An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan

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If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Learn more about Amazon Prime. With a New Afterword by the Author Part travelogue, part historical evocation, part personal quest, and part reflection on the joys and perils of passage, this acclaimed synthesis of description and insight remains as relevant today as when it first appeared.

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There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. I purchased this book after having read it at my local library because it has to be on my Top 25 list of favorite books of all time. Elliot lived and travelled in Afghanistan not as a journalist or tourist, but as a human being drawn to the area and its people. This was post-Soviet time and pre-American time, and probably many of the people and places he visited have changed irrevocably.

What comes through is his intense willingness to meet people on their terms, without judgement or agenda, and what results is a deep love for the place and people of the land. It makes it doubly sad to know the corruption and continual war leaves so few people with any viable options for survival, let alone a good life--but I for one am very grateful and appreciative of this book and the attitude of its author towards a place and people I can only respect and admire the more for his sharing of his experience.

The prose can be very lyrical and at times almost numinous, because he is being touched so by the deeper spirit of this land. Beautifully written with great respect and almost a reverence for the best of what is Afghanistan hint: To me, delving into the nature of the place and people, I see that it is utterly fruitless for any other nation to occupy militarily and attempt to "win" any kind of war here.

It will never happen, but I don't have another solution either. There is so much we can't understand about a foreign country, especially one with such a long history, but Afghanistan's people deserve peace and prosperity, and I wish it for them, somehow. This book is more than a travel book. It's an opportunity for the reader to enjoy, know and appreciate the country and people of Afghanistan in the years during and just after the Soviet occupation post It's more than that too.

It's a beautifully written and thoughtful book which is a stand-alone example of literature at its contemporary best. Elliott made at least two trips into Afghanistan as an independent journalist in the and in this book he chronicles the magnificence of the landscape, the quality of the Afghans, cut off and on their own and the warm and the hospitable nature of their customs. But don't cross them1 It was a pleasure to read, my only caveat being that Elliott used a map with names and places which don't appear on my National Geographic Atlas you'll want to read it with a magnifying glass and a good atlas at hand.

As travel literature goes it can't be beat! One person found this helpful. Of the currently posted reviews, it is interesting that they either rate this book at the top or at the bottom of the rating scale. This is a sign that the book elicits much more comment on the reviewer's state of mind than on the book itself. He was nineteen years old the first time he visited Afghanistan, but Moreover, I felt that Elliot romanticized the simple and tradition-bound life that he observes is led by most Afghans.

Interestingly, of course, those very traditions ensured that he was only able to talk to men; I'd like to know whether Afghan women at the time the book is set in just before the Taliban took over power were as enamored of tradition as the men who controlled their every move were. It's also telling to me that Elliot never seems to see the irony between his celebration of Afghans as being in love with their freedom and the conspicuous lack of freedom that the female proportion of the population at least in rural and small-town Afghanistan is forced to endure.

An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan

Maybe the ladies were all happy to wear their burqahs and live under the control of their male relatives, but of course, we and the author would never know, because it was totally impossible for him to talk with them freely! I also found Elliot's constant negative comparisons between "effete" Westerners and the long-suffering Afghans a little annoying - I get it! Americans are soft and whiny; Afghans are hard and noble and awesome. Oh, the French are slimy and treacherous and the Swiss are cold and bureaucratic - the only foreigners who come off as remotely OK, even though they can't, of course, compare to the noble Afghans either, are Elliot's fellow Brits.

However, I did enjoy Elliot's description of the landscape of Afghanistan he makes it sound astonishingly beautiful and discussions of history. I sort of wish he'd stuck to those a bit more. I can't help but compare this book to Rory Stewart's more recent ca. May 18, Connie rated it liked it. Loved traveling in Afghanistan and loved the opportunity to revisit it with Jason Elliot. Apr 07, Ron rated it it was amazing. This book is a gem. The author's prose style is elegantly suited to his subject matter, capturing the wonderful complexities and nuances of Afghanistan's breathtaking physical terrain and its people, whether in urban Kabul, its remote regional centers, or its far-flung mountain villages, and all in the aftermath of the disastrous Russian occupation.

Meanwhile, it is the s, and civil warfare continues as the Kabul government resists the increasing military pressure from Taliban forces. The jou This book is a gem. The journey taken by the author across this war-torn landscape is also a kind of pilgrimage, taking him to places he has long yearned to see with his own eyes, after years of reading about them in books. Thus informed, his accounts of his travels are filled with more than two millenia of history, dating back to Alexander and beyond. While the West may be familiar with the destruction of the giant Buddhas of Banyam, one is unprepared for the extent of the devastation wreaked by decades of warfare, and while the book is testimony to the dauntless and tenacious spirit of the Afghans, like the author on the final page, one weeps for what has been lost.

All of which is not to say that as a personal travelogue it's not also immensely entertaining. The author's fearlessness is often balanced against white-knuckled terror, and traveling in winter, at high elevations, he is often freezing cold. There are moments of delighted relief and also humor, particularly as he encounters fellow westerners, whose reason for being in Afghanistan is often at odds with his own.

This is a deeply enjoyable and informative book. While it is vividly visual, you can also read it while googling for images of the places it describes for an even fuller effect. Easily some of the most articulate and intensely felt travel writing I've ever read. Aug 21, Joseph Gendron rated it it was amazing. What a surprise this book was. Jason Elliot is quite a writer and this book is full of wonder, adventure and humanity. It has much to share on the history and culture of an area of the world that is America's current quagmire.

Jason traveled alone and his remarkable adventures were a balm for this currently office and duty bound traveler. The title of the book speaks directly to the spirit of the people of Afganistan he experienced. He writes "Alone again and writing up the days events by c Wow. He writes "Alone again and writing up the days events by candlelight, I was visited by the stream of smiling faces I had encountered during the day - of begging children and shopkeepers and even the miserable looking soldiers I had thought so sinister at first - and felt ashamed of the comforts by which my experience of the place was softened.

It was not simply the degree and extent of the suffering of ordinary people that roused such feeling, but the strange symmetry with which they were equipped to bear it, without lapsing, despite their intimacy with despair, into cynicism. Mar 05, Chloe rated it really liked it Shelves: Elliot shows the true soul of Afghanistan, not the repressive fundamentalist boogieman of most American's nightmares, but a loving and caring people with a fierce determination to survive against the worst odds. One of my favorite works of travel literature. Jun 04, Helen rated it it was amazing.

After reading Rory Stewart's book about walking across Afghanistan I read this one and preferred it. Beautiful sketches of the mujahideen, Sufism, traveling, the aid community, the war, etc. Jun 17, Sphinx Feathers rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is one of my favorite travel books because not only is it well-written and filled with a quiet beauty, but it's filled with facts. I love a writer who can express himself and present himself in an intelligent manor. This is another book which I end up giving away often.

Oct 10, Paul rated it it was amazing Shelves: A lyrical and poetic travel book. It is beautifully written and you understand how he immersed himself in the country. Jul 25, Naeem rated it it was amazing. On page , Elliot reveals his personal challenge: His goal is to "fashion some intermediary vessel in which to bear the raw impressions of life For me, as much as I marveled at his attention to detail, his willingness to describe landscape, the shapes of peoples faces, the things and human wares that make up a life, and as much as I so often felt his prose to convey an exact impression, nevertheless, I also felt that I needed him to be still, or rather, more still.

By calling attention to them, his words too often get in the way of my reading experience and perhaps of his own desires.

But Elliot's inability to reach his goal did not detract me from admiring the depth of his ambition. And there are many, many passages whose elegant beauty seems as simply perfect as Afghanistan's topography, culture, and people. There is no question that his knowledge and love of Afghanistan is great even as he regrets the limits of his understanding.

For my needs this book answers a few questions that have long been my companions. First, for those trained in the hubris of modernity: Every page of this book is a tribute to a people and a place whose relative value -- to those who calculate life's worth in terms of utility instead of grace -- is usually considered zero. For his re-evaluation of Afghanistan alone Elliot deserves a hug strong enough to lift him off his feet. Second, as I read the countless times and ways in which Elliot risks his life, I wondered.

I wondered about his sanity but also about whether he might have uncovered a way of being a warrior. Warriors, I have read, for example, in the soviet accounts of their experience in Afghanistan see Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War as well as in works inspired by the philosopher Hegel, are attracted to the spectacle of war. Their deepest motivations are grounded in the need to risk their lives for a perceived ethical cause. Star Trek's Klingons capture this spirit exactly. As long as there is honor in risking one's life for such causes, there will be warriors.

In Elliot's account the warrior's motivations are transposed, internally one might say, so that risking one's life ennobles and enables the lives of others. He risks his life to find the value of others, not to de-humanize and then deprive them. Elliot might be surprised by how his writing triggered my thoughts on warriors.

I hope he might be intrigued and satisfied by my extension. He might think that the willingness to be still and observe the beauty and significance of particular moments in life is exactly what allows his readers to find their own resonance in his account. Through him, I find "a sort of stretching, a deepening" of my ability. For that, I offer him another hug and a cup of hot sweet chai. Finally, I must say what a sadness it was for me to approach the book's last few pages. I feel a loss for his company and guidance.

We must live in interesting times if a book by an Afghan is crashing failure The Kite Runner , whereas one written by the product of a former occupying empire, seems so redemptive. Jun 16, Harry Hunter rated it really liked it. Aug 26, Jim rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is a remarkable travel book. It was written in , as the Taliban was attempting to extend its control over Afghanistan, still not in control of Kabul, but in power in the south of the country and battling for control of the territory around Herat.

One has to marvel at the courage and audacity of the author, who travels to Kabul, throughout the north of the country and to Herat, most of the time on his own. He relies on the goodwill of the Afghans, with whom he is, obviously, particularly This is a remarkable travel book. He relies on the goodwill of the Afghans, with whom he is, obviously, particularly enamored as well as the hospitality of the few foreigners correspondents, aid personnel and missionaries for places to stay.

Even with the Taliban routed from most of the country today, it is hard to imagine traveling about Afghanistan as the author did. The book is a combination account of the author's travels, his interactions with Afghans and foreigners living in Afghanistan and a very healthy and enlightening dose of political and cultural history of the country, starting as far back as the invasion by Alexander the Great. The writing is excellent, and exhilaration of traveling vicariously through the eyes and the writing of the author is terrific.

Mar 11, Sue rated it it was ok Shelves: Jason Elliot had an interest in visiting Afghanistan and found a way to enter the country. Several years later he desired to go back and spent a number of months traveling the country alone. This second trip was taken with the idea of writing a book about the country and the people. I also wish that the map inside the cover referenced places along his route. I could find none of them other than the landmark of Kabul.

Sep 20, Patty rated it it was ok. Well-written travel book set in war-torn Afghanistan about two decades ago. I found myself distracted by my awareness of what would come next, or for us, what is happening there now. Yet in some ways, it's too recent to be called a "historical" travel book. One of those books I will have to read again someday to appreciate further, I guess. Though it is amazing the pieces of earth that have been fought over for centuries with little resolution, and the fortitude of those who try to make a life i Well-written travel book set in war-torn Afghanistan about two decades ago.

Though it is amazing the pieces of earth that have been fought over for centuries with little resolution, and the fortitude of those who try to make a life in the middle of it all. May 17, Andrea Homier rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a long book and the pace is by foot -- not jet, so it's a slow read. If you adjust to the pace I read it recovering from surgery , it's a great read with good writing, adventure, history, and personal growth and philosophy.

Much more than I expected and a treasure.

Feb 12, Annie rated it really liked it Shelves: I really did enjoy this book thoroughly, as it illuminated a country that I had not previously thought much about except in an abstract way, a thoroughly American absent-minded, conceited way Afghanistan? Isn't that in the middle east somewhere, where they shipped troops to fight terrorism? The author clearly feels a strong kinship toward the country and its people, and I think he earnestly tries to do them credit.

I appreciated his perspective, his honesty, and his adventurous spirit. That be I really did enjoy this book thoroughly, as it illuminated a country that I had not previously thought much about except in an abstract way, a thoroughly American absent-minded, conceited way Afghanistan? That being said, I could not escape the fact that this was a book written by a man, surrounded by men, with a male perspective of the country and its citizens.

The author will mention his wife and child in one sentence, then reflect on how he is attracted to more or less every woman he comes across in Afghanistan, whether they be Afghan or expat. Women have no role in this story, except to be objects of curiosity or desire; this is, as the author acknowledges, in part due to the extreme segregation of society there.

Part of the fun of reading a book about traveling is to imagine that you are traveling in this country as well. I could not imagine this, as I felt that all the doors which stood open for Mr. Elliot would have closed in my face. I still managed to see the beauty in his travels, but the feeling of looking into a world which someone like could not take part in made me quite sad.

May 07, Sally Edsall rated it it was amazing Shelves: The parts that interest me most are the cultural observations - the "humanising" of a people who are otherwise seen as exotic, unfathomable 'others'. I was fascinated by the observations and experiences Elliot has with the very severe and serious looking Afghans in front of the camera, and the warmth and hospitality and cheerfulness he encounters.

It was quite chilling when he was trying to get to Bamiyan, a feat he never achieved I just cannot imagine what Afghanistan looked like - would love to see some pictures of it in its glorious past. We see so many images now of rubble and destruction, I can't imagine the avenues of trees and beautiful gardens that once were, but Elliot's word pictures help.

However, Elliot's sory is, by necessity, half the story only. Elliot, as a man, can only interact with men during his journeys.

An Unexpected Light

This is not, of course, Elliot's fault. I got the feeling in quite a few places that Elliot was startlingly comfortable with all the male company, and hardly missed the company of women. When he was in women's company he was only ever able to objectify them.

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His reaction to the attractive Afghan woman he encountered Herat? At the expat gatherings it was the same, and the foreign journalists he usually had something, if not disparaging, then at least arch, to say about them. I do think at times he might be prone to romanticising those with whom he seems to have most sympathy - the mujahadeen of the north. Plenty is known about the atrocities they have been involved with over the years, and organisations like RAWA certainly have no more time for them than the Taleban.

He certainly lionises the Northern Alliance, the mujahadeen - it is obvious his sympathies lie with them, which is understandable, seeing as he was with them and also the Soviet occupation was untenable and vile. Nevertheless, we know that the alliance were no saints at all, and we get no sense of that. While I found all his journeys interesting, I loved the section in the latter part of the book about Herat the best. It was the only place where he met resistance and suspicion from the ex-pats the Swiss and French aid workers , and where he met the most "interesting" non-Afghans, especially the Christian missionaries.

Then there was the English couple and their children in the village north of Heart. I would love to have known a bit more about them and their motivations. But best of all was when he visited the shrine and stayed the night with the sufis and the descriptions of the Talebs who came along making their noises of - ecstacy? This was also the scene of the only time where I felt that he felt any real fear. The tension when he was having to dash back to the missionaries after he had been thrown out of the aid place was real. The footnote on p is really interesting and has made me conscious of the phenomenon he describes every time an item comes on TV about countries where Muslims are the majority: It does accompany nearly every single news item - those bums raised in the air!

And imagine if every time there was an item about, say Northern Ireland, it was accompanied by an image of Caholics genuflecting! Absurd, we would think. As he says it: Dec 18, Chana rated it really liked it Shelves: This is what I wrote when I was about a quarter into it: It was published in when the Taliban was first coming into power.

It is interesting, although it is sort of the hunky-dory version of his trip across Afghanistan by foot, horse, truck. He has a guide for some of it but mostly he is an Englishman with rudimentary Persian at least in the beginning traveling on his own and getting by on his wits and his trust in fate. It is in This is what I wrote when I was about a quarter into it: It is interesting for sure. Then after I finished the book I wrote the rest of this review: What I mean by hunky-dory, is it seems he makes an effort to tell us the good things and put all of his experiences into some kind of positive light.

The more unpleasant things are briefly mentioned, usually with a self-deprecating sense of humor, so one kind of dismiss them. I think that this is because there is so much negative opinion about Afghanistan already that he is trying not to add to it. I found the book became more intense as it continued, and sad. I found myself repeating what one of the residents of Afghanistan says, "Why Afghanistan?

He published this in People were hoping that war would end and that the Taliban would just disappear or something.

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