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This is a story of a what turns out to be a collective effort led by Greg Mortenson to educate the forgotten and poor in a region whose landscape is as harsh as the Western medias portrayal of it's people. Namely, the rural regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The traditional western partyline of a region dominated by "evil-doers" who wish to subjugate their people and promote hatred and killing of all "infidels" is shown to be patently false. Instead we see a realistic presentation of the peoples and cultures of the areas. In fact, these people are no different than us except perhaps in what they lack in material possessions they more than compensate for in spiritual possessions.
The story begins with Mortenson's failure to summit K2, of which the major contributing factor was his selfless rescue of another climber. A selflessness that is expected yet seldom demonstrated by many climbers. Here we see the major theme of this book and the reason for Mortenson's success- the triumph of social conscience over individualism.
We see the transformation of a browbeaten meanderer into the maestro of a movement ( Central Asia Institue ) which has overseen the development of 55 schools.
The author's writing is as lucid as it is emotive and captures a realism exceeded only by visiting the regions in question. Having visited the region I felt nostalgic and appreciated the comedic references. At some points I almost fell out of my chair laughing. For example when the author writes:
" A decade later, in the post 9/11 era, Morentson would often be asked by Americans about the danger he faced in the region from terrorists. " If I die in Pakistan, it'll be because of a traffic accident, not a bomb or bullet."
Ha Ha so true!!! Gotta love those taxi and bus drivers with people swinging from their ends like broken twigs in hurricane.
I found myself unable to put the book down until it was finished and I personally think Greg Mortenson deserves the Nobel Prize for his efforts!! I would also highly recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you haven't yet!!
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S Cohn, January 12, 2008
This is a story of a what turns out to be a collective effort led by Greg Mortenson to educate the forgotten and poor in a region whose landscape is as harsh as the Western medias portrayal of it's people. Namely, the rural regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The traditional western partyline of a region dominated by "evil-doers" who wish to subjugate their people and promote hatred and killing of all "infidels" is shown to be patently false. Instead we see a realistic presentation of the peoples and cultures of the areas. In fact, these people are no different than us except perhaps in what they lack in material possessions they more than compensate for in spiritual possessions.The story begins with Mortenson's failure to summit K2, of which the major contributing factor was his selfless rescue of another climber. A selflessness that is expected yet seldom demonstrated by many climbers. Here we see the major theme of this book and the reason for Mortenson's success- the triumph of social conscience over individualism.
We see the transformation of a browbeaten meanderer into the maestro of a movement ( Central Asia Institue ) which has overseen the development of 55 schools.
The author's writing is as lucid as it is emotive and captures a realism exceeded only by visiting the regions in question. Having visited the region I felt nostalgic and appreciated the comedic references. At some points I almost fell out of my chair laughing. For example when the author writes:
" A decade later, in the post 9/11 era, Morentson would often be asked by Americans about the danger he faced in the region from terrorists. " If I die in Pakistan, it'll be because of a traffic accident, not a bomb or bullet."
Ha Ha so true!!! Gotta love those taxi and bus drivers with people swinging from their ends like broken twigs in hurricane.
I found myself unable to put the book down until it was finished and I personally think Greg Mortenson deserves the Nobel Prize for his efforts!! I would also highly recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you haven't yet!!
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- Commercial solicitations
By posting your comments you are granting the good people of Powells.com the right (but not the obligation) to make your comments available to others over the Internet, and to copy and distribute your comments via other media, in each case on a royalty free basis. These terms govern the rights and obligations of the person posting comments and Powells.com; there are no intended third party beneficiaries of these terms. Posted comments are subject to monitoring, editing, and removal at any time. Please see our Terms of Use for our complete terms and conditions.Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
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