Catch Honor And Polygamy By Omar Farhad Depicted In E-Text

wish the book and the title and the publishers blurb were different, Somehow I don't like the word Polygamy in the title the relationship that this books describes is more like what I would call a war marriage, Somehow the word Polygamy makes the book seem racy which it is not,

Secondly the description put out by the publisher gave away too much of the plot, I thought what reading about happened to Nick might be more suspenseful if I did not know by reading the promotional material what was going to happen.


I have read several books both nonfiction and fiction on Afghanistan, Therefore the book did not present too much of what was new to me, It is important to remember that women don't have really any say what happens to them when it comes to marriage,

I found the book readable but I felt I knew too much of the story,

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, A very passionate and insightful book about the US involvement in Afghanistan, The book shows a little bit of the reality of the so called democracy and liberation that the US supposedly gifted the Afghans, A very nice book with the most painful ending, I was shocked but not surprised, This has been the reality of millions of Afghans for overyears now, A beautiful first book Omar jaan and hopefully not the last, Wish you all the best Distant Echoes A review of the novel Honor and Polygamy


“Fate leads him who follows it, and drags him who resist” Plutarch

Author Omar Farhads novel, Honor and Polygamy narrates the story of Nicholas Blake, a diplomatic officer working with the United Nations in New York City.
Having just returned from an overseas tour for U, N, Nick is looking forward to a peaceful domestic life with his wife, Lisa and his two children, Ashley and Fargo when fate deals him the first of many wild cards.
He is asked to report back to Afghanistan on a six month mission landing there and even before he gets to officially feel homesick, fate arrives in his life once again in the form of lean amp bearded Taliban men who kidnap him and imprison him in a village on the hills.
Months go by quickly before Nick escapes from their clutches, albeit only partially, as he now finds that his only chance at redemption lies in the hands of the villagers.
In a bizarre life and death situation, Nick is forced to take a second wife, to try and to survive and hopefully get back to his real family in America.
But as fate would have it, Nick cant help falling in love with his new bride, Shaista and thus begins the struggle to make sense of the world around him while trying to overcome the guilt and confusion in having to choose between his two families.


Honor and Polygamy is a fascinating look at Afghanistan that goes over and beyond what a mere travelogue, a history lesson or even an adventure thriller set in the mountains does.
On the face of it, it is an adventure story involving a character called Nick but a deeper introspection will reveal that the author has painfully strived to tell something more through this book, to enlighten and shed more light on the rich and sometimes perplexing culture of a country.
Afghans and people who have visited or served in Afghanistan are sure to applaud the level of accuracy and deep insights Omar provides into the countrys social, political and cultural environment.


The opening chapters in Honor and Polygamy brilliantly capture the feelings of the lead character Nick as he prepares himself for the arduous journey ahead.
Omar has captured Nicks sense of awe, fear, confusion, guilt and determination very well as he discovers himself on this journey, A love story that springs out of nowhere reiterates the fact that you can never predict the wild aces life will throw at you, The portrayal of desperation and agony Nick has to undergo not once but twice, once trying to get back home and then trying to return back to where he started from is very realistically done.
The kind of extraordinary undertakings he goes through is testament to the fact that a man will do just about anything and go to any lengths when his mind is clear

about the decision made.


At times Honor and Polygamyreads like a memoir, partly because of the likeness to a first person narrative and partly also due to the amount of detailed emotions the author has been able to convey through the lead characters journey it is a rarity that you dont usually get to see in other books of similar genesis.
Omar Farhad very skilfully pulls you into this claustrophobic situation early on and from then, every step of the journey the reader becomes a willing accomplice or a witness to Nicks emotional and physical travails.
There is a good mix of political and historical insight into the past, the present and the possible future for Afghanistan that has been presented alongside the core story.
And it is something that should bring a little more awareness in peoples minds about a region that they have been hearing about for a long time but dont really know much about due to the kind of limited and biased reporting we see today from the major news networks.


Omar Farhad takes you on a journey through Honor and Polygamy that is bound to leave you with more knowledge and understanding than before, And everything in the book from the terrain to the people are going to leave a lasting impression in your mind, It's one of those rare books thats difficult to put down once you start reading it,
Nick Blake, working for the United Nations, had just returned to New York five weeks before, after spending six months in Afghanistan, His immediate supervisor and liaison for Afghan affairs, Bob Welch, calls Nick requesting he return to Afghanistan because his coworker, Patrick, bowed out due to a family emergency.
Nick has to leave in two weeks for another six months in Afghanistan, Nick and his wife, Lisa, hate even the thought of it,

Nick made it to Khandahar Air Field, but didnt make his connecting flight to Kabul because, his friend, Charlie, took him to meet some contacts.
Charlie and two others were killed Nick was captured by the Taliban, Now, no one knows where he is at least not right away, His captors, especially Molawee Abdul Satar, think Nick would be valuable to the US government, They tape him and place it on the internet they wait for someone to claim him,

Overtime, Nick has a chance to view his surroundings and make a plan, When he manages to escape, he runs to one of the houses in the distance, He asks for Nanawatai asylum, He seeks asylum from Gulbaz, who brings Nick into his home, Nick can stay in the guest room, separate from the main house, Unfortunately, Molawee isnt giving up Gulbaz gets caught up in the matter and seeks an elders advice, Nick needs to become a member of Gulbaz family marry Gulbaz sixteen year old daughter, Shaista,

Time drags on, Nick begins to accept his life with Gulbaz and Shaista, He is finally rescued, but he cant cope, He begins to prefer his compelled marriage to Shaista as opposed to his family his marriage of eight years to Lisa and their children, Once home, he plans to return for Shaista,

I almost see a Stockholm syndrome set in, He could no longer communicate with Lisa and the children, I felt such frustration for all parties, Its not a fairytale story, You may read it to the end, but the story will stay with you for a long time after, About half way into the book, the writing took on a very simplistic style for a while, Im not sure if this was done purposely or what it may have been to convey, This is Omar Farhads debut novel, He has lived in Afghanistan as well as in the United States, I have every reason to believe the descriptions are real, I rated Honor and Polygamy atout of,

sitelink fictionzeal. com/honorpoly An entertaining story that made me think, Wonderful book, Omar has a gift of writing and this is a great fiction book, The author clearly uses his understanding and experience living in various parts of the world to help make the reader indulge into the book, Very captivating and definitely recommended! Masterful writing! I received a copy of this book via Goodreads Giveaways, Thank you for that.

This is an interesting as well as exciting story about the problematic situation Afghanistan is facing right now, You get a look on how Afghans are living under those circumstances and how the life of a man gets turned upside down leaving him torn between two very different cultures.
This book has a really enticing plot with surprises along the way, I didn't expect the protagonist, Nick, to make some of the choices he did, and the book had me really dwelling on Nick's situation, the options open to him, and what his choices said about him.
That's a good thing, for sure! The book also left me hoping that Farhad might decide to give us another book or a few short stories to tell us more about the lives of Shaysta and Lisa where they don't touch Nick's.
What I read in Honor and Polygamy made me very curious about them, An interesting situation and some disturbing moments where there are not always good choices available to the characters and they may end up changed irrevocably, . . got me thinking! An honor to the people getting caught in the middle of the war, A book everyone should read! I received a copy of this book via Goodreads Giveaways, Thank you!

The catchy title caught my interest right away, This was a very short readpages, with a good suspense and a fast paced story, The writing is very simple, no bells and whistles, If you're looking for sophisticated literature, you might want to pass this one, But the style works for this type of story, even though it could be improved a little,

This book is about Nick, an American diplomat, married with kids, who goes to Afghanistan to work, But his trip doesn't go as planned, He gets kidnapped, escapes and asks asylum to a Pashtun man who saves his life, He's then caught up in a sticky situation where he has to marry a sixteen year old girl,

We all heard about polygamy and how women have no rights in the Afghan society, But this book made me discover about a practice of the Pashtun people that I never heard of before called "nanawatai", I was so fascinated by that concept that I went to read more about it on the net,

At first I was sympathetic to Nick's plight, But he lost me when he supposedly fell in love with his sixteen years old bride, "It was love at first sight", Yeah right! And then Nick", . . is able to see and hear every positive quality in her, She is shy, never speaks unless spoken to, and is very soft spoken", Ok So what happened to the married man that was attracted to his first wife when he was a political science major, when he ", . . noticed Lisa's intellectual skills and the way she actively took part in class discussions" Did he suddenly realised he preferred his women quiet and submissive It wouldn't be unrealistic, but I felt like throwing tomatoes at him for that.
And then he kept making stupid decisions, I wanted to shake him up, But I kept reading because I was curious to see how this whole mess would end up,

There could be a sequel to this book, but I'd be satisfied with this end as the final one,

Overall a good book with an interesting plot, but the writing could be improved, I give itfor the storyline andfor the execution, This is a tale to be told and Omar writes it perfectly, An honest account of the fortunes of the people caught up in the conflict, .