Customer Reviews
A very good book - By: Magni Onsøien, 05 Jan 2009 
It was one of those books I tried to stretch as long as possible - putting it away for some comicsin the evening, listening to other people talkingin stead of reading it on the bus, walking home from work so I'd have less time to read etc. Because it was a good & well written book!
Greg Mortenson starts out as an ordinary climber & adventurist, trying to conquer K2, the second highest summit on earth. He failed, & got lost on the way back. The village he ended upin treated him very well while he recovered, & before he left them he got to see their "school" - an open place where the pupils where writingin the soil & had no proper teacher. He promised them to build a proper school.
The journey for the school is long, & filled with cultural clashes. Three years later the school is there, though, & the village's children have a school on their own. Soon other villages beg for schools, other tribal chiefs want a schoolin their village. Bewildered Mortenson is forced to say yes - how can he, the rich American, just say no? The problem is just that he is still broke, & don't have any fund for schools.
Gradually he builds these funds. Funding for a school a few schools a year are made available, the movement grows, he gets support from important religious leadersin Pakistan, from more & more peoplein USA & the rest of the world, & the word spreads: here is an extraordinary man building schools for the children of Pakistan (and later Afghanistan).
His motivation probably changes as he goes. The motivation for the first school is gratitude - the people of the village saved his life, & he wants to give something back. The snowball starts rolling, & the children are his motivation - they deserve education, they need it, they want it & their communities are ready to support themin their school. Over the time peace grows as his biggest motivation. He thinks - & this is a philosophy I fully support himin - children won't turn into terroists & warriors if they get education. Schools are a way to build peace, & ultimately to build safety for USA.
The book is well written,in cooperation with David Oliver Relin. The language is fluent & easy to read, & I don't remember any annoying flaws. The only negative thing is the maps, which likein many such books are poor. They have two pages of maps of the areas of workin Pakistan & Afghanistan. These maps have a few places, villages & towns marked, but there are loads of placesin the text that aren'tin the map at all. I understand that it's impossible to show every small placein a map, but when the maps are clearly made for the book (the small village of the first 84-pupil school is there) & when they are far from filled with small dots, I think they should have included more of the places from the text. They have built 78 schools so far, & it would for instance have been interesting to see where they are on the maps.
Unputdownable - By: E. Cormack, 03 Jan 2009 A fascinbating insight into previously unheard of areas & ways of lifein far away places & an excellent view of the impact of 9/11 from the perspective of the innocent "collateral damage" victims. I spent a lot of my reading with tearsin my eyes & it's hard not to see Dr Greg as some kind of modern day saint. A must read.
Inspirational reading - By: Mr. R. Ashworth, 30 Dec 2008 This story is very well written & that makes it easy to be drawn into the thoughts & actions of man of humanity. When you have read the book, mostly scripted by David Oliver Relin, & you are not sure about Greg Mortenson, have a look at his lecture 'Promoting Peace & Building Nations' broadcast on You Tube. He talks with sincerity and, apparently, without notes. The book unveils a tale of a man who is beaten by a mountain, 8611 metres tall & finds himself,in desperate circumstances, being cared for by the good (muslim) people of a very remote villagein the Himalaya. How that affected him is something worth finding out about. Also the description of the great valleys of the Karakorum, Hindu Kush are graphic enough to have you searching for a way to take a trip along the Karakorum Highway.
Let me quote from the text, page 151:
"Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learnedin my life" Mortenson says. "We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute lunches & two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their 'shock & awe' campaign could end the warin Iraq before it even started" Haki Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down.......... that I had more to learn from the people.........than I could ever hope to teach them"
'Three Cups of Tea will put youin a reflective mood if nothing else.
Heartwarming and Inspiring - By: H. Clinton, 23 Nov 2008 Three Cups of Tea is the story of how one man can make a difference, & should be a lesson for all of us to never give up thinking that we can make a difference. This is an excellent story about an extraordinary individual & an incredible village most of us have never heard of before. This is a must read for any outdoor enthusiast, humanitarian, & just about anyone who genuinely cares about the world & all those livingin it.
For a great book of philosophy I recommend Understanding: Train of Thought.
FROM A RASH PROMISE............................ - By: Nina Simone, 17 Nov 2008 I never read fictional books as I prefer to know about 'true life' & this book has to be one of the most humbling & amazing books I've ever read.
From the rash promise Greg Mortenson made, grew a remarkable humanitarian campaign,in which he has dedicated his life to promote education, especially for girls,in remote regions of Pakistan & Afghanistan.
As of 2008, Mortenson has established over 78 schoolsin rural & often volatile regions of Pakistan & Afghanistan, which provide education to over 28,000 children, including 18,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before & even more surprising is that these regions are often conversative Muslim.
He has forged formidable relationships with highly respected leadersin both Pakistan & Afghanistan & this just proves what a special man Mortenson must be.
He has inspired me to do what I can to help these regions not just because I believe education is fundamental to every society but, even more importantly, he believes that education is the only way to combat the Taliban & extremism - & he's right!
He's opened my eyes to the Muslim religion & different culturesin Pakistan & Afghanistanin a way that no television programme has ever achieved [or tried to achieve. To learn more visit: www.threecupsoftea.com
If you only read one more bookin your life - make sure it's Three Cups of Tea & I promise, it will change your perspective completely.
