Harry Potter Watch

Just FYI - I have been informed that Harry Potter Book 7 will be released on 07/07/07, which is a Saturday.  This is, of course, merely a rumor; however, the logic is overpowering.

Meanwhile, available now - The Places In Between, which the NY Times Book review described as "a striding, glorious book":

Rory Stewart's first book, "The Places in Between," recounts his journey across Afghanistan in January 2002. Even in mild weather in an Abrams tank, such a trip would be mane-whitening. But Stewart goes in the middle of winter, crossing through some territory still shakily held by the Taliban — and entirely on foot. There are some Medusa-slayingly gutsy travel writers out there — Redmond O'Hanlon, Jeffrey Tayler, Robert Young Pelton — but Stewart makes them look like Hilton sisters.

Paul Theroux once described a certain kind of travel book as having mainly "human sacrifice" allure, and how close Stewart comes to being killed on his journey won't be disclosed here. He is, however, sternly warned before he begins his walk. "You are the first tourist in Afghanistan," observes an Afghan from the country's recently resurrected Security Service. "It is mid-winter," he adds. "There are three meters of snow on the high passes, there are wolves, and this is a war. You will die, I can guarantee." For perhaps the first time in the history of travel writing, a secret-police goon emerges as the voice of sobriety and reason.

Recalling an American journalist who wondered if Stewart thought what he was doing was dangerous, he writes, "I had never found a way to answer that question without sounding awkward, insincere or ridiculous." He's then asked if he has read "Into the Wild," Jon Krakauer's account of a well-meaning young man's doomed trek into the Alaskan wilderness. It is, Stewart is told, more than a little pointedly, "a great piece of journalism."

So is "The Places in Between" — a pipsqueak title for what is otherwise a striding, glorious book. But it's more than great journalism. It's a great travel narrative. Learned but gentle, tough but humane, Stewart — a Scottish journalist who has served in both the British Army and the Foreign Office — seems hewn from 19th-century DNA, yet he's also blessed with a 21st-century motherboard. He writes with a mystic's appreciation of the natural world, a novelist's sense of character and a comedian's sense of timing.

Comments

[jerry]

Hahaha "the logic is overpowering."

[clarice]

Have you seen pictures of Afghanistan? It looks absolutely glorious. I would love to travel there someday.Not now I grant you and not on foot in winter. But those mountains and that glorious blue sky and the valleys! It reminds me of parts of Morrocco .

[MayBee]

jerry- that made me laugh too!

Clarice- I would love to go to Morrocco. That is definitely on my list.
I think of Afghanistan and Iraq and I can only imagine the tourist dollars waiting for that area of the world if things calmed down. Tourism is certainly helping Cambodia and Vietnam.

[clarice]

There's a guy in Virginia who lived in Morocco for years with the Peace Corps. He arranges adventure travel there and I went on one of those trips..I adored every minute and it was astonishingly cheap..If you are serious, I'll send you his email addy. we traveled by Range Rover (which you need to do to see everything), camped out in the Atlas Mountains, stayed at a Caravanserie near the Algerian border, etc etc. It is the most gorgeous place I have ever been in--well, maybe it's tied with Rajasthan.

[MayBee]

Yeah, I would love his email.
I would hope to go in the next few years, and that sounds absolutely amazing.

[clarice]

MayBee it took me a while to find it.."Piotr Kostrzewski"
He also arranges trips to Mali and Rajasthan.

[MayBee]

Thanks clarice. I've been to Rajasthan and loved it- my whole family did. I don't think Mali is in the cards for me.

[clarice]

Me neither, but I promise you and your family will love Morocco, and Piotr puts together some of the greatest options for trips there.

[clarice]

MayBee.. I forgot to give you his addy which I spent so much time looking up.
"Piotr Kostrzewski" [email protected]

[MayBee]

Thanks, Clarice.
I've saved it.
Sorry you had to spend so much time looking it up, and I will let you know when/if we plan to go.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

BTW, 7/7/07 will be Robert A Heinlein's 100th birthday.

[clarice]

MayBee, just saw your note. It was no trouble. Maybe I'll go with you..

[MayBee]

clarice- that would be great! You know I just found out yesterday about an opportunity to go to N Korea. I'm tempted....