Caravans: A Novel of Afghanistan
Written by James A. Michener
Narrated by Larry McKeever
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
First published in 1963, James A. Michener's gripping chronicle of the social and political landscape of Afghanistan is more relevant now than ever. Combining fact with riveting adventure and intrigue, Michener follows a military man tasked, in the years after World War II, with a dangerous assignment: finding and returning a young American woman living in Afghanistan to her distraught family after she suddenly and mysteriously disappears. A timeless tale of love and emotional drama set against the backdrop of one of the most important countries in the world today, Caravans captures the tension of the postwar period, the sweep of Afghanistan's remarkable history, and the inescapable allure of the past.
Related to Caravans
Related audiobooks
Behind the Bookcase: Miep Gies, Anne Frank, and the Hiding Place Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsB. J. Harrison Reads Behind a Mask Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last of the Mohicans - A Narrative of 1757 (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Difference Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in America, 1619-1962 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ernest Hemingway: The Famous American Story Writer and Journalist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5B. J. Harrison Reads The Last of the Mohicans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Whisper in the Tempest: A Novel of the Great War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Outsider (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sun Also Rises Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHidden Notes: A Fantasy Romance Mystery With Historical Family Secrets, Ghosts, Travel, and Suspense Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsB. J. Harrison Reads The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Occupation Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5At the Mountains of Madness (Unabridged) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The American Adrenaline Narrative Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pony Express: Reading American History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Well Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Women Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Of The Mohicans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIrena Sendler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Laced Chameleon: Francesca: Rookie Sleuth and Counterspy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNovember Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Text Messages: Or How I Found Myself Time Travelling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Faulkner's Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Fiction For You
Weyward: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Quiet on the Western Front Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlander Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Neon Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reformatory: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Red Tent - 20th Anniversary Edition: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Steps: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Apothecary: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Clan of the Cave Bear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alice Network: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Teeth: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Schindler's List Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House of Eve Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wife: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rules of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Caravans
227 ratings13 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Atypical Michener, set in Afghanistan in 1946.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of my favorites. I first read this as an adventure story in my early 2o's. It is an interesting take on Afghanistan and nomads 60 yrs ago and pertinent today.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is very unlike the majority of Michener's books. This is a relatively short story - but a very good one. While I don't shy away from long books, many of his can drag on. This is therefore a refreshing change. It paints a very interesting view of Afghanistan. Here you can get a sense of what it may have been like before the craziness of constant wars over the last decades.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm a huge Michener fan and this book, while out of the norm for Michener, was nonetheless enjoyable. Young American, Ellen Jasper marries a young Afghan engineer (already having an Afghan wife) and moves to Afghanistan. Her parents do not hear from her for 17 months and fear the worst. It is the job of 26 year old American ambassador Mark Miller to locate her. Mark is thrown in with a German Nazi doctor, a tribal camel herder, and a whole host of other interesting characters. This book's setting is vague, but I would guess about 1950's-1960's as it was sometime after the Nuremberg Trials and before the invasion of Russia. Besides learning a lot of Afghan history, I also learned a lot of culture. 449 pages
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Moves quickly and gives you a few engaging (if slightly caricatured) people to follow. A good slap dash adventure to give you a sense of the diversity and complicated history (esp cold war geopolitics) of Afghanistan, but by no means an authoritative history or "accurate" version. In fact, these days it tells us more about the ambitions and obsessions of imperial-minded Americans than anything else.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Must state right off that I am a huge fan of Michener. This title, however, I felt started off as classic Michener with wonderful portrayals of the country and culture of Afghanistan. Something happened about three-fourths of the way through and the focus turned on some really self-centered and unlikable characters.Amazing that this book was published in 1963 but so much sounds exactly like what we hear on the news today. Names of places heard on the evening news such as Kandahar and Kabul are vividly drawn. The culture of the places in the late 1940's helps explain much of how the situation today developed. Michener writes about women in the chaderi (which we have come to know as the burqa), the Mullahs, and the extreme violence toward women. All of that was fascinating and I simply couldn't put the book down.The book follows Miller, the main character sent from America to find a "lost" American woman named Ellen who married an Afghan. His reactions to the other "ferangi" (foreigners) is interesting and enlightening. The sad part is that he finds Ellen. From then on I felt a shift to her as the focus of the story. I just could not buy into this Bryn Mawr collegiate hiking all over the country with a group of nomads looking so lovely and jumping from one "free" man to one even in her eyes "freer." The German Nazi Dr. Stiglitz comes across as much more believable but his relationship to Ellen just turns the entire novel into somewhat of a soap opera.That said, I still would recommend the book for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of Afghanistan and its vast amount of history.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Michener's foray into the drug-addled 60s.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A wonderful tale of an American girl in Afghanistan in the aftermath of WW2. A wonderful work that is yet to reach it’s full potential among worldwide readers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is an exciting tale of crossing Afghanistan's desert with danger from nature and nomads and politics. Informative about the times leading up to current events.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I was a teenager I loved devouring the epic historical novels of Mitchener, in the last 20 years though I have found most of his work lacking character and depth. However this book is an exception, I first read this book in 2002 as Western troops we're entering afghanistan. It was striking to me how similar the Afghanistan of the 40's Mitchner described was to the Afghanistan of the 2000's the reporters we're describing. I have to admit I loved this book, I loved the story, which yes upon a second reading was a bit sappy but I'm a sucker for people leaving this crazy modern world and going native. I also loved the glimpse of Afghan society Mitchner provides with this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enjoyed reading this book.. good descriptions.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not up to the level of some of Michener's finer efforts.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good read. Very different than what you'd normally think of in a Michener book. This is a story that takes place just at one period in time. Its about a young American diplomat in Kabul Afghanistan in 1946. Prophetic read on the situation in Afghanist