A Land Without Time: A Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan

by John Sumser

Since 9/II, the American appetite for information on Afghanistan has surged. The bulk of this information has come from the media, Afghan Scholars or from the Afghans themselves. For the first time, the story of Afghanistan prior to, and during, the communist coup of 1979 is told from the perspective of an American working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan. The story begins with Peace Corps recruitment and training in the United States, then follows a group of young men and women to Afghanistan where they must learn to adapt to exotic food, mysterious customs and primitive hygiene. Then, as they begin to assimilate and feel confortable in their harsh suroundings, a military coup leads to the arrest of the author, who is accused of being an American spy and beaten in an effort to make him reveal secrets he doesn't have. Eventually, the author is extricated from prison as a new communist regime solidifies its hold on Afghanistan after centuries of Islamic dominance. Thus the chain of events leading to 9/II is set in motion. Only a handful of foreigners lived in Afghanistan when destabilization began in the late seventies and, of this handful, none has attempted to document the counry's transition from its centuries-old status-quo to a factory for global insurgency. No other book about Afghanistan offers such a humane, sometimes humorous, and significant insight into a culture on the verge of single-handedly launching a new age of terrorism.

Genres: Memoir

Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly readable book. I expect to get this finished in no time at all. Four chapters into I and I want to tell everyone to read this book and read about a world that does not exist anymore.

Finished - Great story. So readable and engaging. Also a little unnerving. You know our hero is going to survive his experience but the tension he conveys at the end shows how precarious his position was with the soldiers of the coup. The tension positively throbbed.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fascinates me. The Peace Corps in Afghanistan in the mid-1970s seems to have been fairly chaotic, judging by how little structure supported the author. After the training provided stateside, he was clearly ready to teach English, but there wasn’t enough of a job available to him. As a result, he’s rather at loose ends. Fortunately for him, he really has a desire to learn about and experience the country and the culture. His writing style is conversational. Mostly light in tone, even when describing events that are impossible to understand—in the first 2/3 of the book. His description of a trip to Bamiyan is magical, lyrical. Then —he reminds us that the most spectacular part of Bamiyan, the immense statues of Buddha, were destroyed by the Taliban. 😭
Almost everything about the country, as Mr Sumser experienced it, is gone now.
He wrote this book decades after he left Afghanistan. Yet the details are so vivid! Clearly, he has a great memory.
He doesn’t provide a lot of details about himself, and in my opinion the book is stronger for it— Afghanistan and the Peace Corps as he experienced them are front and center.

[Miriam Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for Peace Corps volunteers.

A Land Without Time is a memoir of Peace Corps volunteer John Sumser. While teaching English in Afghanistan, and staying in places like Kabul, Laghman, and Kholm (Tashkurgan), Sumser generates with contrasting detail the cultural lifestyle you do not find in the western world. His recollection includes pieces that are lost in history, buildings that no longer stand, many are streets he once strolled. But when Sumser is waved down by a soldier and blamed for being a spy, it becomes a matter of life or death. This book will make you laugh, think, and know that Afghans don’t waste anything. Sumser describes his many encounters with touches of humor and philosophical understanding.

It was a pleasure reading this book and getting it signed by the author himself!

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came upon this book at a wonderful Boston bookstore, and I'm so glad I did. It was well written and humorous, and I enjoyed reading about all of the author's experience before and during war in Afghanistan while in the PC.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a long book. He picked the funny stories from his adventure and tells those.