This novel provoked such incredibly conflicting emotions…

The Bookseller of Kabul

Asne Seierstad

Available via Booktopia for $18.80. 

If you wanted to insert yourself into an Afghani family, living with them to gain knowledge of their lifestyle first hand, how would you make your choice?

Would you choose a traditional family, or would you try to find a seemingly liberated family? Asne Seierstad, a Norwegian journalist chose Sultan Khan and in her words:

In a bookshop I happened upon an elegant, grey-haired man.  … it was refreshing to leaf through books and talk about literature and history. Sultan Khan’s shelves were weighed down by books in many languages; collections of poems, Afghan legends, history books, novels. …… an Afghan patriot who felt let down by his country time and again.

‘First the Communists burnt my books, then the Mujahedeen looted and pillaged, finally the Taliban burnt them all over again,’ he told me.”

This man and his family would seem to the ideal choice for an author wanting to look inside the psyche of a typical Afghan family.  But are they truly a “typical” family?  For a start, unlike the majority of the population, Sultan and his family are literate; by local standards they are also middle class.  Although 12 people live in just 4 rooms, they have the money to buy food, whereas most of the population is hungry.

The Bookseller of Kabul was my library bookclub choice and although it is not a new release, it provoked such conflicting emotions in me as a reader, I wanted to share it with my Starts at Sixty community.  I must say it also provoked long and passionate discussion among the library book club members.

Sultan Khan as the head of his family is the final decision maker; his word is law and his brothers, sisters, children and even his aged mother do not disobey his word.  Reading the first paragraph in italics above, I was predisposed to like him, but the more I read, the more I became angered by his seeming abuse of his position.  One such abuse of his position is that without reference to his wife Sharifa, a well educated woman and the mother of his children, Sultan brings a 16 year old illiterate girl Sonya into his family as his new wife. Whilst valuing literacy and in fact organising the printing and distribution of text books, he takes his sons out of school so they can earn money.  Sultan’s treatment of the women in his life, from his sisters to his daughters to his wives is appalling; for a seemingly liberated man he is in many respects a totally traditional man.  I must however temper my remarks by saying I have not, thank God, walked a mile in his shoes; I have only western standards by which to form my opinions.

About the book itself, there are also many differing opinions.  A search on Google will lead anyone interested to a number of articles about the book, the author and the bookseller himself. There is very specific information within the covers of this book which make fascinating reading, such as Billowing, Fluttering, Winding which tells the modern history of the burka and No Admission to Heaven which outlines the 16 decrees broadcast on Radio Sharia when the Taliban rolled into Kabul in September 1996, sixteen decrees which heralded another era of new rule in Kabul. Yet there is still the feeling that the author did not participate as a family member, but rather reported from afar.

A sad footnote: In the 25 years of Communist, Mujahedeen and Taliban interference in his business, never once was the bookstore closed for more than a few days. On the eve of the historic elections to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, 4 April 2014 “the shabby green façade of his famous store is shuttered as the result of a family tragedy”.  In the attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, Shah Mohammed Rais’s nephew, Sardar Ahmad died along with his wife and two young children. His infant son survived the rampage, despite being hit by four bullets.

The Bookseller of Kabul is fascinating for many reasons, some positive, some negative; but I doubt there is anyone who can read this book and remain unaffected.  Please share your thoughts with me and the rest of our community.

Available via Booktopia for $18.80. 

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About the Author

Asne Seierstad was born in Oslo, but grew up in Lillehammer.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oslo where she majored in Russian, Spanish and history of ideas. From 1993 until 1996 she reported for the Arbeiderbladet in Russia and in 1997 from China. From 1998 until 2000 she worked for the national television network NRK (Norsk Rikskringkasting) where she reported from the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo. With Their Backs to The World: Portraits of Serbia her first book, is an account of this time. (This book was extended and republished in 2004 when she again visited Serbia. The name was changed slightly, to Portraits of Serbia, signaling that Serbia’s back is no longer turned to the world.)

As a reporter she is particularly remembered for her work in war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq and most recently Chechnya, as well as for her reports on the September 11 attacks in the United States of America. Seierstad is completely fluent in five languages, and has “a good working knowledge” of another four. She currently lives and works in Oslo.

Available via Booktopia for $18.80.