Summary of Tamim Ansary's West of Kabul, East of New York

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 In Afghanistan, people lived in compounds, where they spent all their time with their group. In the West, we spend most of our time alone, because we’re too afraid of being alone.

#2 In Afghanistan, people lived in compounds, where they spent all their time with their group. In the West, we spend most of our time alone because we're too afraid of being alone.

#3 In Afghanistan, people lived in compounds where they spent all their time with their group. In the West, we spend most of our time alone because we're too afraid of being alone.

#4 My dad, who was from Afghanistan, was given a scholarship to study in the US. He went to the University of Illinois, and when he tried to find housing, landlords slammed the door in his face because he was Asian. His bloodline could never be taken away from him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Sep 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350030914

IRB Media

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Insights on Tamim Ansary's West of Kabul East of New York

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In 1948, when I was born, most of Afghanistan was still living in the Neolithic age. The country was a world of walled villages, where people lived very similar lives to those lived thousands of years ago.

#2

The Afghan tradition of living in compounds deepened this tendency. Once we stepped into one of our compounds, we had different names from the ones we used outside. We felt more at home with others of our own large group than we did with strangers.

#3

Islam was the pervading life of the compound, like the custard that binds a casserole together. Five times a day, some of us did our ablutions and moved into the prayer ritual, one by one. Prayer divided a day into five parts and gave a sort of rhythm to the household.

#4

My father was one of five students sent to the United States in the first year the scholarship program was resumed.

#5

My father had signed a contract not to marry a foreigner when he married my mother, but the Afghan government recalled him once they found out. The royal government wanted my mother to go home, but she refused, and became the Permanent Guest of the government.

#6

I had a sister, Rebecca, who was two years younger than me. We shared a bedroom, and I had a cellular memory of our whispering together after the lights went