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In 2005, a group of Afghan actors endeavored to create an unusual
dramatic performance--one that would bring theater to a region
wounded after years of war with the Taliban and offer hope for
healing. "A Night in the Emperor's Garden" is the captivating
account of their resulting play and a rich exploration of the
region's culture. In preparation, for five months, the group
tirelessly reworked Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost" into their
own Dari language while the members brought their own experiences
to the interpretation. One actor was a police detective and widow
determined to create images of strong women. Another had trained at
Kabul University before fleeing to Pakistan as a refugee. A third
had played the title role in the acclaimed film "Osama," yet was a
beggar who could barely read and write. Joined by a French actress
who served as director and several other enthusiasts, these actors
performed before royalty and street vendors alike for one night
amid the ruins of a magnificent garden laid out five centuries
earlier by Emperor Babur. For the first time in thirty years, men
and women stood on stage together as they worked toward a new era
in Afghanistan. Qais Akbar Omar and Stephen Landrigan, both
involved in the production, have captured its exuberance and
optimism along with the actors' joys and sorrows in the decade
following the play. Revealing a side of Afghanistan largely unknown
to outsiders, "A Night in the Emperor's Garden" tells the magical
story of an artistic achievement with universal appeal.
'To read this book is to understand Afghanistan as it exists today.
This haunting memoir traces the unimaginable odyssey of one family
whose world has collapsed . . . Poetic, powerful, and
unforgettable.' - Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A
Thousand Splendid Suns. A true life account of growing up in
Afghanistan, Qais Akbar Omar recounts his happy childhood in Kabul,
his journeys with his family across Afghanistan in search of a safe
haven, and life under the Taliban rule as a young man. Qais was
eleven when a brutal civil war engulfed Kabul. For Qais, it brought
an abrupt end to a childhood filled with kites and cousins in his
grandfather's garden: one of the most convulsive decades in Afghan
history had begun. Ahead lay the rise of the Taliban, and, in 2001,
the arrival of international forces. A Fort of Nine Towers is the
story of Qais, his family and their determination to survive these
upheavals as they were buffeted from one part of Afghanistan to the
next. Drawing strength from each other, and their culture and
faith, they sought refuge for a time in the Buddha caves of Bamyan,
and later with a caravan of Kuchi nomads. When they eventually
returned to Kabul, it became clear that their trials were just
beginning . . . 'Even more haunting than The Kite Runner, because
it's not fiction.' - Philidelphia Inquirer 'Here at last is a
powerful memoir that does justice to its tough, tenacious and
astonishingly good-humoured people. The best thing about it . . .
is that it is a book about Afghanistan written by an Afghan.' -
Evening Standard
Twenty-three years ago--after the Soviets left and before the
Taliban came to power--Kabul was a garden where seven-year-old Qais
Akbar Omar flew kites from the roof of his grandfather's house.
Then came the hollow sounds of rocket fire as the Mujahedin,
self-proclaimed holy warriors, took over Afghanistan, and the
country erupted in civil war. Omar's family fled, leaving
everything behind to take shelter in an old fort. But after a
narrow escape from death, his father decided that the family must
leave the country.
Yet the journey proved more difficult than anticipated, and in this
stunning coming-of-age memoir, Omar offers a moving recollection of
these events--a story of daily hardships, relieved by moments of
joy and immense beauty. Inflected with folktales and steeped in
poetry, "A Fort of Nine Towers" is a life-affirming triumph.
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