Customer Rating:  
Summary: Not a good book on Afghanistan
Comment: One would have to either question Ms. Shakib's intentions while writing this book or question her sources. As an Afghanistani I found finding a lot of what she wrote suspect. She wanted to mention all the extreme casing ranging from the times of the Soviet to the Taliban era, which would cover a lot, too much in fact. In doing so, she messed up the timeline of the events and even the ages of some of the characters. The historical accuracy is off as well - though the events of what she wrote about are in fact true i.e. Soviets, Mujaheddin, Taliban, etc. there were a few things that she wrote during these eras that did not make sense - giving the idea that perhaps her sources were either lying to her or she filled in gaps without doing her own research.
Somtimes she would go on talking about or referring to a character without giving them a name, even a fake name to protect the identity of the person. It becomes tiresome to have to continuously read "tea house owner" or "this sister" or "that sister." Not only does it belittle the reader but it also downgrades the characters themselves to the point where they are just faceless identities who are not important.
A very important issue that she fails to even mention is the ethnic issue in Afghanistan. She calls everyone "Afghan" and goes on talk about Afghan this and Afghan that. In Afghanistan, there are many different ethnicities from Tajik, Pashtun, Uzbek, Hazara, and more and it has always been a major issue in the country. The ethnic issue was not mentioned at all.
What Ms. Shakib succeeded in creating is a book pushed by the organization of RAWA which has brainwashed the author, using her to promote their own agendas. It was extremely boring and though there are a few good lines sporadically throughout the book they were lost in the midst of all the inaccuracy and questionable details.
If you would like to read a good book on Afghanistan that is much closer to capturing the real events then I would recommend Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the worst books I have read on Afghanistan
Comment: I think the Western audience must be desperate for books on Afghanistan to have rated this book so high. I have read many many excellent fiction and non-fiction on Afghanistan, and this book pales in comparison.
Women in Afghanistan have suffered tremendously over the past 20 years, there is no denying that. They have suffered at the hands of their successive governments, the Taliban and Afghan men and Afghan Warlords.
It seems the author has taken multiple experiences of various Afghan women and woven it into one life. The author also is biased and racist towards Pakistan, and delusional about the role Iran played in assisting the Afghan refugees. Unlike Iran, Pakistan never threw out Afghan refugees on the pretext of them causing shortages for the locals. Even today about 6 million Afghans live in Pakistan. As for assistance to the refugees, people from all walks of life gave everything they had to the refugees, and I am not just talking of a few hand me down clothes. Today Afghans live in cities all over Pakistan, earning a livelihood that they cannot get in Afghanistan. A large number even have Pakistani passports.
Unlike Iran, Pakistan is a free society for women. They can go anywhere without a burqa or a head scarf. Those who choose to wear either of the two do so out of choice, not because the government forces them to. Men and women can mingle freely without repercussions from the government. Women can travel anywhere without a male escort.
It is humanely impossible to have luxurious refugee camps housing 1 million people. So if life is not so nice in the camps, it's because of their enormous size. These camps are run by the UNHCR, so they should be criticized, not Pakistan. I would like anyone to name one country that would allow 6 million plus refugees to live almost permanently in their land. What has Pakistan suffered due to the refugees; deforestation, mass scale garbage and sewerage issues, drugs and guns from Afghanistan (before this there was hardly a drug problem in Pakistan now its scale is frightening), lawlessness, total devastation of cities on the border due to the mass influx of millions of people etc.
As for the repeated reference to the darker skin of the Pakistani children of Shirin Gol, I just want to state one fact that the Pakistanis from Peshawar have the same skin tone as the Afghans cause they are from the same tribe. So I can only deduce that the author is racist. Some Iranians do have a superiority complex over Pakistanis because they think their skin tone is lighter. If Shirin Gol actually had children of a smuggler chief from Peshawar or Peshawar policemen then they would look very much like her Afghan children.
Where has Pakistan failed? In telling its side of the story. On an individual and a government level we have readily acknowledged the mistakes we made vis a vis the Taliban, which makes us a nation that has the ability to address is faults something not many can do. BUT WE HAVE FAILED TO TELL OF THE SACRIFICES WE HAVE MADE FOR THE AFGHAN REFUGEES, THE SACRIFICES WE HAVE MADE AS A NATION FOR SHOWING HUMANITY AND COMPASSSION FOR OUR AFGHAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Comment: This is one of the best books I have read for a very long time, as well as being a very moving story I also found that at times it was very funny.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Comment: This is a fantastic book. Its one of those books that are written in the style that has elegance and written for the character that is narrating depending on theit age at the time of writing. It starts of with Shirin Gol's character as a child and her way of thinking when she is younger questioning herself why? things occur. As she learns and develops from a teenager to a adult her experience travels with her and is shown in her personality and her personality that enables to answer those questions she asked her self as a child? She exploers her world and situations and is able to develop her own understanding of the world. This is a thorough account and as you read on you begin to get more enticed in the book and the style in which it is written. I loved it and found it difficult to put down.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing
Comment: Absolutely amazing. Could not put the book down, Read it in 1 day! Very moving, brings tears to eyes!
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