The Bookseller of Kabul in Around the World

Jan 18, 2009 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it

Shelves: read2005, location-afghanistan

This was interesting, because it is written by a journalist who actually lived with the family of the bookseller of kabul, but you never feel as if she is there while the events she describes are occuring. The story jumps around at times, but was overall an interesting portrayal of life in Afghanistan post- 9/11 and post-Taliban rule.

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Feb 05, 2012 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, nonfiction-memoir, world-lit-asia-afghanistan, found-in-translation, bookish-42-days-of, bookish-challenge-summer-2013, 21st-century

"Do as I say, not as I do." This statement appears to sum up Sultan Khan, the bookseller of Kabul. He claims to be an enlightened, modern, Afghani man; He is a patriarchal bigot. Ms. Seierstad lives with his family for three months. She lives as they live and offers us a window into the lives of an atypical Afghani extended family. I say atypical as this family is quite wealthy financially even though they supposedly live as any other Afghani family. Theirs is a patriarchal family. The eldest so "Do as I say, not as I do." This statement appears to sum up Sultan Khan, the bookseller of Kabul. He claims to be an enlightened, modern, Afghani man; He is a patriarchal bigot. Ms. Seierstad lives with his family for three months. She lives as they live and offers us a window into the lives of an atypical Afghani extended family. I say atypical as this family is quite wealthy financially even though they supposedly live as any other Afghani family. Theirs is a patriarchal family. The eldest son is most important, which is a shame as Leila, a daughter, is most likely better suited to take over the business than Sultan's sons. She actually has a strong work ethic and a moral code.

This is NOT a book about books. Sultan Khan loves books. His focus is to save all the books and preserve the history of his beloved country. I would have enjoyed reading more about this project. It also would have been interesting to know if he actively promoted reading among his own family. The impression was that he did not.

I enjoyed the book. It is a fast read, insightful and witty. The author brings humor to a sad situation. For example:

"War was the central theme in math books too. Schoolboys-because the Taliban printed books solely for boys-did not calculate in apples and cakes, but in bullets and Kalashnikovs, something like this: "Little Omar has a Kalashnikov with three magazines. There are twenty bullets in each magazine. He uses two-thirds of the bullets and kills sixty infidels. How many infidels does he kill with each bullet?""

Seierstad realizes that education is the way to effect change. She is donating her royalties from this book to the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee, an organization to assist the Afghan people to rebuild and develop the country. The NAC prioritizes work within the fields of education, environment and health in rural areas and works hard to reach the most vulnerable groups, especially women and children.

*** The bookseller, Shah Muhammad Rais, whose name was changed to Sultan Khan, feels the book has defamed his family and has written a rebuttal book, Once Upon a Time There Was a Bookseller in Kabul. ...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Kristen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

This was the most depressing book I have read in a long time. Contrary to what the description on the back of the book would lead you to believe, The Bookseller of Kabul is not about books. It's about family life and culture in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. I don't know what Afghanistan is like currently, several years after the original publication of this book, but I suspect the traditions which have kept women down for so long will be around for awhile. ...more

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