Bookseller of Kabul

So far, I'm liking the Bookseller of Kabul. There's a lot of really good imagery and Seierstad does an excellent job of building up the characters as the plot progresses. Sultan Khan is clearly a powerful, strong man that strives to bring education to his country. Even though he's been put in jail, oppressed, and broken by the government, he still thrives to do what he loves. I admire that about him. One aspect of the book that bothers me is how biased Seierstad is at some points. Because she's not from Afghanistan, it takes away some of her ethos and makes me give my opinions a second thought. It's really interesting how women are portrayed in the book-- it's so different than what I grew up believing in. There is a lot of violence towards women, and Seierstad does an excellent job at creating pathos for the reader. I'm finding out so much about Afghan culture (some of which I already knew about from A Thousand Splendid Suns), and I'm excited to see how the rest of the book plays out.