An Unexpected Light

Weblog post: An unexpected light

I'm currently almost done reading Jason Elliot's An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan, quite possibly one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. It's nonfiction (as are most of the books I like).

An Unexpected Light is poignant, and unexpectedly funny, and perceptive. There are lots of references to chapli kabob and chai and Pathans and Sufi parables and open-armed unconditional hospitality, for those of you who are fans of such things. (As well as an equal number of references to guns and landmines and destruction and the mujahideen and Taliban and meddling/useless foreign nations, for that matter.)

What struck me most as I was reading this was Elliot's respect and compassion for the Afghans. "He just has so much love and compassion for the people," I told a friend recently. "I love how he writes about them. Everyone is handsome or beautiful to him, I noticed. He never mentions people being ugly." Yet the Afghans are never exoticized or Other-ized here. Elliot sees them as dignified and beautiful, inside and out, because, for him, they are first and foremost profoundly human.

I don't often make book recommendations (to each his own, eh?), and I'm too lazy to write books reviews.

But you should read this one.

That is all.

To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser and
install the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player.

Comments

archanasr says:

Are you up really late or very early in the morning?

Lovely composition!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

fiction~dreamer.●๋• says:

this seems like a perfect book review to me!
I'm now going on amazon to hunt for this book, I must read it!

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called *Book Sniffers*,
and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

fiction~dreamer.●๋• says:

aaand, I notice that you've folded over the pages, aaarrrggghhh!!! sacrilege!!!
I will send you some bookmarkers and mini post-its to prevent you further
sinning against books!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[N.B. multiple exclamation points for illustrating the shock of your sinful practices ;-)]
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Flo's Diner says:

it warms my heart to see those folded over pages. i do the same thing as i'm always losing bookmarks and thus losing my place in the book.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

icubaji says:

thx for the recommendation! i'm almost finished with 'three cups of tea' and i suspect this will flow nicely with the theme. also, totally agree with fictiondreamer's reprimand on the folded pages. sacrilicious!!!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Colors of My Dreams says:

I want to eat your arm :o)

This book sounds very interesting. I've read couple of really good books on Afghanistan, will add this to my never ending TBR list. The Love and compassion thing you've mentioned, I've noticed in all the books I've read about Afghanistan...its amazing isn't it? :)

Dog-earing ruins the book!! *sobs loudy*
Stop THAT...I'm willing to send you two of my most favorite bookmarks ;)
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

yaznotjaz says:

arch,
i was up til about 2am. i don't know why i get a hackering for flickr-uploading so late, always! still trying to be 8 years old, i guess, and looking for any excuse not to go to bed. =)

fd,
i didn't even know my caption counted as a book review, but i guess it does, eh? hahaha. please do hunt it up and read it and review it and let me know how you like! =) and you can send me all the post-its you like, but then can you IMAGINE how many little sticky-notes i'll have sticking up out of the book! it'll look CRAZY.

joan,
i like you. you get me! HIGHFIIIIIVE to you! i do have a bunch of bookmarks i use for keeping track of what page i'm on, but i dog-ear all the pages containing sentences/paragraphs/ideas i love.

baji baj!
i just finished Three Cups of Tea a few months ago, too, and loved it. i'm sad i missed seeing greg mortenson when he was speaking here in the bay. sigh.

nahal,
i have kinda bony arms, though (from the elbow down), so you sure you want to do that? ;)
the book is AWESOME. READ IT!
and i always dog-ear my books. i can't help it! it's always fun to come back to a book, months or years later, and find passages that i loved in the initial reading. you'd have to send me HUNDREDS of bookmarks, then - the dog-earing is not to mark my progress in the book, but to mark pages containing passages i love.

highfive to sacriliciousness!. ;)
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

cu♥re di marmo says:

Lovely picture, Yaz. A book in the grass must be one of the most blissful images (althought it looks a bit like you dropped off while reading :-)
And the review makes me want to read the book, too.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

yaznotjaz says:

cdm,
thank you, lovely lady! a book and grass (and maybe some food to munch on) make for a rocking afternoon. and yes, there were a number of times when i put the book down and almost nodded off while listening to music. =) such a great afternoon.

you should definitely read the book. look, you can even read an excerpt of the Prologue on amazon!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

shinday' says:

lovely composition yasmine..nice shot:)
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

yaznotjaz says:

thanks much, buddy!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

shinday' says:

would definitely try getting my hands on that book as well..thanks for the recommendation yasmine:)
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

yaznotjaz says:

SUCCESS!

(let me know how you like. =))
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

shinday' says:

pehlay lainay tou dou..i gota look for it first then i'd read it..do ask me about it after 3-4 months lol:S
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

yaznotjaz says:

i linked to it on amazon for your easy reference. no searching required! ;)
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

stjernesol says:

I will certainly write it down, sounds really nice...
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

~Starlit Dreams~ (Goodbye Everyone..) [deleted] says:

Interesting capture! Very unique shot!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Ayamus says:

nice!!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Hameediii says:

more than the sweater i dig the angle,hehe no but seriously good sweater but out of the two i prefer the yellow striped one:)
Posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

yaznotjaz says:

popquiz! who's read the book, 9 months later!?
;)

hameedi,
it IS a good sweater - and turquoise looks good on everyone!
but the yellow stripes are awesome, i agree.
Posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

Would you like to comment?

[?]

	yaznotjaz's photostream
		1,340 uploads

This photo also belongs to:

	Blog THIS! (pictures with stories) (Set)
		159 items

	Afternoons in the park (Set)
		3 items

	A Book (Pool)
		0

	Book Sniffers (Pool)
		0

Additional Information

Taken with a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS.
More properties
Taken on June 19, 2008

2 people call this photo a favorite

Viewed 269 times
Replaced on August 13, 2008

Add to your map

Yay location removed

...

(Some formats are OK.)

Or, remove it from the map.

Go to the map

You	Sign in \| Create Your Free Account
Explore	Places \| Last 7 Days \| This Month \| Popular Tags \| The Commons \| Creative Commons \| Search
Help	Community Guidelines \| The Help Forum \| FAQ \| Sitemap \| Help by Email

An Unexpected Light

Comments

archanasr says:

fiction~dreamer.●๋• says:

fiction~dreamer.●๋• says:

Flo's Diner says:

icubaji says:

Colors of My Dreams says:

yaznotjaz says:

cu♥re di marmo says:

yaznotjaz says:

shinday' says:

yaznotjaz says:

shinday' says:

yaznotjaz says:

shinday' says:

yaznotjaz says:

stjernesol says:

*~Starlit Dreams~* (Goodbye Everyone..) [deleted] says:

Ayamus says:

Hameediii says:

yaznotjaz says:

Would you like to comment?

yaznotjaz's photostream

Blog THIS! (pictures with stories) (Set)

Afternoons in the park (Set)

A Book (Pool)

*Book Sniffers* (Pool)

Tags

Additional Information

~Starlit Dreams~ (Goodbye Everyone..) [deleted] says:

Book Sniffers (Pool)