The+Rug+Maker+of+Mazar-e-Sharif

In Unit 3 the text we will be using four our context is 'The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif. Below is a review of the book that was published in 'The Age'

= = Thuy On, Reviewer May 5, 2008 //The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif.//
 * Najaf Mazari and Robert Hillman create a textured story of an Afghan refugee.**

BACK WHEN ASYLUM SEEKERS dominated the news, the government of the time saw it as politically expedient to group them into an amorphous mass. Here, then, is a chance to put a name to one of those desperate enough to leave his homeland in search of a place where he could "build a house that will not be blown up". //The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif// begins in the Woomera Detention Centre where Najaf Mazari is locked up alongside other "illegals" and pondering whether he would be granted a future on the other side of the barbed wire. The narrative flits back and forth and retraces his life in Afghanistan, his hazardous journey to Australia after persecution and torture by the Taliban and his successful application for permanent residency. This happy outcome, however, is preceded by years of violence and civil unrest in his motherland, which Mazari duly summarises. Mazari and Robert Hillman make a felicitous substance-and-style partnership, with the former providing the raw materials - the threads, as it were - for the latter to weave into a coherent story. Although strictly a biography, the narrative is written in the first person so the effect is more immediate and real. For those with limited knowledge of the Middle East, the book also offers insight into the daily customs and rituals of agricultural Afghan life. //The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif// impresses with its warmth, humility and grace. There's a particularly lovely passage when the now "legal" rugmaker describes buying birds and fish only to set them free.