For Afghanistan, I used "Kite runner" as the book. A lot has been said and written about the book, so there is nothing left for me to say except that I loved it. Also I am a little bit more aware of Afghanistan thanks to close friends from there and the current geo-political situation.
Algeria on the other hand, I had no clue about. I am ashamed to admit that i would've hard a teeny bit of difficulty locating it in Africa. So I relied on Google to find me an author from Algeria. I chanced upon Assia Djebar's "Children of the New World". I had high expectations for the book - view of the Algerian war from the women of Algiers, had all the right ingredients - colonial history, a feminist going behind the veil literally and figuratively. Unfortunately except for a few interesting insights and a few well etched characters, this book didn't hold my attention. I forced myself to finish it. Having said that after completing the book I realized that the book is very relevant for today's time. The impact of war on ordinary people's lives, the brutal nature of torture as a MO for war, different kinds of violence - from the highly overt forms to the hidden emotional violence that women face.
I hope I will come back to Assia's other books at a later date, but right now off I go to Albania!
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