tani reviewed on
Hilarious, but restrained writing. Eric Newby was earning his living in London in the haute couture trade, but he went on this crazy journey in the wild mountains north-east of Kabul. The Times Literary Supplement called it "tough, extrovert, humorous, and immensely literate." There are several good black and white photographs, but the few maps were a bit disappointing.
Here are a few of the sentences Newby found listed as opening gambits in the Bashgali language phrase book he took along with him:
I saw a corpse in a field this morning.
How long have you had a goitre?
A dwarf has come to ask for food.
I have nine fingers: you have ten.
I have an intention to kill you.
A gust of wind came and took away all my clothes.
Why do you kick my horse? I will kick you.
How many black spots are there on your white dog's back?--and the answer: He is a yellow dog all over, and not spotted.
These are on p.166. If they don't make a person want to read this book, I don't know what would.
Here are a few of the sentences Newby found listed as opening gambits in the Bashgali language phrase book he took along with him:
I saw a corpse in a field this morning.
How long have you had a goitre?
A dwarf has come to ask for food.
I have nine fingers: you have ten.
I have an intention to kill you.
A gust of wind came and took away all my clothes.
Why do you kick my horse? I will kick you.
How many black spots are there on your white dog's back?--and the answer: He is a yellow dog all over, and not spotted.
These are on p.166. If they don't make a person want to read this book, I don't know what would.
