QUESTIONS
- What was the most surprising thing about Afghan culture, society or history you learned from this book?
- What was the most disturbing aspect of Afghan culture, society or history you learned from this book?
- What admirable qualities of the Afghan people are illustrated in the story?
- The harshness of life in Afghanistan - the bleak landscape, the unstable political situation, the difficulties of daily life – is a recurring theme. How do individuals manage to survive and thrive in such circumstances?
- From your reading, do you think Sultan Khan’s family is a typical Afghan family?
- Is The Bookseller of Kabul a totally bleak book, or are there passages in it that are hopeful about the future for Afghanistan and for Afghans?
- What examples of humor are there?
- Which individuals’ stories were most compelling? Why?
- After his pilgrimage to Ali’s shrine, Mansur “decides to become a new person. He will become a good person and a pious Muslum. He will respect the hour of prayer, give alms, fast, go to the mosque, not look at girls before he is married, grow a beard, and go to Mecca.” (p. 161) He returns home and continues to treat Leila with disdain and abuse. Do you think he is a hypocrite, or is he oblivious to the effects his behavior has on people?
- In what ways is the tension between tradition and progress played out in Afghan society? What are some examples of this in the book?
- Seierstad does not write in the first person; instead, she tells the story through her characters. Is she an objective observer, or do her opinions show through her narrative? Where?
- The Bookseller of Kabul describes a culture vastly different from our own. Can we ever hope to understand the traditions, behavior and beliefs of people who seem so radically different from us?
- Does understanding a country’s history (centuries of invasions and wars in the case of Afghanistan) help us understand the way its inhabitants live and think?
Questions compiled by Suzanne Fisher (fishers@uhls.lib.ny.us)
December 2004
|
