Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Bookseller of Kabul

Asne Seierstad provides a candid account of daily life for an Afghani family in Kabul. Sultan Khan is a bookseller who has struggled many years to keep Afghanistan's history alive through his expansive library of books. He has seen his books trashed, burned and has been imprisoned for his passion to keep Afghanistan's history and culture intact despite war and coup d'etats. The Bookseller of Kabul is the story Sultan's family, two wives, children, siblings, mother and a nephew, and their daily lives in war-torn Kabul.

I was completely drawn into the honesty of this account of Afghani life. Sultan fills the patriarchal role of a tyrant ruling over everyone. As a westerner and a woman, it is very difficult for me to even begin to imagine a world where I have no rights or say in living my life. I am grateful I had the opportunity to read this book to have just the beginning of how some people live in fear and poverty.

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