Afghans Three lives through war, love and revolt - from the bestselling author of The Bookseller of Kabul
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Åsne Seierstad was born in 1970 and studied Russian, Spanish and the History of Philosophy at Oslo University. An internationally bestselling author, she has also received numerous awards for her journalism. She has worked as a war correspondent across the world, including Russia, China, Iraq and Afghanistan. Her second book, The Bookseller of Kabul, has sold over two million copies and the paperback was in the Sunday Times top ten for over a year. Her other critically acclaimed works include A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal and The Angel of Grozny. Following the atrocities in Oslo and Utoya in July 2011, she attended the trial of Anders Breivik and then began work on One of Us, which became a European bestseller. All of Åsne Seierstad's books are published by Virago.As an exploration of the social fabric of Afghan life, <b>this book takes some beating</b>. It's also a<b> deft history </b>of the country since the 1960s, charting its journey from hippy hang-out to Soviet satellite state, jihadist battleground, and finally, failed nation-building project
Daily Telegraph
<b>A heartbreaking account</b>
Observer
<b>A valuable addition to the canon of literature on Afghanistan . . . [Seierstad] manages to achieve a rare intimacy</b>
New York Times
<b>Ambitious...absorbing</b>...Burrowing into both Afghan family life and the country's convoluted politics, the book follows three people over several decades, culminating in the dramatic first year of the Taliban restoration...Seierstad's short, punchy sentences, ably translated by Seán Kinsella, draw readers into the narrative
Boston Globe
Åsne Seierstad is <b>one of the greatest, most courageous journalists of our time</b>. While others were desperately fleeing Afghanistan, Seierstad traveled there alone to see the impact of the Taliban victory. This is <b>an important, heartbreaking book </b>about the limits of military power, religious fundamentalism, America's broken promises, and the profound betrayal of Afghan women
Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
<i>The Afghans </i>is an <b>astonishing</b> feat of writing and reporting and <b>one of the finest books written on Afghanistan in a generation. I could not put this book down</b>. On each page, as she follows these three lives with empathy and care, Åsne Seierstad is working at the very pinnacle of her prodigious powers. <b>A clarion demanding we do not look away</b>
- Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of AMITY AND PROSPERITY,
<b>Indelible portraits </b>of people struggling to survive in a war-torn land
Kirkus, starred review
<i>The Afghans</i> is not simply an <b>addictively engrossing read</b>, but is<b> also a work of real importance</b> as we come to terms with Afghanistan's recent past and the return of the Taliban. This is a <b>deeply human</b> piece of writing which approaches the war through the eyes of the Afghans, men and women, who lived it, who made impossible choices at difficult moments, and who continue to live with the consequences. <b>Harrowing, uplifting, fascinating, challenging and profound, no other recent book on the subject comes close</b>
CPW Gammell, author of The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat
<b>A gripping, richly textured account of Afghanistan's ordeal that humanizes all sides</b>
Publishers Weekly
Seierstad chronicles years of war and the rise and resurgence of the Taliban through the <b>intimate,</b> <b>affecting portraits of three lives lived in history's shadow</b>
Booklist
Seierstad is <b>masterful </b>. . . her book is <b>world class</b>
Aftonbladet
<b>Gripping </b>. . . Seierstad succeeds in transforming the demonised stereotype - a Taliban terrorist - into a living, comprehensible human being
Expressen
Enthralling and heart-breaking
Dagens Noeringsliv
'As an exploration of the social fabric of Afghan life, this book takes some beating' Daily Telegraph
'A valuable addition to the canon of literature on Afghanistan ... [Seierstad] manages to achieve a rare intimacy' New York Times
'Åsne Seierstad is one of the greatest, most courageous journalists of our time. . . This is an important, heartbreaking book' Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
From the internationally bestselling author of The Bookseller of Kabul, this is an unforgettable portrait of three people living under the Taliban today.
There is Jamila, a women's rights activist who got an education when few women could; Bashir, a Taliban commander who grew up eager to avenge a father killed by security forces; and Ariana, a law student who is now barred from her university and facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a man she does not love. Through the stories of these three Afghans, we experience what it is to live under the Taliban now, and think about where this leaves Afghans today, and tomorrow.
'Ambitious ... absorbing' Boston Globe
'An astonishing feat of writing and reporting . . . one of the finest books written on Afghanistan in a generation' Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Amity and Prosperity
'Harrowing, uplifting, fascinating, challenging and profound, no other recent book on the subject comes close' CPW Gammell, author of The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat
'Åsne Seierstad is the supreme non-fiction writer of her generation' Luke Harding
'Åsne Seierstad is one of the greatest, most courageous journalists of our time. . . This is an important, heartbreaking book' ― Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
In this compelling, intimate and thought-provoking new book from the internationally bestselling author of The Bookseller of Kabul, Åsne Seierstad introduces us to three unforgettable people living under the Taliban today. There is Jamila, a women's rights activist now based in the west who fought polio as a child and got an education when few women could; Bashir, a Taliban commander now living in luxury who grew up eager to avenge the martyrdom of a father killed by security forces; and Ariana, a law student who had nearly graduated when the Taliban regained power in 2021 and now is barred for her university campus and facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a man she does not love.
The stories of these three Afghans encompass love, loss, revolt and war as well as the everyday rhythms of family life. Through them, we experience and come to understand what it is to live under the Taliban, and where this leaves Afghans today, and tomorrow.
'Harrowing, uplifting, fascinating, challenging and profound, no other recent book on the subject comes close' ― CPW Gammell, author of The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat