Caravans

Don't be fooled by the "Harlequin Romance"-looking cover art. Caravans is a ripping good adventure/travelogue/history lesson, with some romance thrown in for good measure. The story is simple: An American girl who married an Afghani man is missing in Afghanistan. Her family is frantic, and a military man stationed in Afghanistan in 1946 is assigned to find out what happened to her. The story veers into some unexpected territory, and Michener delivers a TON of Historical perspective on the people and places of Afghanistan without ever making you feel like you're back in History class. (This is a VERY illuminating book to read after September 11th...) The characters are interesting, and the book just zooms along: I finished it in no time flat. My only complaint is the map in the beginning of the book: It's printed so dark that it's totally useless.

"Caravans" is one of James Michener's often-overlooked masterpieces. It deserves a wider audience, and not only because of the current war in Afghanistan. The book is deceptively simple. Deceptive, because it can be read on several different levels. On the most surface level, it is an adventure story of a young American diplomat who travels in one of the world's last exotic places and describes people and scenery almost unimaginably foreign. On another level it is a deeply poignant love story of Mark Miller, the Jewish Yale grad, and Mira, the 17-year-old tribeswoman, that alone would justify the price of the book.The underlying theme is the struggle between modernity vs. timelessness. The book is not a techno-thriller that moves at breakneck speed; it travels at a slow, deliberate pace that evokes the camel caravans of the centuries. American, Soviet, German, and native engineers may dot the landscape with paved roads, dams, and bridges, but these monuments are never far from cities and archaelogical sites that were old when Alexander the Great ruled Afghanistan, ancient when Muhammad was born. Did the book help me understand the Afghan people and culture? I can't say. If anything, I think I realize that few Westerners will ever comprehend the Afghan people and culture. One senses that the Taliban may destroy the ancient Buddhas of Bamian and B-52s may level Kabul and Qandahar, Islam itself may be swept from the scene; no matter. The land remains, and the caravans move on.

The book is set in Afghanistan in around 1946, but things haven't changed much in that barbaric country. There are graphic descriptions of an adulterous woman being stoned to death (based on an execution that Michener actually saw) and of another public execution where a young man gets his head slowly sawn off with a rusty bayonet (again based on an actual event, though Michener wasn't an eyewitness). The story is narrated by an American diplomat who's looking for a missing American girl, and is fairly predictable. Despite that however, this is a great book to read in the context of current events, with lots of near-prophetic speculations from the characters and a poignant description of the now-destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas.

I don't like Michener as a rule, however, Caravans is for the inquisitive and the seeker of fantastic places, a wonderful map of the country, its culture,the beauty of Islam and the sage tirany and power of the Muslem Prists (Mullahs). Even though published in 1962-63 and with the story taking place in 1946, the basics are as true today as 56 years ago! Michener made 9 trips to the country before writing this book and was fascinated by its fabulous beauty, the cruelty of its life-style and terrain, the fantastic legends of past cultures of the Silk Route, the intrinsic problems of its own-going self destruction and the ever changing magic of the Serais,the travellers and Caravans! The Story is easy and a fair yarn. It bespeaks of another time thru the interplay of its main characters and Helen who is one of the first of her generation to realize what now is common knowledge. Michener was a visionary of sorts here and don't be surprise if you pull out your dusty Atlas and search for the "Seventy Mile City," Kandakhar, Kabul, the Palmirs and the high valleys of the Hindu Kush and Khayber Pass. Any one can read this but you need imagination and a bit of the wonderlust for lost places and past civilizations. It makes a good book on tape also. Dead-heads stay away!

"Caravans" is the story of how Afghanistan's Islamic culture affects an American female student and a U.S. embassy male staffer.Afghanistan's Islamic culture has desert roots. Desert survival requires a strong leader. This requirement has made Islam a patriarchal culture. Michener describes how Islamic culture fits the harsh desert environment. He outlines how an American woman and an American man adapt to Afghanistan's Islamic culture."Caravans" is an excellent novel. Michener's characters are well-developed. Michener lived in Afghanistan. He understands its people, its culture, and its environment. I recommend this book.