Letters From the Land of Fear

It's about the people of Central Asia. And TB.  What's not to love?  It's like this book was written just for me, to heal my heart after what I often consider my forced leaving of a land I loved. Calvin White gets this country right.  His descriptions of the people are spot on -- the civility, the ability to endure hardships, the easy smiles, the stern looks, and the most beautiful eyes ever seen.  His descriptions of TB  spare the reader nothing and we get a long, hard look into a disease that has been essential extinct in the West.  

That said, I am not sure how this book will translate for other readers who don't have the familiarity with Central Asia.  As White rightly points out, the names are unfamiliar.  He does us a great favor by including a chapter with all the girl's names that include "Gul" in them, which helps, but even though every single name was familiar to me, I felt confused at times who he was talking about, simply because there were so many people he interacted with.  Add in difficulties with the foreign names, and I could easily see some of my students abandoning the book in confusion.

Also, this is written like a diary. This means that there are random asides that don't get fully developed, fragments of memories, and other ruminations that were interesting to me, but may not be to other readers.  I wanted to know how White was experiencing Uzbekistan, but not all readers will enjoy his writing style.  

I don't necessarily agree with everything he did, but who doesn't go into an unfamiliar culture and make some mistakes?  I am certain that what I perceive to be his mistakes were borne out of deep compassion and even love for the people he was caring for.  And it may have been his love for the people he was with that endured me most to this book.

I would recommend this book to readers who really want to know more about the people of Central Asia (including Kazakhstan and Kirghistan).  In the middle of some very serious suffering, he gets the people right.