an unexpected glimpse of light

A picture of a British soldier in Afghanistan caught my eye on the Guardian website, much more than the accompanying story about ‘The hardest night of their lives’. I’m not sure why but the country has a bit of a magical draw on me… perhaps because it seems so remote,and has stunning landscapes, from the pictures I have seen. It’s also tucked into a very special corner of the world, sharing borders with Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, India and even a tiny bit with China.

Despite the runaway success of Khaled Hosseini’s books, Afghanistan seems to be a difficult country to get to know. Jason Elliot gave me a rare glimpse into the country last year with his book, ‘An Unexpected Light’. He travelled there twice, recently and once in the early 80’s (to fight with the mujahidin!). His description of Afghans he got to know and met are loving testimony to a people who have seen so much in a very short time (and continue to). His prose describing the landscapes were a little overlong in places, but the personal anecdotes more than made up for it.