Our group decided the most interesting thing in in the section of reading was the game of Buzkashi. The game consists of a group of horse men trying to pick up or drag a dead calf to a circle on the ground. We found Buzkashi interesting because of the brutality of the game. Also it is surprising that such a game is played in a former part of India, were cows are a sacred animal. Some information that surprised us was that Sultan would let Mansur partake in such an endeavor through the treacherous countryside of Afghanistan. This was a surprise because Sultan only trusts his children to work in his book stores and Mansur leaving would mean the temporary closing of one of the bookstores. Another part of the reading we deemed surprising was the route to Mazar-i-Sharif. The route is described as mountainous with dangerous and snow packed roads. At one point Mansur and his companion get stuck in a traffic jam inside a mountain tunnel. The two are stranded in the confined area while carbon monoxide builds up around them. But the traffic jam breaks just as they start to feel the effect of carbon-monoxide poisoning.
After reading nearly two-thirds the book the author has reviled much about why she wrote the book and for whom she wrote it for. She wrote the book because Sultan has an interesting family. She used Sultan as a base to describe the Afghani culture and political its insecurities. She wrote the book for mainly sociologists and people with an interest about Afghan people. Also there is no coincidence that the book was released soon after 9/11. The terrorists were mainly of Afghan decent so a wide interest of their culture opened up in America. The author was there to inform the people and sell her book.
Throughout the reading the authors tone has been the same as it has bee throughout the book, informative. The main focus in the reading is the plight of the Afghan citizen. Although the focus did shift for a chapter when Mansur took his pilgrimage to Mazar-i-Sharif. The focus shifted to the Geography of Afghanistan, which added a refreshing new topic. The Author establishes her authority by including in the book that she spent four months living amongst Sultans family. She also explained that she wore the burka while living in Afghanistan. Although Seierstad does show signs of ethnocentrism in the book.
The Bookseller of Kabul connects with most of the subjects we have talked about in class. For starters Afghanistan is drenched in poverty and all of the problems that come with the issue. The book also has a main focus on sexism. The Afghani culture is the epitome of a patriarchal society were the man of the house rules with an iron fist and the women have to obey his every command. Also women get the brunt of the punishment if both women and men are involved. Another subject that we talked about in class that is also in the book is education. In the book most of the main characters either have an education or desire an education. Seierstad state:
“In two large halls women scrub themselves, lying, sitting or standing. They scrub themselves, each other or their children. Some are Rubenesquely fat, others thin as rakes, with protruding ribs. With large homemade hemp gloves they scrub each others backs, arms, legs... There is not much time before young girls with birdlike chests become Brest-feeding mothers. Thin teenage girls have broad stretch marks from births their bodies were not yer ready for. Nearly all the woman's bellies have cracked skin from giving birth too early and too frequently.”(161)
This passage is important to the book for many reasons. For one it outlines the different nutrition rates in Kabul. The nutrition of the people can be directly related to their wealth. For example if someone is “Thin as [a rake] with protruding ribs” we can assume they are poor and therefore can't afford food, leading to their thin state. Another reason that the passage is important to the book is because it describes that the women have been negatively affected by the birth of children. Which outlines the fact that their husbands want kids and they have no say in the matter. The passage is about washing the dust off1the girls'. The dust could be a metaphor for the harshness they feel from their confined lives or disrespectful husbands.
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