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Overview
"Masood Farivar was ten years old when his childhood in peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan was shattered by the Soviet invasion in 1979. Although he was born into a long line of religious and political leaders who shaped his nation's history for centuries, Farivar fled to Pakistan with his family and came of age in a madrassah for refugees, where he was introduced to Islamic fundamentalism and became a devout Muslim. At eighteen, he defied his parents and returned home to join the jihad, fighting beside not only the Afghan mujahideen but also Arab and Pakistani volunteers." "Farivar was stationed at Tora Bora and spent the next two years training for, fighting in, and reporting on the conflict. He learned to gauge the proximity of enemy fire in order to say his prayers between shellings. He aided in the takeover of a Soviet garrison that killed more than one hundred Communist soldiers. He shared a room with dead comrades when there was nowhere else to sleep. Toward the end of his time at the front, Farivar was introduced to Carlos Mavroleon, an enigmatic international adventurer from a privileged background who had converted to Islam and was fighting with the mujahideen. Mavroleon took Farivar under his wing and encouraged him to apply to Harvard." "After the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, Farivar made his way from the caves of Tora Bora to the rolling green lawns of elite American schools. His first stop was the Lawrenceville School, a private academy in suburban New Jersey, where he spent a year shoring up his academic credentials before moving on to Harvard. At every turn there were culture shocks: girls in short skirts, radically different ideas about personalhygiene, plentiful drugs and alcohol. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in history and politics, Farivar traveled the United States by car and finally moved to New York City to pursue a career in journalism. During his ten years in the city, he witnessed the horror of 9/11, made several heartbreaking trips home to visit his family, and was ultimately propelled home for good in 2007. He now serves his country by running a national radio program." At a time when the war in Afghanistan is the focus of renewed attention, and its outcome is more crucial than ever to our own security, Farivar draws on his unique experience as a native Afghan, a former mujahideen fighter, and a longtime U.S. resident to provide unprecedented insight into the ongoing collision between Islam and the West. He paints a vibrant portrait of his family and his nation's history; exposes the world of militant Islam by taking us deep inside the madrassahs; vividly recounts his experiences on the battlefield; and movingly conveys the culture shock of a Muslim living in contemporary America.Synopsis
Masood Farivar was ten years old when his childhood in peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan was shattered by the Soviet invasion in 1979. Farivar, who was born into a long line of religious and political leaders who have shaped his nation’s history for centuries, fled to Pakistan with his family and came of age in refugee schools. At eighteen, he defied his parents and returned home to join the jihad, fighting beside not only the Afghan mujahideen but also Arab and Pakistani volunteers. When the Soviets withdrew, Farivar moved to America and attended the prestigious Lawrenceville School, Harvard, and ultimately became a journalist in New York. In this dramatic and timely memoir, Farivar draws on his unique experience as a native Afghan, a former mujahideen fighter, and a longtime U.S. resident to provide unprecedented insight into the recent collision between Islam and the West. He paints a vibrant portrait of his family and his nation’s history, exposes the world of militant Islam by taking us deep inside the madrassas, vividly recounts his experiences on the battlefield at Tora Bora and elsewhere, and movingly conveys the culture shock of a Muslim living in contemporary America.
Publishers Weekly
One would be forgiven for assuming that the reader of Farivar's memoir of war, religious fundamentalism and escape is, like its author, a native Afghan. With his mellifluous accent, and Britain-by-way-of-Kabul pronunciation, Christopher Lane superbly echoes the sound of Afghan English without any shade of parody. The result is a deeper immersion in Farivar's story of growing up in the relatively peaceful Afghanistan that predated the Soviet invasion of 1979, his time spent passionately devoted to the Qur'an in a religious school, and his studies at an East Coast prep school and Harvard after his arrival in the United States. An Atlantic Monthly hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 20). (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
Publishers Weekly
One would be forgiven for assuming that the reader of Farivar's memoir of war, religious fundamentalism and escape is, like its author, a native Afghan. With his mellifluous accent, and Britain-by-way-of-Kabul pronunciation, Christopher Lane superbly echoes the sound of Afghan English without any shade of parody. The result is a deeper immersion in Farivar's story of growing up in the relatively peaceful Afghanistan that predated the Soviet invasion of 1979, his time spent passionately devoted to the Qur'an in a religious school, and his studies at an East Coast prep school and Harvard after his arrival in the United States. An Atlantic Monthly hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 20). (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Library Journal
This timely memoir looks into the life of a man who has experienced war in Afghanistan from a side not normally reported on by the American media. Farivar explores his experience in the war with Russia that raged from 1979 to 1989, showing how his life circumstances influenced his attitude about war and religion and what jihad really means to someone who is Muslim. Not just a chronicle of war, it is also a coming-of-age story about a child raised by a secular father who as a young man becomes a refugee in Pakistan drawn to radical Islam, joining the mujahideen fighting in his homeland. A chance meeting with an English convert sets him on the path to America, a turn from radicalism, and a degree from Harvard. After years in America, Farivar has decided to return to Afghanistan and a very uncertain future. This invaluable memoir shows the other, non-American side of the Middle Eastern coin, explaining how a normal person can get caught up in radical Islam-not because he is anti-American or anti-West but because he is pro-Afghanistan. Farivar humanizes the experience for us. Recommended for larger public and especially academic libraries, where its discussion of hot-button issues will generate good discussion.
—Jenny Seftas