Earth And Ashes [Kindle Edition]

`E&A' is set during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, and tells the story of an old man who is journeying to see his son (Murad), who works in a mine away from his family, to tell him that his entire family has been killed in an attack on his home village. The only survivors are the old man and Murad's young son, Yassin, who has been deafened by the explosions caused by the attack. The old man has no transport of his own, so he is forced to rely on others for charity to help them on their journey, all the while worrying about what to say to his son.

The story is incredibly powerful, because of its simplicity. There is no political discussion about the war, or even condemnation of those fighting. Instead there is simply a shattered old man and a toddler disfigured by an event that neither of them can understand. The brutality of what happened, and the bleakness of their futures, is brilliantly contrasted with the kindness of strangers who help them on their way. `E&A' is a simply told novella, heart-breaking tale, easy to read, short (a couple of hours to read) and thought provoking, and well-worth a look.

From the few pages of this little tale a whole other world comes alive. On one level this is a simple tale of a family on the brink of starting again after a tragedy. Yet one man's tragedy brings to life a much bigger picture of Afghanistan under Russian occupation. It's beautifully written and despite its brevity, something of the heat, dust and pressure stays with you.

(4.5 stars) Earth and Ashes packs more feeling and more power into its few pages than most other books do in hundreds of pages, and few, if any, readers will emerge from it unscathed. Author Atiq Rahimi has recreated the Afghanistan he remembers when it was occupied by the Russians (1979 - 1989). He was seventeen at the time, and life has not improved much for the populace since then. Rahimi's bleak picture of the farming village of Abqul includes the occupiers' casual murder of individuals, the decimation of families, the annihilation of villages, and ultimately the obliteration of whole cultures going back to ancient times. Without preamble or any lengthy setting of the scene, the author introduces a main character who is faced with a family crisis from which he may never recover, then tells that story in plain, direct, and straightforward language which gains impact from its very simplicity.

Dastaguir, accompanied by his small grandson, is walking toward the coal mines of Karkar. The Russians "didn't spare a single life...The village was reduced to dust." All his family members are dead. Though little Yassin has escaped the fires, he is now totally and suddenly deaf, and does not understand why jujube stones which used to click against each when he played with them, are now silent, why Dastaguir will not answer him when he speaks to him, and why the world is suddenly so quiet. Dastaguir and Yassin are looking for Dastaguir's surviving son Murad, Yassin's father, who fled the village to work in the mines four years ago. Dastaguir needs Murad to reconnect with his son, especially now that Yassin is so desperately in need of help.

Talking to himself constantly through the miles, he takes a distanced view of himself, referring always to himself as "you." He imagines meeting with Murad and has nightmares which combine ancient stories with the events of his village. And when a shopkeeper tries to be friendly, Dastaguir has to remind himself that "You wanted to talk to anyone about anything. Now, here is someone who'll listen to what lies in your heart, whose look alone is a comfort. Say something!" Throughout the novella, the author calls to mind the Persian epic The Book of Kings by Ferdusi, which "interweaves Persian myths, legends, and historical events to tell the history of Iran and its neighbors from the creation of the world to the Arab conquest in the seventh century." Three characters in that book loosely parallel characters and actions in this novella.

For a novel in which the "actions" are mostly "reactions to" past events, the author manages to inspire powerful emotional moments. The reader cares for Dastaguir because he reacts with universal human feelings-he gets annoyed at Yassin, and he agonizes over what and how much to tell Murad. With these characters and Yassin inspiring sympathy, the reader is impacted even more fully by the bleakness of the ending-and the continuing hopelessness which we know has continued among the populace during the present war in Afghanistan. Mary Whipple

The Patience Stone