Notes from Book Group August 2010

This month we discussed Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson which is the true story of a humanitarian mission. In 1993, a young American mountain climber named Greg Mortenson stumbles into a tiny village high in Pakistan’s beautiful and desperately poor Karakoram Himalaya region. Sick, exhausted, and depressed after a failing to scale the summit of K2, Mortenson regains his strength and his will to live thanks to the generosity of the people of the village of Korphe. Before he leaves, Mortenson makes a vow that will profoundly change both the villagers’ lives and his own—he will return and build them a school.

The book traces how Mortenson kept this promise (and many more) in the high country of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The region is remote and dangerous, a notorious breeding ground for Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists. Mortenson was kidnapped and threatened with death. He endured local rivalries, deep misunderstandings, jealousy, and corruption, not to mention treacherous roads and epic weather. But he believed passionately that balanced, non-extremist education, for boys and girls alike, is the most effective way to combat the violent intolerance that breeds terrorism. To date, Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute has constructed fifty-five schools, and his work continues.

The majority of our group liked this book. The ones that did not disliked the main character’s attitude towards his family more than the book itself. Everyone agreed that Greg Mortenson was a very unique individual who was driven by his personal goal of helping people in this mountainous region. This story generated discussions on Greg’s background, his lifestyle, politics, charities etc. Agreed that Greg is a citizen of the world – not a typical American. We had intense discussions on this book, and members recommended this book to others.