Customer Reviews

A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan

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Nelofer Pazira was raised in an Afghan home during turbulent times. Her father was a doctor who had been raised in poverty; her mother a university educated teacher from a wealthy family. They dressed in European styles and could have enjoyed a wonderful, privileged, peaceful life were it not for the place they were born and the times they lived in. Nelofer's story of growing up in Afghanistan is riveting. Time and again, I would re-read a paragraph absolutely astonished that this beautiful woman lived this life and suffered through these horrors and yet can tell this story with beauty and clarity and grace. She tells of visiting her father in prison at a young age, a scene that strengthened her resolve and planted a seed of strength in this young girl. I was moved learning from her what it was like living in a country divided by war and terror during the Russian invasion. Her attempts to fight the Communists by joining revolutionary resistant groups and the story of her family's eventual escape to Canada via Pakistan are gripping. Her eye for detail and her incredible grasp of the conflicting power struggles of Communism, the Taliban, the U.S., and the succession of various leaders of the country show a depth of intelligence and courage few can aspire to. Nelofer is a woman of substance who we can learn much from, and I think we will hear more from her in the future. The parallel threads that she weaves, or that I read into this story of life in a country at war and the hatred felt by the people in that country for the invaders sent chills down my spine since there are Nelofers right now within Iraq - living a life much like hers yet in this case we are the invaders. Nelofer continues the story by returning to Afghanistan to try to find her lost friend Dyana as well as traveling to Russia to interview the men who invaded her country - fascinating and remarkable.

A very good read.

This is a true story that begins in Afghanistan in the mid seventies. It follows the members of an upper middle class family as they struggle to survive in their homeland; survive, despite a series of ever increasingly ruthless dictators, the Russian invasion and finally the Taliban.

This book is beautifully written and easy to read; it has a wonderful descriptive quality to it that has the ability to provoke strong emotions. The book was hard to put down; I found myself wanting to read "just on more page, one more chapter".

This story has an universal theme; it could be viewed as a testament to all common, oppressed people anywhere; people who'd like nothing more than to live in peace, but are prevented from doing so (through no fault of their own), because they get caught up in events caused by the ever changing whims of the "dictator de jour." Highly recommended. 5 Stars.

A Bed of Red Flowers is a moving and eye-opening story about a family, a people and a nation under foreign occupation. In the west, we tend to associate Afghanistan with war and terrorism and in one respect this book is about growing up and coming of age in a country under foreign occupation, not a situation most Americans have had the opportunity to experience. But this is also a story about love: Pazira's love for her country and her people, her father, and her best friend Dyana. To survive war without losing one's humanity, one's ability to love, that is the real story.

Nelofer Pazira is the oldest child of a relatively privileged, middle-class and progressive Afghan family. Nelofer's father is a respected physician, a proud man, loving husband and indulgent father. It is obvious Nelofer is his favorite and that she worships him. In September 1978, three months prior to her fifth birthday, Nelofer's father is imprisoned for 5 months during the "Saur Revolution," in which Afghan President Daoud Khan and his family are murdered by a rival leftist party. Not long afterwards, in December 1979, the Soviet army moves in and occupies Kabul. Nelofer grows up and comes of age under the shadow of the Soviet occupation. She participates in protests and sabotage against the Soviets and the Afghan Communist authorities. She idolizes the Mujahidin, perhaps naively as she later realizes. As the Mujahidin close in on Kabul, and bombardment of the city intensifies amid the Soviet withdrawal, Nelofer and her family escape to Pakistan in July 1989. Nelofer is 16 years old. They arrive safely in Peshawar, Pakistan but quickly move on to Islamabad. In Pakistan, the politicization of Islam, the social restrictions and lack of educational opportunities for women obviously upset Nelofer, who quickly becomes "tired of living in Pakistan, tired of the hypocrisy of the mujahadin, disillusioned with the jihad." In October 1990 the family departs Pakistan to start a new life in Canada.
At this point, it would be well to mention that as an autobiography, the book is at times very uneven. Besides Nelofer herself, her father and her best friend Dyana feature most prominently in her autobiography. In comparison, the portraits of her mother, brother and younger sister are one-dimensional and they remain on the periphery of the story. Pazira only tells us about those parts of her life that directly parallel or illustrate the underlying story about Aghanistan. We learn next to nothing about her personal life in Canada. We only know she learns English, finishes high school and goes on to study journalism. Instead, the focus of the narrative remains on Afghanistan and we learn about the brutal regime of the Taliban through the heart-breaking letters of her friend Dyana and the poetry of Qahar Ausi. This covers the period from 1991 to 1998. Then the letters stop coming.

In May 1998, Nelofer manages to cross the border from Iran into Afghanistan to look for Dyana but has to turn back empty handed. She returns to the Iran-Afghanistan border in November of 2000 to film "Kandahar," a semi-autobiographical movie. Nelofer returns to Afghanistan two years later, after 9/11, the American bombardment, the end of the Taliban regime and the beginning of the "occupation" by the UN, "the new colonial masters of Afghanistan." She finally meets Dyana's mother in Kabul in July, 2002. In January 2004, Nelofer goes to Russia, "the land of my enemies" to visit Lenin's tomb and there meets another mother haunted by memories of war: another prisoner of history. The ending will not bring closure to Nelofer, but then this is a story whose ending still remains to be written.

We first became interested in Nelofer Pazira's work after seeing the powerful movie Kandahar, in which she played the lead role. At a time of facile generalisations and stereotypes about the Islamic world, this excellent and moving book gives us the Afghani women's perspective in all its complexity. Despite everything that has happened you emerge with a sense of the triumph of the human spirit.

This is one of the most eloquent books I have read in a while. Nelofer succeeds in writing about the tragic topic of Afghanistan with much grace and insight. I found her perspectives to be thought-provoking and refreshing on the subject of Afghanistan: it's wars, it's people and it's history. One of the best books I have read in a long, long time.

I left Afghanistan in 1979, a week before the Russians invaded and from that year on lost touch with everything that went on in my beautiful country. Nelofer's Bed of Red Flowers brought to life those years that I missed out on and always thought I will never know about; thank you so much Nelofer for this outstanding and vivid accounts of your life in Afghanistan, now I know how life was after I left.

After watching the movie Kandahar, I immediately looked up who the lead acress was. I was surprised to find that she was an afghan refugee who had written a book.

The book started out slow, and I became frustrated with Nelofer Pazira's writing style; it could use a bit of polish. Nevertheless, her story is incredible and is communicated excellently despite the language issues. "A Bed of Red Flowers" is an important book that describes in incomparable detail what it is like to grow up in a conflict zone, to lose your home and your past, and to be denied a future in your own land. I cannot imagine the plight of the refugees of Afghanistan, or for that matter refugees all over the world. As a young woman myself, I have no idea what I would do if I couldn't hope for my future.

Nelofer has done a commendable job in trying to let the world know what she feels they didn't understand before, the suffering of people who the west ignores and the value of their culture and dignity even in the midst of conflict.

Were we able to provide fractional ratings, this book would merit 4 1/2 stars. It is beautifully and sensitively written and exudes credibility. I have more than passing familiarity with this region of the world and her story is completely consistent with my own understanding and experience. Nelofer relates the story of her family's journey spiritually, politically, emotionally and geographically from pre-Communist Kabul to democratic Canada via "indeterminately governed" Pakistan. It also describes her return to the region to make a film about life there. Clearly related are excesses both in the Communist system and in a radical Islamic dominated system. The overland journey they take in response to the oppressive Communist government in Afghanistan is a remarkable piece of storytelling. Some western readers may find certain parts of the book what they consider a "stretch" but I firmly believe that is due to cultural difference and not to the author's credibility. In other words, most westerners cannot imagine the eastern response to certain situations. Without being trite, cliché, or "preachy" this book clearly demonstrates what the courageous people of Central Asia are dealing with and what a blessing it is to live in a democratic society however imperfect that society sometimes is. I highly recommend it.

This book is a personal classic for me. It's story shows how we as humans must never make a deal with the devil in order to get out of the heat.
Lov
Liv

This book had so much potential, and I would have thought that since the author is a journalist, the writing would have been terrific. Unfortunately, the book does not quite live up to its potential and the writing is too weak to make this book interesting.

The author attempts to describe her life in Afghanistan as a child and as a teen. Although this time period includes the time periods just prior to the Russian occupation, she includes very little about what life was like in Afghanistan during that time. There is a good deal of information regarding the time of the Russian occupation, but most of the writing is disjointed and disorganized. The story jumps around between time frames and is difficult to follow.

The author does immigrate to Canada with her family, but there is almost no mention of her acclimation - if any - to this new country or any mention on the influence this country played on her life. It's almost like a black hole, and contributes to the feeling of the story being disjointed.

As I read this book, I got the feeling the author wrote this book after the movie "Kandahar" was released and was hoping to ride the coattails of whatever fame the movie could make for her. I don't think the author truly thought this book out fully, and I think there are other books about Afghanistan by Afghans that are far better.