A Door in the Earth

For readers of Cutting for Stone and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a breathtaking and achingly nuanced Kirkus, starred review new novel from the author of the national bestseller The Submission about the journey of a young Afghan American woman trapped between her ideals and the complicated truth Parveen Shamsa, a college senior in search of a calling, feels pulled between her charismatic and mercurial anthropology professor and the comfortable but predictable Afghan American community in her Northern California hometown When she discovers a bestselling book called Mother Afghanistan, a memoir by humanitarian Gideon Crane that has become a bible for American engagement in the country, she is inspired Galvanized by Crane s experience, Parveen travels to a remote village in the land of her birth to join the work of his charitable foundation.When she arrives, however, Crane s maternity clinic, while grandly equipped, is mostly unstaffed The villagers do not exhibit the gratitude she expected to receive And Crane s memoir appears to be littered with mistakes, or outright fabrications As the reasons for Parveen s pilgrimage crumble beneath her, the U.S military, also drawn by Crane s book, turns up to pave the solde road to the village, bringing the war in their wake When a fatal ambush occurs, Parveen must decide whether her loyalties lie with the villagers or the soldiers and she must determine her own relationship to the truth.Amy Waldman, who reported from Afghanistan for the New York Times after 9 11, has created a taut, propulsive novel about power, perspective, and idealism, brushing aside the dust of America s longest standing war to reveal the complicated truths beneath A Door in the Earth is the rarest of books, one that helps us understand living history through poignant characters and unforgettable storytelling. Read A Door in the Earth by Amy Waldman – kino-fada.fr Just yesterday as I finished this book, I read an article that a meeting between the United States, the Afghan President and Taliban leaders was canceled The continued presence of the US in Afghanistan is obviously a current issue I can t say that I ve ever really had a good understanding of what happened there and what is happening today It s always seemed so complex to me Amy Waldman, formerly a New York Times reporter who covered Afghanistan sheds some light, because she illustrates in Just yesterday as I finished this book, I read an article that a meeting between the United States, the Afghan President and Taliban leaders was canceled The continued presence of the US in Afghanistan is obviously a current issue I can t say that I ve ever really had a good understanding of what happened there and what is happening today It s always seemed ...For those who want a compelling read, a page turning intimate historical novel with elegant style and thoughtful insight.this is THAT NOVEL I absolutely loved it Amy Waldman s unblinking look at medical patient care in Afghanistan post 9 11 era, one of the poorest healthcare systems in the world unfamiliar with western practices is astounding and ambitious We look at misunderstand...Parveen is a young Afghan American who takes it into her head to go to Afghanistan to help the women in a rural community there She s inspired by a best seller, a memoir of a male American doctor who starts a women s clinic in this same village With no training, she is not met with the enthusiasm she expected It s immediately apparent how different life is here, from the most basic things to huge philosophical differences At the beginning, I had trouble finding Parveen a sympathetic Parveen is a young Afghan American who takes it into her head to go to Afghanistan to help the women in a rural community there She s inspired by a best seller, a memoir of a male American doctor who starts a women s clinic in this same village With no training, she is not met with the enthusiasm she expected It s immediately apparent how different life is here, from the most basic things to huge philosophical differences At the beginning, I had trouble finding Parveen a sympathetic character She s an idealist, and a stupid one at that What was enlightening was listening to the female doctor She pointed out how stupid and idealistic...Middle Eastern stories always fascinate and often enrage me The suppression and oppression of women The lack of education The survival living in a worn torn country.A door in the earth is like an eye in the sky Parveen, an American, returns to her birth country of Afghanistan, after reading of an extraordinary man who opened a clinic for pregnant women in a small village.Following his words she seeks to help, learn and live like this author.However, what she uncovers isthan ju...4.5 StarsBorn in Afghanistan, Parveen Shamsa left her country of birth when she was not yet two, along with her family So young that she had little chance to be able to recall the place where she was born They settled in the Bay Area of California, where her father took a series of demeaning jobs, and gradually their life improved to the point where Parveen was able to attend, and graduate from UC Ber...My ex husband and I served briefly as Peace Corps volunteers in Chad in the early 90s We were young newlyweds 24 27 but we d lived abroad, we were fluent in one of Chad s official languages French , we were trained as educators, he as a K 12 certificated teacher, me as an instructor of ESL We left Chad after a few months, heartbroken, disillusioned, angry and bewildered We quickly realized that as members of a well intentioned but grinding government bureaucracy we were likely doing My ex husband and I served briefly as Peace Corps volunteers in Chad in the early 90s We were young newlyweds 24 27 but we d lived abroad, we were fluent in one of Chad s official languages French , we were trained as educators, he as a K 12 certificated teacher, me as an instructor of ESL We left Chad after a few months, heartbroken, disillusioned, angry and bewildered We quickly realized that as members of a well intentioned but grinding government bureaucracy we were likely doingharm than any p...In her senior year at UC Berkeley, not quite a decade after the 911 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, Afghan American anthropology student Parveen Shams happens upon a memoir, the best selling Mother Afghanistan In it, Dr Gideon Crane, the prodigal son of medical missionary parents, explains his transformation from a scheming, money obsessed physician criminally charged with Medicare fraud to a philanthropist dedicated to building women s medical clinics in Afghanistan Vouched for and In her senior year at UC Berkeley, not quite a decade after the 911 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, Afghan American anthropology student Parveen Shams happens upon a memoir, the best selling Mother Afghanistan In it, Dr Gideon Crane, the prodigal son of medical missionary parents, explains his transformation from a scheming, money obsessed physician criminally charged with Medicare fraud to a philanthropist dedicated to building women s medical clinics in Afghanistan Vouched for and sponsored by an evangelical mega church, the disgraced Crane claims he found a new purpose in life when, in lieu of jail time or community service in the US, he was allowed to carry out charitable medical work in Afghanistan Now he has become a celebrity, earning tens of thousands of dollars for each stop o...A Door in the Earth may very well be the book that Amy Waldman was born to write Only someone who is intimately aware of the nuances of Afghanistan and its misunderstood societal landscape and complicated truths could ever have put together a book like this.Ironically, the impetus for this book is a book Parveen Shamsa, an American of Afghan descent, is galvanized to action after reading a bestseller from humanitarian activist Gideon Crane called Mother Afghanistan Surely the author had Greg A Door in the Earth may very well be the book that Amy Waldman was born t...Rating 4.0 5.0Genre Literary Contemporary Synopsis Parveen Shamsa is an Afghan American girl, a recent college graduate who decides to go to Afghanistan The land of her family ancestors This decision was taken after she read and got obsessed with the bestselling book Mother Afghanistan , a memoir written by humanitarian Gideon Crane When she arrives t...One of my favorite novels of 2019 Amy Waldman opens a door into contemporary Afghanistan in this character driven literary novel The author worked as a journalist reporting for the New York Times from their South Asia bureau Details of life and conflict when the Americans try to build a new road to a remote village ring with truth and heartbreak Main character is recent UC Berkeley grad Parveen, who was born in Kabul but raised in California Parveen craves connection with her cultural roots One of my favorite novels of 2019 Amy Waldman opens a door into contemporary Afghanistan in this character driven literary novel The author worked as a journalist reporting for the New York Times from their South Asia bureau Details of life and ...

• English
• 26 December 2018
Amy Waldman
• Hardcover
• 400 pages
• 0316451576
• Amy Waldman
• A Door in the Earth