Salaam, I just found this blog and it's quite refreshing to see. I have deep interest in afghan history for some time now and some books from your list I have read and some I have yet to read.
Your other blog I'm afraid I don't care much about as your stance on feminism and sodomites and other stuff is well 'look at me I am doing a ph.d in 2014 and 1,400 years of MALE history is all wrong'...bit difficult to take it seriously...but hey you win some and lose some.
Most of the books about Afghanistan is Dari and Tajik minority perspective of Afghanistan. Very few books portray the Pashtun majority and if they are portrayed they are portrayed most unjustly and in a negative light. Khaled Husaini is one such writer whose anti Pashtun biases comes across as brilliant as the morning horison. Kite Runner is one such anti Pashtun novel that have tarnished the vibrant,dynamic and great Pashtun people. Certainly Pashtun are not just Taleban as he would like the world believe. That Taleban did gastly things to Afghanistan is true,but Pashtun most probably suffered evn greater at the hands of Taleban and the majority of Pashtun hate them ,but they were heavily armed and trained by United states and the Punjabi government and Isi of Lahore and Rawalpindi. The Pashtun were the victims of this brutal American,Arab,Punjabi project .
Hyde: Glad you've come across my blog! Yeah, I hear there are still people in this world who don't recognize non-heterosexuality. It's very upsetting, but I'm hopeful, InShaAllah.
Thanks, Anonymous, for your insight! I loved The Kite Runner. I've written about it on my blog as well - Here: My Take on "The Kite Runner". Have you actually read the book? I've found that the Pashtuns who hate it actually haven't read the book at all.
Hosseini doesn't demonize Pukhtun in his books. When I was reading the Kite Runner, my mother was in Swat while the Taliban were in power. Everything i was reading in the book was going on in Swat according to my mother's experiences. I was struck by the author's telling of it all. Seemed fully real to me.
I would invite you to read the book if you haven't and form your own opinion on it because your current one is too popular among people who haven't read the book or have too positive a view of Pukhtuns and deny the atrocities of the Taliban blindly. In particular, I'd like to know which part of the book YOU found offensive to Pashtuns.
I look forward to your personal response to The Kite Runner.
P.S. If you've other books or novels or anything else on Afghanistan or Pashtunkhwa or Pashtuns, I'd be very happy to include it in the list above. One thing the list tells me is that we need more Pukhtun novelists.
Also, the books are from Afghan perspective. Every story is worth telling, and if you note above, they're mostly by Afghan women. Probably because they're mostly written in reminiscent of the Taliban era, and we know what the Taliban do to women, no? So I don't care if it's anti-Pashtun or not - what I care about is that it's someone's personal experiences during a certain phase in Afghan history, and that matters to me.
Indeed they're different concepts: recognizing and accepting non-heterosexuals doesn't mean you become one yourself or indulge in any non-heterosexual activities against your will. It's so unfortunate that too many people (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) think that accepting homosexuals' right to be themselves and to live happily and freely in this homophobic world means that becoming one yourself. That's like saying recognizing another human's right to, say, be a Jewish or a Muslim or a Christian or a Hindu or whatever else in a society where their group is a minority means becoming a Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or whatever else WITH them. Unless one just wants to, of course. I used to be homophibic myself. And then I grew up and learned about them and now I feel so relieved that I no longer have to carry the burden of judging and hating people. I love humans too much to hate any of them because they choose to love someone of their own gender/sex. It now feels wonderful. Hamdulillah.
Salaam, I just found this blog and it's quite refreshing to see. I have deep interest in afghan history for some time now and some books from your list I have read and some I have yet to read.
ReplyDeleteYour other blog I'm afraid I don't care much about as your stance on feminism and sodomites and other stuff is well 'look at me I am doing a ph.d in 2014 and 1,400 years of MALE history is all wrong'...bit difficult to take it seriously...but hey you win some and lose some.
Most of the books about Afghanistan is Dari and Tajik minority perspective of Afghanistan. Very few books portray the Pashtun majority and if they are portrayed they are portrayed most unjustly and in a negative light. Khaled Husaini is one such writer whose anti Pashtun biases comes across as brilliant as the morning horison. Kite Runner is one such anti Pashtun novel that have tarnished the vibrant,dynamic and great Pashtun people. Certainly Pashtun are not just Taleban as he would like the world believe. That Taleban did gastly things to Afghanistan is true,but Pashtun most probably suffered evn greater at the hands of Taleban and the majority of Pashtun hate them ,but they were heavily armed and trained by United states and the Punjabi government and Isi of Lahore and Rawalpindi. The Pashtun were the victims of this brutal American,Arab,Punjabi project .
DeleteOh I agree. The Kite Runner and the next novel of his were both greatly overturned to entertain.
DeleteThanks so much for your readership, guys!
DeleteHyde: Glad you've come across my blog! Yeah, I hear there are still people in this world who don't recognize non-heterosexuality. It's very upsetting, but I'm hopeful, InShaAllah.
Thanks, Anonymous, for your insight! I loved The Kite Runner. I've written about it on my blog as well - Here: My Take on "The Kite Runner". Have you actually read the book? I've found that the Pashtuns who hate it actually haven't read the book at all.
DeleteHosseini doesn't demonize Pukhtun in his books. When I was reading the Kite Runner, my mother was in Swat while the Taliban were in power. Everything i was reading in the book was going on in Swat according to my mother's experiences. I was struck by the author's telling of it all. Seemed fully real to me.
I would invite you to read the book if you haven't and form your own opinion on it because your current one is too popular among people who haven't read the book or have too positive a view of Pukhtuns and deny the atrocities of the Taliban blindly. In particular, I'd like to know which part of the book YOU found offensive to Pashtuns.
I look forward to your personal response to The Kite Runner.
Best,
P.S. If you've other books or novels or anything else on Afghanistan or Pashtunkhwa or Pashtuns, I'd be very happy to include it in the list above. One thing the list tells me is that we need more Pukhtun novelists.
DeleteAlso, the books are from Afghan perspective. Every story is worth telling, and if you note above, they're mostly by Afghan women. Probably because they're mostly written in reminiscent of the Taliban era, and we know what the Taliban do to women, no? So I don't care if it's anti-Pashtun or not - what I care about is that it's someone's personal experiences during a certain phase in Afghan history, and that matters to me.
Recognizing non-heterosexuality, accepting, participating, indulging are different concepts. One does not necessarily prove or disapprove any other.
DeleteIndeed they're different concepts: recognizing and accepting non-heterosexuals doesn't mean you become one yourself or indulge in any non-heterosexual activities against your will. It's so unfortunate that too many people (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) think that accepting homosexuals' right to be themselves and to live happily and freely in this homophobic world means that becoming one yourself. That's like saying recognizing another human's right to, say, be a Jewish or a Muslim or a Christian or a Hindu or whatever else in a society where their group is a minority means becoming a Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or whatever else WITH them. Unless one just wants to, of course. I used to be homophibic myself. And then I grew up and learned about them and now I feel so relieved that I no longer have to carry the burden of judging and hating people. I love humans too much to hate any of them because they choose to love someone of their own gender/sex. It now feels wonderful. Hamdulillah.
Delete