Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes To Weep Paperback – 4 April 2002

I very much enjoyed this book and I was very surprised that it has garnered a few one-star and two-star reviews. It seems that the people giving these reviews have some kind of agenda and are accusing the author of criticising Afghanistan. Two two-star reviews criticise the author for saying that not all Afghan women have been treated this way. The author never said this was the case. One of the one-star reviews is clearly written by a woman who is embarrassed that these things happened in Afghanistan. Misplaced patriotism. Finally one Pakistani reviewer criticises the author for describing a Pakistani refugee camp in negative terms. Thew author never claimed that refugee camps are better elsewhere. Such a shame that people have to criticise the book for not falling in line with what they believe should be written about. It really is a great book and shows up the terrible hardships and deprivation that the Afghans have suffered under the Russians, the West and the Taliban. I highly recommend it.

Enjoyable as in it definitely gives an insight of what life may have been like for women in Afghanistan.

I enjoyed this book but it suits a certain type of reader. These kind of books are not everyone's cup of tea but I find them heart wrenching and inspirational. It's also an education as to how people live and survive in other countries under the worst of circumstances.

this is a good book, its a good tear-jerker and pulls at the heart strings. but some chapters do drag on a bit. I felt as though the author at times was just filling up pages rather than adding to the story. Somewhere in the middle I got so bored that I stopped reading it for a couple of weeks and came back to it later. Isn't the best but it was a nice read...eventually.

Had read this book previously,getting it for a friend

I found this very different , usually it is where a girl gets married and the way she is treated by the husband or the first wife, but this book was an amazing story, a girl, a husband, children and a terrible war and how she never lost her strength to go on. I just could not put it down. Well worth reading.Misty

An excellent reminder of the war in that country,not that long ago. Have any lessons been learned, or do they continue in their cultural ways ? Was it all worth it? The many who died for the cause, ....and the many who still are working there to bring some sense in a world that refuses to see sense!

I can understand why so many people have said they enjoyed this book - it is a page turner and easy to read. However, I think the main reason people say they enjoy it is because it panders to the perceived notion of life for Afghan women. The central character Shirin Gol is bombed by the Soviets, becomes a refugee in Pakistan, is forced into marriage, is raped, forced into prostitution ....Yes, Afghan women have had to live through appalling times, particularly, though not only, during the Taliban regime - but not all women, not all the time. It does the women - and the men - of Afghanistan no favours to be portrayed in this way.There are books out there which portray a more accurate picture of life for Afghan women. Try Three Women of Herat by Veronica Doubleday or Mary Smith's novel No More Mulberries. It is set mainly in Hazara Jat, the central region of Afghanistan (Hussain in The Kite Runner is Hazara), remote and mountainous and the reader is drawn into the lives of the characters from British-born Miriam and her Afghan doctor husband Iqbal to the women and men living in the villages. It is a heart-warming, moving story but there is humour and laughter as well.

Unbelievable! Such a good read! Really keeps you wondering what will happen next when you put the book down.

Super livre à lire absolument dommage que la version française n’existe pas! Par contre délai de livraison assez long! Bonne lecture

Riveting story. Although it appears that the story should be heart breaking, it actually also leaves the reader with a glimps of hope.

I purchased this book on the recommendation of my son, a U.S. Navy officer recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, as a truthful, realistic view of life in that war-torn country. It especially details the plight of women trying to exist under such crushing circumstances. Women seek education, while men want to keep them ignorant, and thus more controllable. Husbands go off to fight for "God, Country, and the Koran", frequently never to return, leaving their wives and children to cope in a hostile environment. I recommend this book, not for fun reading, which it isn't, but to gain an understanding of the upheavals that result from the clash of modern and tribal societies, and the deadly result of the use of modern weapons in tribal conflicts.

Heartbreaking read about a woman and her family's struggles in the ever-war-torn Afghanistan. What she went through, having to constantly flee one village after another, suffering extreme poverty and oppression, reminds me of how fortunate many of us in the Western world are. A painful but important book.