The Places in Between

#469
Title: The Places in Between
Author: Rory Stewart
Publisher: Harcourt
Year: 2004/2006
308 pages

One wonders why Stewart took off across Afghanistan by foot, in winter. Yes, he says that he was walking across that swath of Asia and had to go back to fill in the part he missed, but never really says what the walk meant to him. Knowing its meaning might have mediated this and other readers' sentiment that Stewart's journey was conducted in a foolhardy manner. I think walking is sufficient unto itself, and requires no particular explanation. However, Stewart's timing and season put him at risk, and perhaps others as well.

That said, I can't agree with some of the criticisms I've read that all boil down to accusations of cultural improficiency. What's missing from Stewart's narrative that might have helped is more explanation of how the Taliban period and war many have changed some of the local customs. His attempts to accomplish this wind up sounding like querulous comparisons with other countries.

This is a narrative by a young person. I would like to see a comparable trek and story by Stewart 20 years later. In addition, it is a man's narrative. Rita Golden Gelman notwithstanding, in much of the world, a woman walks alone at peril. If she arrives unmolested or unarrested at a village, where will she stay? Not the headman's place, which would be inappropriate. Not at the mosque, or the wat--that is where men stay the night. While I don't fault Stewart for not articulating his privilege to complete such a journey, what I most take from this book is how little autonomy women have in much of the world.