Central Asia Institute
Central Asia Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission to promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan

Holiday Gift!
Thank you so much for this wishlist book!
You made my day!!!!!

Three Cups of Tea Website
Book ray:
- KiwiinEngland, UK/Ireland
- Fluffy-Owl, UK
- shovelmonkey1, UK
- Annimanni, Finland
Last person: would you ray it forward??? (or start another ray?)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES: travelling to KiwiinEngland

The German mail system is so efficient, and has such pretty stamps! Thanks for starting the ray ApoloniaX, and hello to Sobergirl for making this possible also.

I have a couple of rings ahead of this but will get to it ASAP.

This book almost didn't fall into the biographical trap of making the subject, Greg Mortenson, into a person who could do no wrong. In fact for much of the book I was pleased to see there was criticism of some of the things Mortenson did as he went about the task of bringing education to rural children in Pakistan (and later Afghanistan). The way people reacted to him I think was due to his personality and willingness to reach out to people and take chances.

I'm pleased I read this book, and I think it is interesting to see what one person (with a huge amount of support from his family and friends) can achieve.

I think that this book has had commercial sucessful partially due to the war in the middle east, and the planes flying into the towers in New York. When Mortenson first thought of building a school it was to educate children in a village that helped him when he was lost. Towards the middle and end of the book the premise for the schools being built had changed to national security for America by providing education that would not radicalise young muslims into being suicide bombers. (Not an entirely water tight arguement, as there are numerous UK born and educated people who are radicalised in Britain and have had access to many different education options).

The last few chapters for me were incredible annoying, with Mortenson hailed as an American Hero and all the stupid propoganda that America rolls out around this sort of show. The language of the book became very biased eg american troops in Iraq were planning how to "endure" their time in the country, never mind the Iraqi civilian casualties who had to "endure" americans in their country.

It was mentioned at certain times that board members of the charity Mortenson created left because of differences of opinions, the chartity seemed to be his baby and he would do what he wanted. He'd stay in Pakistan for months later than he stated, or in America when he had promised things in Pakistan...he seemed to be a law unto himself. I would be interested to know how much of the money is used to build schools and how much goes on overheads. One instance that put me off the charity was towards the end of the book, as he became famous and money started rolling in to build schools for children. Mortenson used some of the charity's money to send a friend's child to a private school. WTF - the money was to build schools not spend on one child you personally know.

Lastly, I wish the book had colour photos in it. The black and white shots inside look dull and dingy, while the photo of the children on the back cover is bursting with life as they are dressed in vivid shades of colour.

Thank you for starting this bookray ApoloniaX, I am very pleased I read this book.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:





This book is off to the next person on the ray. I hope they find it as thought provoking as I did.

Received today, thank you!

I couldn't bear this book and as such had to stop reading after only a few chapters. Whilst I appreciate that Mortenson has clearly done a lot of charitable work, the book just didn't grab my attention at all and I didn't like the style of writing. Which is a shame as I thought this had the potential to be a really good book.

Will post this on after Christmas.

I've sent a repeat PM to DottyDi so hoping to get a reply soon. If not then I'll PM the next person. Sorry for holding on to the book!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posting off to the next in line, hope it travels well and arrives safely.

Received this book yesterday - it was waiting for me when i got to the office! Thanks to everyone involved in the ray so far. Have started reading it already so hopefully i should be able to pass it on fairly soon.

I was really looking forward to reading this book but I have to say that overall I was not too impressed. Generally i agree with KiwiinEngland's take on this book. Overall the message is a positive one, if you put in enough effort then you can make a difference, even in the most challenging or out of the way locations where it seems like a totally impossible task. The story was an interesting one and Mortensen should be commended for the dedication he has shown to helping provide an education for women, and for identifying other projects which with a little money can change lives; the womens centres and water projects are much needed.

Unfortunately all of this is overshadowed by the slightly odd writing style - part narrative, part interview - which for me ruined the flow of the story. Also there was the not unexpected back patting and horn blowing and calling Mortensen a hero. This is the kind of thing that many Europeans (myself included) tend to dislike about the American propaganda machine. Having lived and worked with Americans in the Middle East, where I was the only Brit in the camp, I have been subject to this kind of attitude first hand and it is pretty annoying. Yes, everyone has the capacity to do good, but the oober smugness... really... it detracts from the act and induces universal eye rolling! To conclude, well done Mr Mortensen for all your efforts but your promo biog could have been better written!

Thanks for including me in this book ray - now sending on to the next person on the list.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Now on its way to Annimanni - hope you enjoy it!

The book arrived today, thank you! After reading the journal entries, I'm eager to see what I think about the book and Mr Mortenson :) I have a couple of other books to finish first, but I'll try not to take too long - and I will definitely ray it forward after I'm done. Thanks again!

I have to say I'm inspired. But then I am an idealist who dreams of making some sort of a difference herself - and regrets of not having the get-up-and-go to stop dreaming and start doing.

I agree with previous journalers that the writing maybe isn't as skillful as one might hope (or maybe the style is just too journalistic for a text this long?), and that the overuse of superlatives can be annoying, but I think that you just have to accept that as part of American culture - and I actually think that tooting our own horns is something we Europeans and particular we Finns should really learn to do ourselves too. You don't get ahead in the world by being too modest. And getting ahead is something that Greg Mortenson has certainly done. (As an aside, in addition to living in the US for a year twenty years ago, the overuse of superlatives is something I got used to in my previous life as a translator. When translating marketing material from US English - and to a lesser extent from UK English - into Finnish, I had to do some serious toning down in order for the texts to sound plausible instead of ridiculous.)

Anyway, as I said, I can't help but admire the passion and determination with which Mortenson has pursued his dream of providing education to those less fortunate that himself. (I also can't help but feel for his wife and children for always seemingly coming second in his list of priorities.) What he's done requires some guts, or 'sisu' as we'd say in Finnish, and I agree wholeheartedly with his take on how to bring peace to this planet - although I can't explain the radicalisation of UK-born and -educated terrorists, to whom KiwiinEngland referred. Maybe it's something to do with their marginalised position in the British society or the (poor?) quality of education in the schools they've attended? I really don't know, and when I lived four years in the UK myself, I was actually quite taken with how rarely I ran into racism and what a genuine melting pot of different cultures the country really is - much more so than the US, I think. But then, I read The Independent and mixed mainly with people with an academic background.

Oh, and about the photos. I think the black and white photos suit the documentary feel very well. The only photo I can't understand is the one with the Mortenson family with guns and I find it even more difficult to understand why they used it as their Christmas card.

Right. I hope these ramblings make some sense - what's obvious at least is that I really enjoyed the book. I now want to read Stones into Schools too. Thank you ApoloniaX for starting the ray! I'll start the hunt for the next reader at a meetup in Helsinki next week.

I took this from the meetup today in Café Caisa. Thanks Annimanni!
After me this goes to lottuli. (it'a not a ray, the book might be with me for awhile.)

The books is now read. After I received this from our meetup in Café Caisa few months ago, I instantly started reading it. I had heard about the book, the title was familiar and I wanted to know what's it all about. Unfortunately after few chapters I had to put it aside, the writing style just did not grab me.

A week ago I forced myself to continue with this book and I struggled it through. I'm forced to use a bus to work instead of bicycle and it helped alot, I would have left it unread otherwize maybe.

It is a good insight to a different culture and it left me thinking all of those kids who's daddies and mummies are taking them by car from door to door everyday to go to a school. And above all the kids are probably whining all the time is it really have to!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I gave this to lottuli today.

Thank you Niksu for the book, did not remember asking for it anymore... but seems really interesting and I really want to read more about Pakistan., different cultures interest me a lot.

I don't promise being quick with this book, I have some other book first in line as they have designated readers waiting.

This book was really worth reading and I'm really happy to hand this over to next reader who has it on his wishlist.

Leving the book to fellow bookcrosser, to be given forward in next meeting.

The book is in Vuosaari now, waiting for its turn to be read.
Thanks a lot to all the persons that shared and read the book!
And thanks to the last persons who took care that I got the book. Sorry forgot to journal it right away, with my wife in hospital thinking is not that obvious...