Downloaded it, then borrowed it.
I had read the review of the book on one of the review sites I revere, and hence was on the back of my mind. When I came across it, and started reading it, it pulled me in immediately. Maybe it is the humour, maybe it is the perspective, and that there is that self-deprecating humour with humility and the indefatigable spirit.
For example, after walking in his new boots when the condition of his feet is pretty bad, he still decides to push forward given all that he has put at stake (his job, his life in London), and that they have come thus far after going through so many troubles and that his friend has been so keen to climb.
It feels like as if it is fiction while you are reading it, but then you look at the maps of Nuristan and their walking path, and the photographs, and the reality of it, against the humorous Wodehouse quality of it, the absurdity of situations and the humour, comes to hit you. It is quite wonderous that way. The humour in troubles is one thing perhaps I would like to carry from it, the perspective, and the comfort with discomfort, the appreciation of human frailty and absurdity and ridiculousness of life.
One of the chapters I liked very much was about history of Nuristan.
The other thing I like is the appreciation of different lives in different contexts. Reading it this thought, that in a desert, water is more valuable than gold. We seem to be so embroiled in our daily lives (at times I am), and living on high serious horses, that this nonchalance and yet the aspiration, what one would call the audacity of their enterprise is heartwarming and inspiring.
Reading it for the joy of it. Still mid-way. (9/10/2025)
No comments:
Post a Comment