In Afghanistan, just after the fall
of the Taliban, a bookseller named
Sultan Khan (aliases are used almost
throughout) allowed a Norwegian journalist
to move into his home and experience
firsthand his family's life in the
newly liberated capital city of Kabul.
From that act of openness emerges
this remarkable book -- the most intimate
look yet at ordinary life for those
who have weathered Afghanistan's extraordinary
upheavals. One husband, two wives,
five children, and many other relatives
sharing four small rooms opened up
their lives, unforgettably.
First is Sultan himself, a man whose
love of books has exposed him to great
risks over his thirty years in the
trade. He has seen his volumes censored,
ripped apart, even burned in the street
by the Communists and the Taliban.
Each time, he rebuilt his business,
hiding the most controversial texts.
surviving prison, travelling treacherous
back roads to Pakistan to order much-needed
schoolbooks. He takes joy in selling
books of history, science, art, religion,
and poetry, and defends his business
with a primal ferocity against competitors
and theft,
But Sultan is also a committed Muslim
with strict views on filial respect
and the role of women. We meet his
wife, Sharifa, when she learned that
Sultan is taking a new bride, as his
status in the community dictates.
Despite custom, it is agonizing for
the mother of Sultan's children to
see her place usurped. We follow their
teenage son, Mansur, as he embarks
on his first religious pilgrimage,
which embodies all the excitement
of youth's first rebellion. And we
see Sultan's younger sisters, as one
prepares for her wedding while another
seeks a job to escape her family's
tight grip.
Stepping back from the page, Seierstad
allows the Khans to speak for themselves
about their joys, sorrows, rivalries,
loves, dreams, and temptations. Through
the close-knit household, we gain
an intimate view -- as few outsiders
have seen it -- of life in an Islamic
country just beginning to find its
way between the forces of modernity
and tradition.
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