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| The Places In Between | 
 enlarge | Author: Rory Stewart
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $2.69
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Avg. Customer Rating:  157 reviews
Sales Rank: 3476
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0156031566
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.810447
EAN: 9780156031561
ASIN: 0156031566
Publication Date: May 8, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers' floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan's first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.
Through these encounters-by turns touching, con-founding, surprising, and funny-Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map's countless places in between.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 152 more reviews...
 A Post 9-11 Travelogue Through Afghanistan June 10, 2006
115 out of 123 found this review helpful
Mr. Stewart has written an entertaining account of his walk across Afghanistan in 2002. The country was in shambles, the Taliban had just fallen and the Twin Towers had fallen a few months ago. As a nation, Afghanistan doesn't exist -- just a collection of warlords ruling their fiefdoms and encroaching each other's territories. So Mr. Stewart enters the county from Iran without a visa as if he was climbing Mount Everest -- because it was there.
The author is a superb storyteller and once the book has started, the reader will not be able to put it down. His writing style is conversational, as if he just arrived home and is telling you of his recent adventures. Why Harvest Books did not put this book out in hardback is beyond me. The reader should be aware that his next travel book "The Prince of the Marshes," will be out in August, 2006 where Mr. Stewart decided to move on to a less dangerous country than Afghanistan -- he went to Iraq.
Understated Humor with Sadness at the Core June 25, 2006
84 out of 89 found this review helpful
Writing with the understated humor in the best of Magnus Mills' novels (Restraint of Beasts, All Quiet on the Orient Express), Stewart accounts his long, arduous trek on foot through the brutal landscape of Afghanistan. Thought to be a spy, he is often accompanied by mysterious "guards" hired by the new government to supervise Stewart's meanderings. The conflict between Stewart and these guards provides much of the book's humor. But then about a third into the book, Stewart is offered a dog, a huge bear-like creature who is described as wise and weary. The dog, whom Stewart names "Babur," has been abused and neglected all his life and Stewart adopts him and determines to take Babur with him back to Scotland. For me, Stewart's tender relationship with the endearing dog Babur is the heart of the book. It will make you weep. This storyline alone makes the book worth reading. Of course, this book is much more than a man meets dog story. It is a firsthand account of the grotequeries that seethe within a country in a state of violent upheaval.
THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR JOURNEY MR STEWART November 26, 2006
37 out of 39 found this review helpful
"Someone in Kabul told me a crazy Scotsman walked from Herat to Kabul right after the fall of the Taliban"
Thanks for the book. For it was indeed a journey of great spirit and determination. Mr. Stewart was well prepared for this trip with vitamins and various medications he knew would be necessary to successfully complete this challenge; ibuprofen, antibiotics, just name it and he had it; sharing with the villagers he met on his way when they saw what he had and begged him.
Well written, well told. I was truly impressed with how hospitable the people of Afghanistan were; those whom he encountered and offered him rest and meals and at times water to wash with, at their various humble abodes where he was invited to stay for the night. Even through they understood little English, Mr. Stewart was able to communicate to them by speaking Persian. I love reading about anything in the Eastern and Asian side of the world, so I was with him all the way. I felt like I was alongside him as he climbed those steep slopes and when he walked on the flat valleys. I drank tea with Mr. Stewart from glass cups, ate stale bread with him and soup, and enjoyed the rest at the end of the day, sleeping on a carpet or just on the floor.
The attention given to him was enormous as he persevered onwards. My main concern was just before he got to Kabul when he had to travel through the deep powdery snow which was known to cause frostbite, making it necessary to amputate limbs for some in the past. I held my breath as he and his dog companion Babur made it out of the snow covered mountains, and alas into another bright day. God bless you Rory Stewart. I will soon be starting Prince of the Marshes, which sounds like another winner; but to those of you out there looking for a Christmas gift or other, buy The Places In Between first, for you won't be disappointed. An excellent gift, especially for travellers!!!
Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE 25/11/06)
 Village to Village - Mud Hut to Mud Hut ... (2.5 *s) July 6, 2007
24 out of 34 found this review helpful
and that is mostly of what this book consists. The author in his thirty-day walk from Herat to Kabul across mountainous central Afghanistan in the dead of winter encounters a village every twenty miles that is unrememberable because of its sameness. There is always a local chieftain, also pretty much indistinguishable, to whom everyone defers, who is lord over abysmal, backwards, and completely unsanitary living conditions, a major factor in the author's constant diarrhea.
The adventure itself untaken only a few weeks after the Taliban was deposed by the American onslaught in late 2001 was definitely an exercise in sheer audacity and luck. It doesn't seem possible that a Western, non-Muslim white-man could walk 600 miles without a map in completely foreign and harsh territory, mostly alone, while encountering severe winter weather, contending with debilitating dysentery, and having to constantly persuade and deceive suspicious, if not hostile, locals, even Taliban types, that he was not a threat and was deserving of the assistance of food and shelter.
The author is remarkably reticent in providing details of his background and motivation in undertaking this journey and several others in the region. There are some historical details injected into the narrative as he journeys through villages and regions. The route was chosen to be similar to one undertaken by a sixteenth century Afghan warlord. Unfortunately, disconnected historical tidbits hardly provide a coherent understanding of the history of the region.
This book was regarded by the NY Times as being in the top five nonfiction books of 2006. That is surprising. The book lacks context - virtually on page 1 the walk begins -and is so repetitious that it is a struggle to continue. The reader is left with a highly fragmented understanding of a very remote region of the world that is several centuries behind modern civilization. Probably the most compelling aspect of the book was the author acquiring a dog, a large mastiff, a few days into his journey with whom he fought the elements and warded off other village dogs. There may be enough content in the book to justify spending the time with it.
Could have been a great book but.. November 20, 2006
17 out of 36 found this review helpful
We read this book for book club. I suggested it based on a fantastic front page New York Time Book Review. It didn't live up to it. The descriptions of this truly incredible undertaking felt so distant and lacking in detail. I will say though, that this book did engender one of the more interesting discussions we have had in our group. The situation in Afghanistan, the culture, the people, were truly astounding to us. If the author had not been so brave (and foolhardy?) as he was to undertake this journey and write about it, we would not have this window into this country. So it is worth the read. I can't help but think, though, that in the hands of a good writer this would have been a knockout book.
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