Journal #2 11/29/10

In this section of the book, the author does not make it very clear about why Mansur wants to go to Ali’s grave so bad.  We know that Mansur wants to get away from the bookstore his family owns, but she does not explain why he wants to travel so far away.  The author tries to make the tone of this piece sound desperate because as we read, we can feel the anxiety that Mansur has at the bookstore all day.  We can feel the loneliness he goes through while waiting for the young female student to return to the shop and we feel the pain Mansur goes through when she does not return.  She does, however, make it very clear about the tension between Mansur and his father, Sultan, because the way she describes their relationship can make the reader’s blood boil and we aren’t even in the story!

            This section directly relates to what we talked about in class with the hero and healing myths because Mansur is looking for a quest to break free from his family’s store and go out to explore on his own.  He feels lost and desperate for a new fresh start so he begs his dad to let him travel with the Iranian journalist to Ali’s grave in Mazar.  There, Mansur feels free and renewed, which is exactly what he needed.  Along the journey, his heart also heals from the pain he went through of losing the young student.  The author does a great job of using the hero/ healing quest to set up this section because it is a plot that almost anyone can relate to because in today’s society, many movies and books are based off one of these two plots.  This makes it easy for the reader to follow what is happening throughout the story.

            From reading these chapters, we can see that the author assumes that everyone in Afghanistan does not like working for their families whether it be in the home or in a business because she only writes about the wives not wanting to cook and clean anymore or Mansur not wanting to work for his father anymore.  She does not yet talk about how much the family may enjoy each other’s company or how much a couple really loves each other.  She assumes that every family is the same way, but in reality, many families may truly enjoy being together.  She talks about young girls being abused and raped by older men and how it is perfectly ok in their society.  She also talks a lot about how women are violently punished (never the man's fault) for simply meeting up with a boy in a local park or on the street, or even making eye contact with certain people.  The author does not make any point of the joys the families in Afghanistan might have except for the fact that they can sing and dance at weddings again because the Taliban is no longer in power. 

            The ideal audience for the entire book is for anyone wanting to learn about the Muslim culture or anyone who wants to perhaps compare it to a different culture.  However, if you break the book down into certain sections, it becomes a book for many different audiences.  In this week’s reading, the ideal audience is for anyone feeling lonely or anyone looking for a fresh start because just like in the healing quest, the main character needed to leave home in order to find himself again.  He needed to travel afar with people he is not very close to, which forced him to be independent and do what he wanted without anyone telling him otherwise. 

            This section was a great reference to the discussion we had in class today and we are looking forward to reading the rest of the book because so far, the author does a great job of entertaining us with a new culture and helping us understand our own culture in new ways.  She helps us open our eyes to how diverse our world truly is and we hope to learn more new things throughout the book.

Melissa Stalowski: Graphic Designer 11/29/2010

The graphic design discusses the section about Mansur's pilgrimage during the Afghan New Year. Mansur believes that he is called by Ali (God) to travel and ask forgiveness for his sins so he can be cleansed and purified. The journey is long and the three men travel through warn-torn Afghanistan, where the remains of the war with the Soviet Union and other civil wars have left the land very unsafe. At the end of the religious pilgrimage, Mansur prays to be freed from his father's control and to one day be proud to be an Afghan when Afghanistan finally becomes a respectable country.

Abby Husfeldt: Discussion Leader 11/29/10

1) Is the history of Afghanistan that is mentioned throughout the book overwhelming/ inconvenient or is it insightful and helpful information?

 *This question is solely based on the reader.  However, so far in the book it has been useful for learning about the Muslim/Afghanistan history.  Sometimes in the book it flows farely well and I hardly notice it.  Other times it seems to drag on for a while.  Overall, the history that is put in is a very helpful tool to use to understand why they live the way they do and I believe that is the main reason as well that the author put it into her book.

2) How come in the Afghani/Muslim culture, and other cultures as well, is the blame for sexual interactions heavily weighted on the woman?

 *I believe that this goes back, at least for Christians, to the Adam and Eve story.  In that story, Eve is seen as a temptress.  Also, many see the woman using seduction to lure the men.  However, in this book, it is mentioned that Afghan woman would be the only one to blame and not the man.  This seems to be a cultural idea that has stuck through the years.

3) What were some reasons why Afghanistan disliked the Muslim terrorists? Did you know that Afghani’s view terrorists with false/negative outlooks?

 *In the book it is mentioned that there is a passage in the holy book stating: "You must not pray in a mosque built by terrorists."  The author also goes on to add that Real Muslims are not terrorists, because Islam is the most tolerant of religions.  "Terrorists are false Muslims."  I did not know that Afghanistan had this view upon terrorists or at least the Afghani's who were mentioned in this book believe this.  It is an interesting viewpoint to bring up in the book.

4) When Mansur prays at Mecca, why does he focus on the country’s prosperity's instead of individual prayers?

*It turns out that Muslim's love their country of origin.  They take great pride in their country and their country's prosperity's as well as their own.  It seems that when Mansur prayed he wanted to show his love and dedication to his country, religion, and family because they are all one.  It may be something that us, as Americans, seem to simply overlook if and when we ever pray.

Luke Anderson Vocab Builder 11/29/2010

Luke Anderson

Vocab Builder

Somber - dark or dull in color or tone; gloomy pg.123

Mantu – Afghan noodles filled with meat and pilau pg. 124

Exorbitantly - (of a price or amount charged) unreasonably high pg. 125

Bollywood - the Indian movie industry, based in Bombay pg. 128

Hammam - Turkish bath pg. 129

Nauroz – Afghan New Year pg. 132

Heathen - a person who does not belong to a widely held religion (esp. one who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim) as regarded by those who do pg. 132

Zoroastrian – worship of fire pg. 132

Caliph - the chief Muslim civil and religious ruler, regarded as the successor of Muhammad. The caliph ruled in Baghdad until 1258 and then in Egypt until the Ottoman conquest of 1517; the title was then held by the Ottoman sultans until it was abolished in 1924 by Atatürk pg. 133

Polemic - a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something pg. 133

Summerizer 11/29/10: Heather Sandberg

In this section of the book, Mansur, Sultan's eldest son, is working at the family's bookstore day after day and is getting very sick of it.  He meets a young student who comes into the store and takes her on a date, but then she never returns.  Later, Mansur asks Sultan if he can travel to the prophet Ali's grave with the Iranian journalist in town and Sultan allows it.  They take a twelve hour dangerous drive to get to the city of Mazar where Mansur finally feels free and independent.  He buys gifts for all his family and has them blessed at Ali's grave and then tours around the city. 
Throughout these chapters, the author reallyt does a great job of helping the reader visualize what the city and sights look like.  She talks about the Taliban camps and the bodies that remain on the side of the road. She also describes the ill people at Ali's grave waiting to be healed and how sickly and mentally retarded they were.  Another way she helps the reader understand how the characters feel is in her use of descriptive words because as Mansur, Said, and Akbar are traveling in the car, she explains the nerves, tension, and headaches they have in such great detail that we as readers can almost feel the same thing while reading.  This book is a great account of Afghanistan because it explains their struggles, their pride, and their challenges during every day life and how they deal with each aspect of their lives.

Heather Sandberg: Graphic Organizer 11/24/10

This graphic organizer is all about Afghan weddings and the traditions that go along with it.  The top circle means that when the couple gets married they must look into a mirror at the same time to represent the first time they will look into each other’s eyes.  The right circle is a tradition that includes the bride and groom walking around two chairs and the bride must sit before the groom otherwise it means the woman will be in charge of the whole relationship, which is bad luck.  The bottom circle means that the couple must not show emotion at their wedding because it is a serious occasion, so they must only watch everyone else dance while they sit and stay quiet. Lastly the left circle is a tradition where the bride must hammer a nail into her and her groom’s new room to symbolize that she has nailed her destiny to the new house.

Melissa Stalowski: Summarizer 11/24/2010

At the beginning of this section of The Bookseller of Kabul, Shakila and her sisters are shopping in the markets of Kabul out of preparation for her upcoming wedding. The author describes the traditional burkas that are worn by Afghan women and encourages the readers to examine the strict rules placed on women. Shakila and her sisters continue the preparation for her wedding. Shakila's wedding takes place in the section titled "A third-rate wedding", implying right away that the marriage and wedding might be a negative experience as opposed to a positive and romantic life event. The wedding between Shakila and Wakil takes place and is a long process that seems more depressing than joyful. The author describes the bride as a doll and as property of the groom stating that Shakila's destiny is "nailed" to the house of her in-laws. In the section titled "The Matriarch", Bibi Gul reflects upon her life as a mother and wife. Again, the author makes the lack of opportunity for women a focal point of the chapter through the description of Bibi Gul's life. She portrays Bibi Gul as a pathetic woman who has only lived her life raising children and serving her husband. For her life to be considered successful, she will have raised her children and married them all off.