The places in between

330 Pages·2008·3.24 MB·English

by  Stewart

The Places in Between
Rory Stewart
Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
...
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Epigraphs
THE NEW CIVIL SERVICE
TANKS INTO STICKS
WHETHER ON THE SHORES OF ASIA
Part One
CHICAGO AND PARIS
HUMA
FARE FORWARD
THESE BOOTS
Part Two
QASIM
IMPERSONAL PRONOUN
A TAJIK VILLAGE
THE EMIR OF THE WEST
CARAVANSERAI, WHOSE PORTALS...
TO A BLIND MAN'S EYE
GENEALOGIES
LEST HE RETURNING CHIDE...
CROWN JEWELS
BREAD AND WATER
THE FIGHTING MAN SHALL
A NOTHING MAN
Part Three
HIGHLAND BUILDINGS
THE MISSIONARY DANCE
MIRRORED CAT'S-EYE SHADES
MARRYING A MUSLIM
WAR DOG
COMMANDANT HAJI (MOALEM) MOHSIN KHAN OF KAMENJ
COUSINS
Part Four
THE MINARET OF JAM
TRACES IN THE GROUND
BETWEEN JAM AND CHAGHCHARAN
DAWN PRAYERS
LITTLE LORD
FROGS
THE WINDY PLACE
Part Five
NAME NAVIGATION
THE GREETING OF STRANGERS
LEAVES ON THE CEILING
FLAMES
ZIA OF KATLISH
THE SACRED GUEST
THE CAVE OF ZARIN
DEVOTIONS
THE DEFILES OF THE VALLEY
Part Six
THE INTERMEDIATE STAGES OF DEATH
WINGED FOOTPRINTS
BLAIR AND THE KORAN
SALT GROUND AND SPIKENARD
PALE CIRCLES IN WALLS
@afghangov.org
WHILE THE NOTE LASTS
Part Seven
FOOTPRINTS ON THE CEILING
I AM THE ZOOM
KARAMAN
KHALILI'S TROOPS
AND I HAVE MINE
THE SCHEME OF GENERATION
THE SOURCE OF THE KABUL RIVER
TALIBAN
TOES
MARBLE
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Footnotes
A HARVEST ORIGINAL • HARCOURT, INC.
Orlando Austin New York San Diego Toronto London
Copyright © Rory Stewart 2004
Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Rory Stewart
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work
should be submitted online at www.harcourt.com/contact
or mailed to the following address:
Permissions Department, Harcourt, Inc.,
6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.
www.HarcourtBooks.com
Maps by Susie Knowland, created from original maps by www.ml-design.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by Picador in 2004
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stewart, Rory.
The places in between/Rory Stewart.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Originally published: London: Picador, 2004.
"A Harvest Original."
1. Afghanistan—Description and travel. 2. Afghanistan—Social life and customs.
3. Stewart, Rory—Travel—Afghanistan. I. Title.
DS352.S74 2006
915.8104'47—dc22 2005032213
ISBN-13: 978-0-15-603156-1 ISBN-10: 0-15-603156-6
Text set in Baskerville MT
Designed by April Ward
Printed in the United States of America
First U.S. edition
A C E G I K J H F D B
This book is dedicated to the people of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal,
who showed me the way, fed me, protected me, housed me, and made this walk
possible. They were not all saints, though some of them were. A number were greedy,
idle, stupid, hypocritical, insensitive, mendacious, ignorant, and cruel. Some of them
had robbed or killed others; many of them threatened me and begged from me. But
never in my twenty-one months of travel did they attempt to kidnap or kill me. I was
alone and a stranger, walking in very remote areas; I represented a culture that many of
them hated, and I was carrying enough money to save or at least transform their lives.
In more than five hundred village houses, I was indulged, fed, nursed, and protected by
people poorer, hungrier, sicker, and more vulnerable than me. Almost every group I met
—Sunni Kurds, Shia Hazara, Punjabi Christians, Sikhs, Brahmins of Kedarnath,
Garhwal Dalits, and Newari Buddhists—gave me hospitality without any thought of
reward.
I owe this journey and my life to them.
Contents
Preface [>]
The New Civil Service [>]
Tanks into Sticks [>]
Whether on the Shores of Asia [>]
Part One [>]
Chicago and Paris [>]
Huma [>]
Fare Forward [>]
These Boots [>]
Part Two [>]
Qasim [>]
Impersonal Pronoun [>]
A Tajik Village [>]
The Emir of the West [>]
Caravanserai, Whose Portals ... [>]
To a Blind Man's Eye [>]
Genealogies [>]
Lest He Returning Chide... [>]
Crown Jewels [>]
Bread and Water [>]
The Fighting Man Shall [>]
A Nothing Man [>]