SOARING HIGH WITH THEBOOKJEANIE

Kite flying is one of the most exciting activities for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Every spring, children fly their kites, often on flat rooftops,  and especially during a festival called Besant.  During Besant, competitions are held where the kite strings are coated in fiberglass and each contestant tries to break the string of his opponent's kite to the sound of beating drums and blaring trumpets.  In Lahore, Pakistan this festival is  particularly special and the old city is strung with lights to illuminate the spectacular array of colorful kites bobbing above the old buildings.  Both of the featured books this week are closely connected to Afghanistan and Pakistan and provide a bridge to understanding the people and cultures of those little known countries.

As Mary Anne Schwalbe begins treatment for pancreatic cancer, her son Will decides to engage her in an ongoing book discussion about favorite books, old and new.  As a book reviewer, I couldn't help but picking up this unusual memoir anticipating a story of a close mother/son relationship and a wealth of interesting titles to add to my reading list.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to read about someone dying from a painful disease so I told myself that I would just dip into it and perhaps just copy the bibliography at the back of the book.  Surprisingly, I found that this was so much more than just the story a brave woman facing a dreadful fatal illness - it was a loving tribute to an amazingly bright and perceptive woman whose many accomplishments, including her contributions to the plight of refugees around the world, deserve to be celebrated.  Will Schwalbe painstakingly describes his mother's journey over two years of treatment for a disease which is almost always fatal within six months. Her unflagging spirit carried her through some very dark moments but her energy and enthusiasm for life and the possibilities for serving others was truly awe-inspiring.  In between bouts of unpleasant side effects of her treatment, Mary Ann planned family dinners, charity receptions, seminars, and numerous overseas trips to Afghanistan and elsewhere to promote the international refugee relief effort. As much as I appreciated her critical comments on the books she and her son discussed, it was her comments on how to live a life full of love, gratitude, and generosity that I will always remember. Needless to say, I read every word.

The article below is from the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University website:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs153/1102579682048/archive/1110990268756.html    

Mary Anne Schwalbe's Commitment to ACKU Lives On Through Her Son's Book Will Schwalbe's new book, The End of Your Life Book Club, is on the New York Times bestseller list and Amazon.com's "Best of 3-2012" list.  Will is a son of Dupree Foundation Founder and Chair Emeritus Mary Anne Schwalbe. In 2007 during a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mary Anne learned from Nancy Hatch Dupree about her work with the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University (ACKU). Inspired by this, Mary Anne led a group of friends and contacts in the U.S. to form the Louis and Nancy Hatch Dupree Foundation to help support ACKU.  What is especially remarkable is that the majority of Mary Anne's accomplishments with respect to the Dupree Foundation were done after she learned that she had advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often within six months or less. The End of Your Life Book Club explores the books that Mary Anne and Will read together while Mary Anne was undergoing chemotherapy. It is a tribute to Mary Anne, an extraordinary person who deeply affected so many lives worldwide, as well as to the joy that reading brings. Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other -- and rediscover their lives -- through their favorite books. Mary Anne was as passionate about ACKU as she was about books. The work we do today is the direct result of Mary Anne's commitment and drive to help rebuild Afghanistan -- one book at a time.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid is set in an outdoor cafe in Anarkali Market, a lively shopping area located within the walls of the old city in Lahore, Pakistan. A foreigner, wandering the twisting alleyways of this district, is approached by a young bearded Pakistani who offers to lead him to the best tea house in the old city - and so begins our story. Changez is the name of our narrator, a Princeton graduate who engages the foreigner (we never know his name) with the story of his experiences as a student and later a securities and valuation analyst for a Wall Street firm.  He falls in love with a beautiful but troubled young woman and that story too is intertwined with his journey from a serious Ivy League student dazzled by the opportunities of America to the disallusioned and bitter "reluctant fundamentalist."  Hamid's fluid elegant prose is certain to draw you into this surprising tale.  I was transfixed by this novel, in part because I knew this author as a brilliant young student at the Lahore American School in the 80's.  A movie of the same name will be released next week, directed by Mira Nair, a noted Indian filmmaker.

Have a wonderful week, enjoy the spring and . . .

KEEP READING!