BOOKPATHS

Pakistan; Afghanistan

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (New York: Penguin, 2007; first published in 2006)

Three Cups of Tea is a must read for anyone wanting a deeper, more human, view of today’s headlines.  First attracted to Pakistan as a mountain climber; it’s people, landscape, and a 1993 promise to build a school in the tiny, isolated, village of Korphe, inspired Greg Mortenson’s return.  Overcoming countless challenges and dangers, by book’s end fifty-five schools have been built, with humanitarian efforts extended into Afghanistan and no end in sight.  Three Cups of Tea is truly enlightening and inspiring.

When the porcelain bowls of scalding butter tea steamed in thsir hands, Haji Ali spoke.  ‘If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways,’ Haji Ali said, blowing on his bowl.  ‘The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger.  The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest.  The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die,’ he said, laying his hand warmly on Mortenson’s own.  ‘Doctor Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea.  We may be uneducated.  But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time.’ – from Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Related Websites

Central Asia Institute
“CAI’s Mission: To promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

Publisher’s Website

Pakistan; United States

Lynn Neary talks with Pakistani-American writer Daniyal Mueenuddin.

‘In both cases, either in the West or in Pakistan, people always view me as being somebody slightly from the outside,’ says Mueenuddin. ‘And I think I view myself as being from the outside. And that is something that can be aggravating and painful but also liberating and fun.’ – from "Pakistani-American Author Bridges Two Worlds," by Lynn Neary, NPR Website

Pakistan

Saeed Shah considers Pakistani writers who are “winning attention and acclaim as their country sinks into violence and chaos.”

‘Great fiction comes from the tension that produces those dramatic political developments. Pakistan has been going through really interesting times. As writers process that through their fiction, they're coming up with an art with a real urgency and personal need [Mohsin Hamid].’ – from "As Their Country Descends Into Chaos, Pakistani Writers Are Winning Acclaim,” by Saeed Shah, The Guardian

Pakistan

Mohammed Hanif talks about Pakistan, the Zia era, and his book, A Case of Exploding Mangoes.

“In fact it has already offended more than a couple of people. “I was probably quite naive,” Hanif says, implausibly. 'There are not too many Zia-lovers left in Pakistan and friends and colleagues who've lived and worked there - some have read it and seem to think it's all right; no big deal, nothing saying you can't write stuff like this.' But mainstream Pakistani publishers have begged to differ. None of them have dared to print the book. A Karachi news magazine for which Hanif once worked was enthusiastic and planned to publish it as a one-off, but its chosen printer took the trouble to read it before switching on the presses and at the last minute decided against.” – from “Mohammad Hanif Lands on His Feet,” by Giles Whittel, The Times

Pakistan

Kamila Shamsie explores the history of the English-language novel in Pakistan.

“As with any nation, but particularly a new one, Pakistani literature's story cannot be told without the backdrop of history.” – from “Another Side of the Story,” by Kamila Shamsie, The Guardian

Pakistan

Novelist Mohsin Hamid talks with Kathleen McCaul “about Pakistani literature, art and politics, and cities as lovers.”

“’Geo-politics is important to me as a writer," Hamid explains. ‘The whole notion that politics should be separate from art, that it corrupts good writing, strikes me as problematic. The nuclear tests in 1999, the near war in 2001 between Pakistan and India - these were major exclamation marks in history for me personally, and my personal life is indivisible from the political world I live in. Lahore is just a few hours' drive away from Delhi. It feels very, very strange that my parents and sister are just around the corner and I can't go and visit them. It's part of the whole absurdity of the 20th century nation state and these nation states in particular.’” – “Break for the Border Country,” by Kathleen McCaul, The Guardian

Pakistan

A published book is the residue of a writer's failure to do what he initially set out to do. If the story I've told is a bit rough around the edges, then so has been my experience, and so is Pakistan. I witnessed a moment in history in a particular place: the action and passion of my time. All I can do is to record faithfully what I've witnessed; I speak only for myself. I have to trust that some of my words will take on overtones as time passes and events fall into place in the longer perspective, and that I've executed my charge. -- Ethan Casey, Alive and Well in Pakistan : a Human Journey in a Dangerous Time

Alive and Well in Pakistan : a Human Journey in a Dangerous Time, by Ethan Casey (London : Vision Paperbacks, 2004)

In Alive and Well in Pakistan : a Human Journey in a Dangerous Time, Ethan Casey shares his journeys to and affection for Pakistan and Kashmir. As Casey listens and records the thoughts and concerns of the Pakistani people, we enter their daily lives. Conversations about history, politics, religion, culture, family, work, fears, hopes, the United States, India, Afghanistan, Israel, and more, give readers a glimpse of "what life is like in a Muslim country on the frontline of the U.S.-declared 'war on terror.'"

The success of Alive and Well in Pakistan : a Human Journey in a Dangerous Time is evident at book's end when you find yourself wanting to know more. Casey helps by offering titles and authors throughout the book, along with a thoughtful "further reading" section at the end. During these dangerous times, it's refreshing to have a knowledgeable and empathetic guide such as Casey. Alive and Well in Pakistan is a welcome antidote to TV newsbytes.

Some of the places that Ethan Casey describes in Alive and Well in Pakistan : a Human Journey in Dangerous Time suffered damage during the October 26, 2005 earthquake. Help is needed. See the United Nations Emergency Response -- Pakistan webpage for updates and ways to help. Or, give to your charity of choice.

One of my intentions was to catch people in Pakistan going through their humdrum regular activities. This is, it seems to me, the advantage travel writing has over crisis-driven journalism. 'It's been very difficult to get other stories in that don't have to do with al-Qaeda,' Ahmed Rashid told me, speaking of his gigs with The Daily Telegraph and the Far Eastern Economic Review. But there's always a lot more going on than what people notice most readily, and much of what is true is subtle and requires patience to glean." -- Ethan Casey, Alive and Well in Pakistan : a Human Journey in a Dangerous Time

"He told me frankly that his views were very close to those of the Taliban. Whenever I meet someone whose background and opinions differ sharply from my own, my practice is to suspend judgement and listen patiently. You never know what you might learn. In the no man's land where you're at and where I'm at is where we find our common humanity." Ethan Casey, Alive and Well in Pakistan : a Human Journey in a Dangerous Time