Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

...and co-authored by Davis Oliver Relin.

Although my copy of this book has the same cover art, it also has a little medallion stating that the book is a Kiriyama prize winner.  The Kiriyama Prize "was established in 1996 to recognize outstanding books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia that encourage greater mutual understanding of and among the peoples and nations of this vast and culturally diverse region".  It promised a lot but delivered little.

I'm sorry to say I found this one of the most tedious books I've read in a long time.  I struggled to finish it.  The author, no doubt doing good works in Pakistan, is nevertheless completely self-satisfied and self-congratulatory:

As Mortenson turned his brave, wind beaten face towards the dying embers of the fire, he reflected inwardly....

The writing is painfully clunky, and manages to make this reader at least concentrate more on the writing than on the story.  The story itself could have been told in much less space if it had left out all the minutiae that are completely irrelevant.  Who cares about Greg's earlier relationships?

To be perfectly honest, I found even the photos included have nothing to add. They are little more than a series of faces beaming at the camera. One I will never forget - a Christmas card featuring Mortenson with his wife and baby, and two weapons, rifles or something, I don't know. On a Christmas card?!  It is my lasting memory of the book.

However, if you can get over the irritations that bothered me, you will be able to read about the remote parts of a country that most of us will never visit.

Updated to add that apparently the truth was "stretched" in a number of places and there are some discrepancies in the financial management of his organisation.  Some call the issues minor problems and transgressions, others call it lies and fraud.

Buy Three Cups of Tea at Amazon.co.uk or at Amazon.com

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

This book has been sitting sadly and reproachfully on my shelf for over a year.  Why I didn't pick it up earlier, I really don't know.

It was an enjoyable read - with reservations.  It was easy enough to become involved in the story which moved swiftly along, easy to read and also enlightening.  It seemed to give a fascinating insight into lives, especially of women, during the troubled years before, during, and shortly after the influence of the Taliban, how the everyday lives of ordinary Afghani people were affected.

I have two main reservations though, even while recommending it.  The first is that Khaled Hosseini felt the need to explain the politics of the situation, the fighting between the different warlords and their followers.  That was fine but he did it by having the characters discuss what was happening, and it just didn't ring true. 

"And he's fighting Hekmatyar, of course, who has the support of the Pakistanis.  Mortal enemies, those two, Maassoud and Hekmatyar.  Sayyaf, he's siding with Massoud. And Hekmatyar supports the Hazaras for now."

My eyes glazed over during these passages: too many names I found difficult to remember.

The other reservation was that the characters were either black or white with nothing much in between:  Rasheed was too bad with no redeeming features, Tariq too good.  People are normally made up of so many different shades.  The women were rather better drawn but I still didn't feel I knew them, I didn't know how they thought. 

Don't let my reservations put you off though.  All round it was an easy and enjoyable read.  In spite of the tragedies of Afghanistan, the book ends on an optimistic note.  The real tragedy is that the optimism for the future of the country hasn't yet been fulfilled.

The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad

The Bookseller of Kabul gives interesting insight into the life of an Afghan family both before and after the Taliban.  It describes familyand social life, the political situation and how individuals, particularly women, are affected.  It isn't a compelling read, the writing doesn't seem very fluent and far from fast paced, however it's a book I am glad to have read and would recommend it.

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

I read Moloka'i fairly soon after reading The Island by Victoria Hislop because of the similarity of setting - a leprosy island.

Moloka'i was a relatively easy read and it left me with the feeling that I knew more about both leprosy and Hawaii than I knew before, and that is exactly what i want from a book. It doesn’t pull any punches in describing the ravages of leprosy. It has made me aware of Hawaiian culture, something I knew nothing whatever about before this, and has left me wanting to know more.