The Bookseller of Kabul

Dan Healy
The Bookseller of Kabul
by Åsne Seierstad

Åsne Seierstad, an experienced war correspondent from Norway, entered Kabul with the Northern Alliance at the defeat of the Taliban. She spent several months living with the family of the bookseller of Kabul.

Neither the author nor the bookseller really appreciated what they were getting into. Below is the dialog from the Forward in the book in which the author relates the conversation after suggesting she write a book about his family.

"Thank you" was all he said.

"But this means that I would have to come and live with you."

"You are welcome."

"I would have to go around with you, live the way you live. With you, your wives, sisters, sons."

"You are welcome," he repeated.

From an article in the Guardian dated November 3, 2003, the author's reaction to being sued by the bookseller:

Asne Seierstad, the Norwegian journalist who has become Scandinavia's bestselling author, never thought she would call herself "stupid or naive"..."Maybe I fooled myself into thinking that he wouldn't react" she says..."

This story relates a culture with which we all should become familiar. You get an entirely different view, from real life, on:

The treatment of women, “…Young women are above all objects to be bartered or sold.”

The rule of law, “…Pashtoon tribes command their particular districts on each side of the state boundaries. The lawlessness, preposterously, has found its way into Pakistani law.”

Travel, “…It matters not that he has family, a house, and business in the country, nor that his daughter goes to school there – he is not welcome…Sultan finds it degrading being smuggled into Pakistan.”

I found this an interesting, though sobering, book to read.