All in all we thought this was a great book and enjoyed reading it. We thought it was very refreshing to here things from a new perspective, and it has opened our eyes to the world in a variety of new ways. Many books try to depict the poverty of the Middle East and leave you feeling sad, and sympathetic. However, in this book the author told us the story through the eyes of a family who is well respected and has enough money to live more than adequately, especially by Afghani standards. It was also interesting that the author actually lived with this family and experienced some of the events of this book. This is different from a boring memoir written by someone who has never actually met the people who they are writing about.
Something that really surprised us in this section was when Tajmir came into the picture and his life is completely ruled by his mother. Since he was a boy he has obeyed her every wish because otherwise she will hit him. Now, he is a man and he still comes home and gives her his salary. His mother then does as she pleases with it, leaving him some spending money to buy things with. This would be odd even in our society, but in theirs it is particularly odd because of the role gender plays in Afghanistan’s daily life. Throughout the book we have seen countless women be ruled, overruled, and abused by men simply because of their traditions of men making the decisions. Men are wanted as children. Men decide whom they will marry. Men make the money. Men have the power. Now it appears the tables have turned and this man’s old mother completely rules his life even though he is the one paying the bills. That was something that really surprised us in this section.
One assumption that I had coming into the book was that the main character would be a very poor old man who sold books. This was wrong because Sultan is somewhat old, but he has a good amount of money. One thing that I should have assumed coming in, but did not was that women are treated as second-class citizens in Afghanistan. In this section especially this reoccurring theme is brought out. Leila has had three suitors, or people who wish to marry her, for some time. In this section a new young man comes along and falls in love with Leila. He writes her love letters and tries to see her in any way he can. Leila knows she should not accept the letters according to their traditions, but she reads them anyway and then tucks them away in her safe. This young man find out that Leila needs to meet with the minister of education to get a job as a teacher (something she has always wanted), and he uses this as his way to get to talk to her at last. Leila likes the young man because she knows that marrying him she will not remain simply a servant girl, which would be the case if she married her other suitors. She also likes how he is kind enough to try to get her a teaching job although he fails at it when they deny her a teaching permit. After a long day of trying to get the permit and just when she is starting to like him, her mother asks her something. She asks is Leila will marry one of the other suitors who has a family of over 30 people. Leila refuses to argue with her mother and in doing so throws away her chance at a happy life. This important ending to the story shows the gender roles that are so evident in everyday life in Afghanistan. Leila’s tragic story is similar to that of many other young Afghani women, many of whom the author talks about in the book.
This was a great book and we are all glad we chose to read it. We learned a lot about a culture that we knew little about prior to reading this book, and we saw the struggle that people around the world go through on a daily basis just to meet their basic needs. This is our last journal entry and we would encourage anyone who has not read it to read The Bookseller of Kabul.
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