Customer Reviews

Farishta

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has the cumulative wisdom and depth of the author's experience as a Peace Corps volunteer, a lieutenant in the US Navy, and then 30 years of being a State Dept. representative in many overseas posts. Because of the cross-cultural sensitivity, the book, set in 2005 Afghanistan, has a deep concern for each of the parts of the society, and an acuity of insight, which is rare and delightful. There is respect for and understanding of the military mission, as well as the state department's goals. There is a unique interest and understanding of the Afghani people, and the problems that beset them, exemplified in the problem of finding enough fuel for cooking the daily meals. The interest in Afghanistan's history, and the archeology exploring that history, is presented through the presence of a French archeologist, Prof. Mongibeaux. Both PTSD and solar cooking are themes also found in this book. But to my mind, the most important thing about this book is a good female role model, for young people to see and care about. "Farishta" which is Angela Morgan's name in Dari, is a strong, healthy woman, doing good work, in a difficult assignment.

I deeply admire how the author draws vivid, verbal pictures of a world we know nothing about, and how she presents snapshots of the country's political and cultural complexities through her memoir-style vignettes. The book is infused with the authority of personal experience, making it--at times--hyper-real.

So many scenes and ideas in Farishta have come back to me since reading the book, especially with Afghanistan a continuing issue in the news. I wonder how Afghanistan will re-set when the American presence is lessened, and whether a decade of freedom from Taliban rule will have a lasting influence on politics and culture. The book makes me wonder what will become of the Western-style infrastructure "improvements" that can not be sustained, and whether appropriate technologies (such as solar cooking, which Farishta advances) will ever be formally advocated in foreign aid programs to Afghanistan and other countries that have chopped down and consumed everything that will burn. I didn't really think about these problems until I read the book. And I like anything that gets my brain working like this.

This novel incorporates true to life scenes in the life of the female in Arabian countries. The author tells in gentle but undeniable words of the hardship and deprivation of the females in the arab countries. They are equal with the goats and often have less value than a good goat. The goat does not disobey or talk back. I am not going to introduce a spoiler but she speaks of her husbands death due to an ied and her grief and how it occupies the next 12 years of her life. She talks of how she came out of it, her last year in the foreign service and how she copes with death of her friends and co workers in a depressed county with disappearing economy and services and literally no chances to step into the 20 century.
Also look for the vultures some of whom are in friendly clothing as they feed on the blood of the opressed.

A fascinating glimpse into war and life in Afghanistan, as told from this author's very credible point of view. I found it remarkably insightful - as I read this President Obama announced our initial troop withdrawal ("The Russian Army was here for ten years, but the Afghans knew they'd leave eventually. They don't know how long we'll be here, but they do know one thing for damn sure. We won't be here forever. And when we get tired and pull out, they'll dig up all those munitions they have wrapped, oiled and buried in their backyards or hidden in caves, and control of this country will go right back to the guys with the most guns.")
The characters, while believable, were hard to get close to - even Angela "Farishta" Moran. I admired her toughness and felt her pain, but still didn't feel I really knew her.
While I enjoyed the author's voice, I found the book thin on plot and, as the story went on, began to expect more "one damned thing after another". I was profoundly disturbed by the women's issues that were addressed, but even these were dulled by predictability.
I look forward to this author's next book - I will most certainly give it a read and am curious to know where her writing will go from here. I am also curious to learn more about her work with solar ovens! Bravo!

If you enjoyed Three Cups of Tea or Kabul Beauty School, then this book is a must. Wonderfully written, this book adds another dimension to our knowledge of the Afghan people and Western involvement. While the subject matter is violent and depressing, the book is fascinating. The story humanizes both the diplomats and enlisted personnel as well as the local people. The ending is one of hope. While the book is fiction, its authenticity is clear. One of the best books I've read in a while.

What I liked about this novel: the protagonist being a woman of a certain age, the details of politics within the foreign service community and between different nations' foreign service officers, the acknowledgment of the complexities of dealing with a complex and truly foreign Afghanistan. The author's real life job experience is used well here.

What I found weaker: A through-line of plot is missing. Is the point her finding meaning in her life again after a too-long mourning period for a first husband? What happens to her translation assignment? Is the novel meant to promote the author's own agenda of solar oven usage? (which I approve of as a eco-political move; indeed, we should be embracing it in the southern parts of our own country as an energy-management device, but as the point of a novel, it's weak). It seemed as if the plot kept jumping to a parallel track. Also, the prose is correct but no better than that. For long stretches, she writes compound sentence after compound sentence. Curious, I typed a few paragraphs of exposition/description into my word processor and asked for a reading level: Sixth-grade reading level, which I think I was subconsciously recognizing as I read. I began aching for a "however" or a semicolon or even the variety of a simple sentence between the compounds. She also resorted to said bookisms too often, which I always notice when a plot doesn't have me fully engaged. In all these ways, the prose felt strained; we are left with a first novel that was diligently written but has little artistry or facility with the language. While language is not the main point of a novel, I prefer novels to have both a good story and accomplished language use.

Farishta is a compelling story that exudes the author's first-hand knowledge and experience of Afghanistan. The first-person narrator is a strong-willed woman, an American foreign service officer, who overcomes long-standing fears from a personal encounter with terrorism by facing them head on in the remote northern part of a country ravaged by decades of war. Good characters, believable dialogue all round. The side story of an interpreter's romance with a woman from another tribe also portrays the challenges Afghanistan faces even if peace ever arrives there. The book does a laudable job of taking you in country.

This engaging novel is the story of an American diplomat assigned to a remote corner of war-torn Afghanistan. Angela Morgan has been a widow for more than twenty years, having lost her husband and unborn child to an Embassy bombing in Beirut. She doesn't really want the Afghan posting but she has no choice: if she doesn't take it she's out of a job.

She finds herself the only woman posted to a British Army outpost in Mazar-i-Sharif. One of the interpreters is suspect and she has to keep her skill in Dari a dark secret until she can find out who is undermining the allied efforts of reconstruction.

This book is fascinating because of its inside knowledge of how the US State Department works. It also advocates sustainable development. Noting that the countryside has been denuded of trees and that the children are sent to find fuel for the cooking fires, the author remembered making a solar oven in her Girl Scouting days. This novel tells the true story of how she introduced this concept to the Afghans as a means of making a real improvement in their lives.

In this respect, FARISHTA resembles THE UGLY AMERICAN, a 1958 attack on American policies in Southeast Asia. It's so sad that so little has been learned since then and that so much money has been wasted on "reconstruction" that will not long survive the American presence in Afghanistan.

The author has a dual purpose for this book. She wants to make her point about policy in Afghanistan but she also wants to tell an affecting story about a woman in a foreign land, facing and fighting her personal demons. I think she makes her point well and the story of Angela gripped me. Some elements of romance were predictable, but that's only a small complaint in an otherwise excellent novel. Should be required reading for the movers and shakers. Highly recommended!

I was disappointed in the characters of the book - they were so one-dimensional. I also didn't like the main character, Angela. I found her to be smug and martyrish and generally off-putting. What little I learned about Afghanistan was interesting, but throughout the book I kept thinking about Khalid Hosseini (Kite Runner, 1000 Splendid Suns)and what a great story teller he is and it made this book that much harder to slog through.

I was caught from the first paragraph with this excellent story. It took me into the difficulties of being a woman in this kind of environment. The idea of solar cooking could be used all over the world to great advantage.