This book is HUGE! Not a light read, either. However, it's well worth the effort to read. The story begins with Sikander as a young man in Pakistan. He's the eldest son in an upper-middle class family. He's smart, naive, idealistic, and somewhat bored and over privileged. Sikander is 17 or 18 at the beginning of the story and somewhat antagonistic to his parents, as any teenaged boy who knows everything is. One day, his father discovers that a business associate has bilked him out of a small fortune and put the family's financial and social standing at risk. As a result, both his parents are on edge and Sikander gets in a tiff with his father, which leads young Sikander to sneak out that evening with only half a mind to run away. He takes the contents of his piggy bank and takes himself to a local place of worship. He really only wants to be rebellious, but finds himself in the company of a man, his two sons, and his two nephews, who he discovers are Afghani muhajideen in the war against the Soviet Union. His sympathy for the Afghani fighters being a point of contention between himself and his father, he impulsively asks to join them.Thus begins the journey of Sikander, from being a young, privileged, and idealistic boy to becoming family in a tiny village in Afghanistan, far from his roots financially, yet close enough to share a common bond. He experiences war and killing and wishing for peace. He grows up into an intelligent, thoughtful, and very importantly, loving adult.I learned a lot about Pakistan and Afghanistan from the Afghan/USSR war to 9/11 to the US bombings following 9/11. I learned a lot about Islam and Muslims and recent history. Even though you know that Sikander is a character in a story, it's hard not to imagine him real.My only complaint was that I read this on Kindle, and the book wanted to jump to the glossary at the back. (By the way, it's worth reading the glossary although much meaning can be identified from context in the book.) Because the book is so long, I had to get into the habit of noting the location of my reading before turning each page or I would have to skim from the last point I remembered reading from to get to where I was. I picked this one up on a whim because it promised to open a window into the day-to-day life of an "ordinary" Pashtun Muslim. In almost every respect the book delivered what it promised, although by the end of the book I'm not sure that Sikander was an "ordinary" anything. Still, Khan did an admirable job of creating context for interactions that can seem quite alien to a middle-class American woman's eyes.
What do You think about Sikander (2012)?
Some interesting insights of the Muslin culture. The glossary in the kindle edition is very helpful.
—Arjun
Did not finish. Probably should not have started it while I was in school.
—liz1991
