I chose to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Both Morteson and Relin have been trying to reduce poverty and promote education for girls around Pakistan and Afghanistan. This book just basically depicts Morteson's shift from a mountain climber to a humanitarian.
What drew me to this book, was the three pious looking girls on the cover. Right off the bat you can tell that these girls are Muslim, because of their head scarfs. I've always been attracted to books that some how tie into my religion, Islam, so I was pretty quick to pick it up. The title also drew me in, because I could immediately tell where the author's got it from. The title comes from an old adage, that says that the first time you share tea with someone you are a stranger, the second time you share tea you become a guest, and then the third time you share tea you and that other person basically coalesce or become family.
As I flipped through the book, I noticed that in the acknowledgments Mortenson thanked his father, Dempsey Morteson for "showing him the way". And I think that means, he's thanking his father for exposing him to international things and making more aware of the wider world. When looked at the table of contents, I found some of the chapter names to be odd. For instance chapter sixteen is called, "Red Velvet Box." That alone eludes to a bunch of different things. I mean when I see the words "red velvet", I think of blood but adding the word "box", kind of obfuscates things.
The epigram for this book is also pretty puzzling. It starts off with, "THE LITTLE RED light had been flashing for five minutes before Bhangoo paid it any attention." As you continue to reading the introduction though, the epigram starts making sense. Since Morteson's actual journey started off with him adventuring to Pakistan for mountain climbing, the book starts off explaining his helicopter ride with Brigadier Bhangoo to the mountains. There were a few pictures, I came across while flipping through. Morteson took pictures of mountains, children, men, and of educated women (there were only two).
All in all, I'm pretty excited to read this book!
