of glories of music and art and poetry. Between the chapters she includes letters sent to her by an Afghan woman named Marri. Marri, an educated woman, a teacher, risks imprisonment at least by writing to a foreigner about conditions for Afghanistan's women.
At the end of the book, Lamb goes searching for Marri, which takes her door to door, meeting many broken families, who all invited her in for tea. There is so much thrown into this book (history, interviews, observations) that it is something of a jumble at times, but there are many, many moving bits, and it helps to paint a fuller picture of Afghanistan than we usually see here on our news.
May 31, 2016
An interesting look at Afghanistan both pre- and post-9/11. This book contained enough history and cultural information that you can understand why things haven't changed there in hundreds of years, no matter how much progress is made. The discussion of the role of the King (I didn't know there ever was one) and of Hamid Karzai both before and after the World Trade Center were also very educational. I was a little disappointed, though, in how much of the book was NOT about the sewing circles of Herat or other groups of women, given the title of the book.
June 9, 2013
I found this book full of history, struggle, courage - a much needed glimpse into the world of the real people of Afghanistan. It is a serious read which takes some energy depending on your background with the history of the country. Definitely worth while if you like narrative fiction and want to learn something.
October 9, 2008
Absolutely fascinating! A slower read, a little detail dense, but so interesting. I am going so slow because every few pages I read I have to spend the next five minutes telling my husband about what I just learned.
March 27, 2010
Although educational, I abandoned this book after the umpteenth depiction of torture.. I should have researched the book prior to starting it. Based on the title, I expected a book about women in Afghanistan rather brutal descriptions of torture. My fault.
February 20, 2019
A book that is not about the sewing circles of Herat - women meeting ostensibly to sew (which was allowed) but actually to read (which was not, unless it was the Koran). It was about Afghanistan, the Taliban, history, war, torture, destruction, etc.
October 15, 2007
I found this book entertaining and educational. I learned alot about Afghanistan, and also felt more conflicted about America's role there after reading.
August 17, 2021
An amazing story of life in Afghanistan before and during the time of the Taliban.
Given current events in Afghanistan it would be timely to revisit this book.
Given current events in Afghanistan it would be timely to revisit this book.
October 29, 2025
This is a devastatingly moving memoir by journalist, Christina Lamb, recalling her travels through the ruins of Afghanistan over 20 years ago, when the Taliban ruled, and then fell apart.
The touching letters from an unknown Afghan teacher, Marri, provide fascinating and heart-breaking first-hand testimony of life for women under Taliban rule. In the climax of the narrative, Christina searches high and low for Marri, whom she has never met, to thank her for her letters and to deliver modest gifts such as a jar of coffee. The meeting provides a powerful denouement, all the more desperate, now the reader knows what has happened in Afghanistan in recent years.
I learnt how much I didn't know about the history of Afghanistan, and tried to follow all the minute details of rulers and bloody fighting, famine and oppression, described so urgently in the book. Sometimes I felt bogged down in the complexity.
The parts of the book that I loved most were the accounts of Christina travelling as a lone woman in a land where women were not permitted to exist. The risks that she knowingly took, the hardships and appalling conditions, are presented as everyday occurrences for her. She describes a world so far from my lived experience. The vignette of the sewing circles is beautifully portrayed, and the ingenuity of brave women, who stood by their beliefs despite having their identities decimated by the Taliban, is powerfully portrayed.
I thoroughly recommend this book, even though it is now dated, and even though there are dense sections of history (maybe skip the odd page, as I did). Reading a yellowed paperback with tiny text late at night was not my best move, but it is all credit to the author that I stuck with it, and will now miss joining such an intrepid journalist in another world, each night.
The touching letters from an unknown Afghan teacher, Marri, provide fascinating and heart-breaking first-hand testimony of life for women under Taliban rule. In the climax of the narrative, Christina searches high and low for Marri, whom she has never met, to thank her for her letters and to deliver modest gifts such as a jar of coffee. The meeting provides a powerful denouement, all the more desperate, now the reader knows what has happened in Afghanistan in recent years.
I learnt how much I didn't know about the history of Afghanistan, and tried to follow all the minute details of rulers and bloody fighting, famine and oppression, described so urgently in the book. Sometimes I felt bogged down in the complexity.
The parts of the book that I loved most were the accounts of Christina travelling as a lone woman in a land where women were not permitted to exist. The risks that she knowingly took, the hardships and appalling conditions, are presented as everyday occurrences for her. She describes a world so far from my lived experience. The vignette of the sewing circles is beautifully portrayed, and the ingenuity of brave women, who stood by their beliefs despite having their identities decimated by the Taliban, is powerfully portrayed.
I thoroughly recommend this book, even though it is now dated, and even though there are dense sections of history (maybe skip the odd page, as I did). Reading a yellowed paperback with tiny text late at night was not my best move, but it is all credit to the author that I stuck with it, and will now miss joining such an intrepid journalist in another world, each night.
January 27, 2022
Overall rating: 4.5/5. When I first started to read this book, I was a bit offended by the author's judgmental views of and floral language to describe Afghanistan and its people. But as I kept reading, I realized that Christina Lamb's views come from decades of living in Afghanistan, working with Afghans, having seen the changes and things that have stayed the same since the 80's. She intimately knows Afghanistan, from Herat to Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif to Kandahar. As a foreign correspondent, she knew Afghanistan under communist rule, then Taliban rule, then under American occupation. This book was written well before 2021, when Americans pulled out of Afghanistan abruptly. And reading her words, written in the years of the early Bush administration, are haunting because you see and feel the foreshadowing that will eventually happen in 2021. The people have survived decades of war, have seen governments toppled, oppression, have tasted freedom and also become disillusioned by its limitations. She depicts the Afghans' resilience, their will to survive, their hospitality, their embrace of both beauty and violence. In order to understand what happened in 2021, we have to understand what happened in the 1980's when Americans funded the mujahideen to overthrow the communists, the 1990's when Americans turned away from the Taliban, and the early 2000's when Americans occupied a land that was held together by feuding warlords and was crumbling from an insurgency gaining strength. The people at the end of the book were hopeful with the American occupation, but they also expressed hesitation to be too hopeful, and as we saw with the American pull-out in August 2021, they had reason to be hesitant.
March 28, 2021
Every time I read one of these works on Afghanistan I learn more about the root causes of the current war and I see the many missteps the U.S. Government has made in Central Asia over the past 40 years. The record is pretty abysmal for this country in our relationships with the people and governments from Pakistan to Turkey and Iran to Khazackstan and the Russian border. Once more this work shows that with out the faintest understanding of local relationships and local power bases the U.S. just goes blundering in using excessive force and leaves Hugh mess. The bull in the china shop metaphor is NOT even close to the way we act. Once more in this work we see Pakistan Intelligence working for their own ends. Ends that have nothing to do with U.S. Goals and or their own governments goals for the region. ISI is it's own state and acts as a rouge partner even into 2021. The GOP continues to negotiate with more illiterate spokesman for the Talib. We should be holding clan/SWar Lord meetings and working towards an elected President/King to deal with foreign relations. That would leave the clans to manage and govern their own areas. But, we keep trying to bring Democracy to Afghanistan, but some people are just not nor will they ever be ready for one person one vote. They can be taught about rights and women education but Democracy is a no go. One see's this again and again in all the works on Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the rest of the Central Asian Plateue. Another read showing how ignorant the U.S. is and why as we continue relabeling our efforts but keep the same overall plan: We, the U.S., FAIL.
June 11, 2025
Christina Lamb's Sewing Circles of Herat is a British journalist's first-hand account of life in Afghanistan following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the subsequent defeat of the Taliban. Lamb had previously spent almost two years in Afghanistan reporting on the conflict between the mujaheddin and Soviets that led to the eventual withdrawal of the USSR from Afghanistan. She tells the story of many Afghans who suffered through long-term violent crises, including the Sewing Circle of Herat, a group of women scholars who studied and wrote under the guise of a sewing circle. This is not a book whose primary focus are the sewing circles, however; they are just some of the large cast of characters described in this epic and harrowing tale. It is an even sadder tale, and I found myself wondering about the subsequent fate of many of the principals who celebrated the fall of the Taliban and now find themselves again under its leadership. This book is not for the faint of heart. It tells stories of war, torture, and suffering in a direct and often-brutal way, but it is also a book full of empathy and tenderness for the people of Afghanistan who the author came to know, respect, and care for over the years. This book most definitely helps put a "face" on a conflict most of us hear about mostly in the news headlines, and not much at all anymore, sadly. I highly recommend this book for those interested in history and in the power of the human spirit..
February 25, 2017
There are some interesting stories in this book based on the author's work in Afghanistan over two time periods (during the Soviet war and immediately after 2001).
However a few things spoilt it for me.
There is a lack of depth to most of the stories, which seem to be about the author more than the people she meets. I suspect this could be because it is hard to really get into another culture as an outsider, especially if one is using an interpreter to talk!
Secondly there is hardly anything about the sewing circles of Herat - barely half a chapter, although Herat, the city itself comes across as more vivid than some of the characters mentioned.
Third, I have a problem with the (perhaps unconscious?) white girl narrative of 'exotic' afghan people. A simple example - people are rarely eating; they are either gobbling or slurping or eating in some other annoying fashion.
I don't regret this read - it isn't a bad book per se but just feels like one more in the long list of 'white person explains cultures to people'.
However a few things spoilt it for me.
There is a lack of depth to most of the stories, which seem to be about the author more than the people she meets. I suspect this could be because it is hard to really get into another culture as an outsider, especially if one is using an interpreter to talk!
Secondly there is hardly anything about the sewing circles of Herat - barely half a chapter, although Herat, the city itself comes across as more vivid than some of the characters mentioned.
Third, I have a problem with the (perhaps unconscious?) white girl narrative of 'exotic' afghan people. A simple example - people are rarely eating; they are either gobbling or slurping or eating in some other annoying fashion.
I don't regret this read - it isn't a bad book per se but just feels like one more in the long list of 'white person explains cultures to people'.
August 20, 2025
Wow. Christina Lamb is both well-connected and brave to the point of recklessness: the two best qualities in a journalist. She really illuminated a country that too often is veiled to the West (like its courageous women).
In any case, I still can’t believe that Afghanistan is real. Its ways are so different from the US that it feels like reading a book about medieval knights and battles, a place where 75% of people cannot read and children’s school books involve counting Kalashnikovs rather than apples. The cultural norms run deep, especially for the Pashtun. Violence seems to be the order of the day. Yet surprisingly, Lamb humanizes everyone she speaks of, including the mujahideen that had committed unconscionable acts of horror.
Overall this was a very mind-opening read, albeit nausea-inducing. Makes me very grateful to live where I do. I hope the people of Afghanistan are able to fend off the Taliban again. If things were as bad as Lamb describes thirty years ago, I can’t imagine how bad they are now with the “benefit” of modern technology.
In any case, I still can’t believe that Afghanistan is real. Its ways are so different from the US that it feels like reading a book about medieval knights and battles, a place where 75% of people cannot read and children’s school books involve counting Kalashnikovs rather than apples. The cultural norms run deep, especially for the Pashtun. Violence seems to be the order of the day. Yet surprisingly, Lamb humanizes everyone she speaks of, including the mujahideen that had committed unconscionable acts of horror.
Overall this was a very mind-opening read, albeit nausea-inducing. Makes me very grateful to live where I do. I hope the people of Afghanistan are able to fend off the Taliban again. If things were as bad as Lamb describes thirty years ago, I can’t imagine how bad they are now with the “benefit” of modern technology.
July 19, 2024
Misleading title as the sewing circles are only mentioned briefly. Most of this book is about the various waring factions which have reduced Afghanistan to the state it is in today. Interesting to read of its former glory - of architectural wonders of much earlier centuries, the culture, orchards and gardens which have been destroyed by ongoing war. Also disturbing to read of how women's status and opportunities, once equal with their men folk, have been turned back by the Taliban. But above all, the inhumanity men inflict upon others is graphically described. This is a book which has to be read slowly. Not an enjoyable read, but informative.
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