Read Your Way Around the World - Afghanistan in Fiction

Read Your Way Around the World invites you to Afghanistan.

The Kite Runner (M) by Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini has been consistently popular for 10 years, in fact a ten year anniversary edition has been released and it was made into a move in 2007. In it Amir, an Afghan American writer returns to his native land to rescue the son of his childhood friend. This first Afghan novel written in English and was described by Publishers' Weekly as " A sad and violent yet beautiful and unforgettable story."

The Patience Stone (M) by Atiq Rahimi, a French Afghan writer, won the Prix Goncourt which is awarded to "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year".  "Rahimi's lyric prose is simple and poetic, and McLean's translation is superb. With an introduction by Khaled Hosseini, this Prix Goncourt-winning book should have a profound impact on the literature of Afghanistan for its brave portrayal of, among other things, an Afghan woman as a sexual being."—Library Journal

The Blind Man's Garden (M) by Nadeem Aslam "Jeo and Mikal, foster brothers from a small Pakistani town, secretly enter Afghanistan: not to fight with the Taliban against the Americans, but rather to help care for wounded civilians. Their good intentions, though, can't keep them out of harm's way. From the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind--their blind father, haunted by the death of his wife and by the mistakes he may have made in the name of Islam and nationhood; Jeo's wife, whose increasing resolve helps keep the household running; and her superstitious mother--the narrative takes us on an extraordinary journey. In language as lyrical as it is piercing, in scenes at once beautiful and harrowing, The Blind Man's Garden unflinchingly describes a topical yet timeless world, powerfully evoking a place where the line between enemy and friend is indistinct, and where the desire to return home burns brightest of all." publisher

Fear of Beauty: a novel (M) by Susan Froetschel "The battered body of an Afghan boy is found at the base of a cliff outside a remote village in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Did he fall as most of the villagers think? Or is this the work of American soldiers, as others want to believe? Not far from the village, the US Army has set up a training outpost. Sofi, the boy's illiterate young mother, is desperate to find the truth about her son's death. But extremists move in and offer to roust the "infidels" from the region, adding new pressures and restrictions for the small village and its women." publisher

The Taliban Cricket Club (M) by Timeri N. Murari "Rukhsana is a spirited young journalist working for the Kabul Daily in Afghanistan. She takes care of her ill, widowed mother and her younger brother, Jahan. With the arrival of a summons for Rukhsana to appear before the infamous Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the family’s world is shattered. The Minister, zorak Wahidi, has two goals in mind: to threaten the anti-Taliban news reporters and to announce the Taliban’s intention to hold a cricket tournament, the winner of which will represent Afghanistan in international cricket and give the brutal regime a cloak of respectability in the world. Rukhsana knows this is a ludicrous idea—the Taliban could never embrace a game rooted in civility, fair play and equality. And no one in Afghanistan even plays cricket—no one, that is, except Rukhsana." publisher
 
The Wandering Falcon (M) by Jamil Ahmad "In this extraordinary tale, Tor Baz, the young boy descended from both chiefs and outlaws who becomes the Wandering Falcon, moves between the tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan and their uncertain worlds full of brutality, humanity, deep love, honor, poverty, and grace. The wild area he travels -- the Federally Administered Tribal Area -- has become a political quagmire known for terrorism and inaccessibility. Yet in these pages, eighty-year-old debut author Jamil Ahmad lyrically and insightfully reveals the people who populate those lands, their tribes and traditions, and their older, timeless ways in the face of sometimes ruthless modernity. This story is an essential glimpse into a hidden world, one that has enormous geopolitical significance today and still remains largely a mystery to us." publisher