Read this historical fiction, which was originally published in 1963. As you read, you will realize that "it was ever thus" in Afghanistan. The country has a long and complex history, filled with war, political instability, and foreign interference.

Maybe we should learn from history and meddle less in the affairs of other countries. Instead of trying to impose our own values and systems on others, we should respect their sovereignty and allow them to determine their own futures.

Of course, this is not to say that we should turn a blind eye to human rights abuses or other atrocities. But we should approach these issues with diplomacy and cooperation, rather than with military force or economic sanctions.

By learning from history and taking a more humble and respectful approach to the world, we can help to create a more peaceful and just future for all.

This was one of Michener's early books.

Set in Afghanistan in 1946, it follows the story of Mark Miller. He is a Jew who works for the U.S. State Department. He is assigned the task of finding the whereabouts of Ellen Jaspar. His journey commences in Kabul, where he is stationed. From there, he embarks on a perilous and eventful adventure.

Well, I won't disclose where he ultimately ends up. This is a highly relevant book when it comes to Afghanistan. Michener truly delves deep into the history and culture of the country. What's more, he shows remarkable prescience regarding its future, considering the book was written in 1963.

If you have a passion for history and geography, this is undoubtedly a book that you should not miss. It offers a fascinating and immersive look into a country that has played a significant role in world events.

I could have given this one a four stars. However, I'm not entirely certain if the story was interesting enough to merit that rating.

Nonetheless, I did appreciate the opportunity to learn about the history, culture, and geography of Afghanistan through this light read.

The book provided some valuable insights into a country that has often been in the news for various reasons.

It was interesting to discover the unique aspects of Afghan society, such as its rich traditions and diverse ethnic groups.

The author's descriptions of the landscapes and cities also added to the overall experience.

Despite some reservations about the story's level of interest, I still found this book to be a worthwhile read for anyone interested in learning more about Afghanistan.

The protagonist, whose name remains unknown until deep into the novel, presents a tired and clichéd travelogue of Afghanistan.

We are bombarded with descriptions of strange Middle Eastern customs such as sex with transgendered young men and boys, brutal public executions for the most ordinary of offenses (including stealing another man's boy), and the mysterious Afghani women donning the cloaked chaderi.

By today's standards, these practices are neither particularly shocking nor revealing. What truly surprises me is the protagonist's Western condescension, aside from the narrator's aversion to homosexuality.

The novel, published in 1963 and set in 1946, predates the West's post-9/11 fixation with Islam. Yet, Michener's description of the chaderi as "sexy" mirrors the views of many modern feminists who are steeped in multiculturalism and have opinions about head scarves and burqas.

It is precisely this post-modern "progressiveness" that makes me so dislike the novel.

The one thread that attempts to hold the story together – the disappearance of an American woman who abandoned her "bourgeois" suburban upbringing to marry a wealthy Afghani man and join his harem – fails to draw me into the narrative. Her backstory, if anything, further repels me.

Several times, I am tempted to throw the book across the room due to all the obnoxious stereotyping and cultural relativism. (Once again, Michener voices contemporary "progressive" thought when he implies that Nazi Germany was not so different from suburban America.)

The narrator's American and Jewish roots should have added more interest, especially in the context of the Middle East and the Holocaust unfolding in Europe. However, Michener glosses over what could have been the novel's most captivating aspect.

I persist until the end, feeling no concern for any of the characters. The prose is acceptable, and I can find no fault with the grammar or writing style, although at times it is rather dull.

If you relish superficial portrayals of foreign countries without any characters to engage with, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, I would recommend avoiding it.

Another remarkable book by Michener! This time, we journey back in time to one of his earliest creations and take an in-depth look at the country of Afghanistan.

I only wish the US State and Defense Departments had perused this work before deciding to dispatch troops there. Michener penned this book in 1963, setting it in 1946. He doesn't rely on his typical plot mechanisms. Instead, he commences with an American diplomat stationed in Afghanistan. This diplomat is assigned a mission to locate a young girl from Pennsylvania who fled to Afghanistan with a man to become his second wife, and her parents haven't heard from her in 13 months.

This is all Michener requires to embark on a tour de force journey where the countryside and culture of Afghanistan take center stage. Oh, we encounter numerous fascinating characters along the way, and our diplomat ultimately finds the long-lost girl. However, we witness all the beauty and savagery of this country and begin to comprehend some of the problems that will always be inherent in this part of the world.

If you're a fan of Michener and haven't read some of his earlier works, then this is an excellent book to pick up. Plus, it doesn't weigh in at over 1,000 pages like many of his other works.

I do have one major gripe with the book. I purchased the ebook on Kindle, and there are hundreds of misspelled words and atrocious editing errors. It's not Michener's fault that these are so abundant in this edition, and thus I didn't reduce the * rating for the book. But be cautious of these dreadful flaws in the Kindle edition.

You can view my full review at https://blaineseclecticbookshelf.word...

The assistant of the American ambassador in Kabul is given the task of finding out where a young American woman has gone missing. She has followed an Afghan man to his country, against the advice of her parents and friends.

The insight into the complicated psyche of the Afghans is interesting. However, unfortunately, not much really happens. I start to lose a bit of patience. The woman at the center of it all is an egotistical goat, but she is so beautiful that all men dance to her tune.

The novel serves as a vehicle to get to know the country. The author has traveled around there for a long time and surely knew what he was writing about. Unfortunately, his optimistic future prognoses for the country have been destroyed by reality.

It seems that the story has its moments of interest with the exploration of the Afghan psyche and the actions of the young American woman. But the lack of significant events can make it a bit dull at times. The description of the woman as an egotistical beauty adds an element of complexity to the narrative. Overall, while the novel has its merits in introducing the country, its flaws in terms of pacing and overly optimistic projections are also evident.

Better story than characters


The writing in this piece is indeed quite good. It offers a wealth of knowledge about the history and geography of Afghanistan, which is truly fascinating. However, the ending was rather abrupt, leaving me with a sense of incompleteness. At the beginning, the story started off a bit slowly, but as it progressed, I found myself gradually getting swept up in it. Nevertheless, one aspect that really stood out to me was that I didn't like any of the characters. This made it somewhat difficult for me to stay fully engaged throughout the entire narrative. It's as if the lack of likable characters created a bit of a barrier between me and the story. Despite this, the overall story itself was still interesting enough to hold my attention, and I'm glad I took the time to read it.

The best aspect of this book was the palpable sense of place and the in-depth exploration of various facets of life in Afghanistan during the late 1940s.

Although I wasn't overly enthusiastic about the missing American, Ellen, as she was truly a minor part of the overall narrative. In my opinion, the storyline was somewhat weak. However, the vivid sense of place and well-developed characters more than compensated for that shortcoming.

Michener had lived and traveled extensively in the country, not in the comfort of air-conditioned tour buses. He possessed the remarkable ability to bring a place to life, and he definitely achieved that in this book.

This is a relatively fast-paced read that offers a fascinating glimpse into a place that Westerners seldom see, except during times of war. It is also intriguing to compare the state of the country then with its current situation and reflect a little on what has transpired in the intervening years.

Overall, despite its flaws, this book provides a valuable and engaging perspective on Afghanistan's past.

4/5 - This was by far the most unexpectedly good read I've had in quite some time. I really had no idea what to expect, but boy, did it far exceed my expectations.

The basic premise of this story is only moderately intriguing at first. A snotty American girl has married an Afghan man and run off with him to Afghanistan, and her parents haven't heard from her since. Some poor schmuck from the embassy is then sent to find her. But what he discovers along the way is far more than he ever bargained for. He becomes far more cultured than he could have ever imagined and uncovers much more than just the missing girl. I was initially looking forward to a good adventure, but what I didn't anticipate was learning so much along the journey.

The characters in this book are truly fascinating. We have mulluhs, Kochi tribesmen, and even a Nazi war criminal who claims to be "already a dead man". Our protagonist, Mark Miller, is more or less an ordinary guy. He travels from the snowy foothills of the Hindu Kush to Kabul and then on to the scorching sand and shale of the Dasht-e Margo (which is translated as the Desert of Death) and many other places. There are extremely interesting insights throughout the story, and by the end, it seems that Ellen, the missing girl from the US, is actually the least interesting part of the narrative.

There are, however, some aspects of this book that wouldn't withstand the politically correct scrutiny of the 2020s. But considering that it was written in the 1960s, I think it was incredibly forward-thinking for its time. This book is about a country at a crossroads. It is set in the late 1940s, and a major theme is the pull of westernization on a country like Afghanistan, which has struggled with identity issues throughout its entire existence. At the time of its writing, Afghanistan had already made some significant changes that had really begun around the 1940s. You can look up pictures of the country in the 1960s, and it looks like it could be any city in America or Europe. However, things have taken a different turn than what Michener anticipated back then.

Overall, this book is definitely worth a read. It would have easily received a full 5/5 if it hadn't slowed down a bit around the 3/4 mark when a new plot line was introduced. For that reason, I had to deduct a point. But I still loved it and can't wait to read more of Michener's works.

When I delved into all the other Michner books, I truly wonder how on earth I managed to overlook this particular one.

I have a rather hazy recollection that it was adapted into a movie, yet unfortunately, that movie didn't quite hit the mark. However, the story itself holds an undeniable allure.

It transports you to a different era and most definitely a distinct place. The plot is so convincingly crafted that it makes for an excellent summer read.

As you turn the pages, you can easily envision the scenes and become immersed in the world that Michner has created.

Despite the movie's shortcomings, the book stands on its own as a captivating piece of literature that is well worth the time and effort to explore.

It offers a unique escape from the present and allows you to lose yourself in a story that will keep you engaged from start to finish.

So, if you're looking for a good read this summer, don't make the same mistake I did and pass up this wonderful Michner novel.

One of those 'mid-career' Micheners I've never gotten around to, and one in which I confess I really didn't have much interest in reading for a long time.

Published in 1963, "Caravans" is set in 1946 in British-occupied Afghanistan. It centers on the clash of cultures and ideologies in the search for a missing American woman. Regarding the treatment of women and foreigners in Afghanistan, not much has changed since then. Michener accurately predicted that Afghanistan would have an important place in world affairs for decades to come. In fact, he has a character say quite prophetically in 1946: "Ask a lot of questions. Learn the country. Don't be afraid of looking stupid, because one of these days we could be driven into war across this terrain, and you'd be the only American who'd ever seen parts of it. Keep your eyes open."

By the way, Michener published 16 books that had one-word titles.

02/14: The character of Ellen Jaspar seems a little out-of-place in 1946 yet would, I think, have fit in quite well in Michener’s 1971 novel "The Drifters," because she reminds me of those girls (and guys too) who in the 1960s turned their backs on their middle- and upper middle-class upbringings and eschewed their parents’ values and post-WW II materialism to become hippies or ‘groupies.’

The often violent traditions of Afghanistan are chronicled here, and punishment is often swift and violent. Early in the novel, the narrator (an American Jew in his mid-20s, working for the US State Department) witnesses an adulterous woman being stoned to death, as well as the beheading of a young man with a rusty sword. The beheading was carried out by the father of the man the other young man had killed in a dispute over a dancing boy. Michener's descriptions of the country's terrain are vivid, especially the desert heat and wind and the various dangers present. And of course, there are a few history lessons along the way, such as the column, twelve feet across, that was originally constructed of living human beings laid across each other until the proper height was achieved, and only then was it sealed with plaster.

Although set in Central Asia rather than the Middle East, "Caravans" is still very much concerned with Muslim culture and obviously sets the stage for "The Source," Michener's epic saga that followed in 1965, in which he chronicled the development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through the history of an excavation site in Israel.

02/15: I have to say that ultimately I found Ellen Jaspar, her fickleness and phony idealism to be extremely tiresome. Ultimately, she was a shallow woman who wasn't worth any of the trouble she caused.

I have never read a Michener novel before.

I got this recommendation from my mom, who has read every single one of them.

After reading this particular work, I found it to be a truly fascinating exploration of the various ethnic groups in Afghanistan.

It not only provided detailed insights into their cultures, traditions, and ways of life but also offered interesting discussion points about places and peoples around the world where time seems to stand still for millennia.

The author's vivid descriptions and in-depth research made it easy for me to envision the landscapes, architecture, and daily activities of the Afghan people.

It was a captivating read that broadened my understanding of a country and a region that I had previously known very little about.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in learning more about different cultures and the history of the world.