For A Pagan Song

by Jonny Bealby

For a Pagan Song tells the story of how Jonny Bealby follows in the footsteps of his two heroes from literature, Kipling and Dravot, travelling across remote parts of India and Pakistan and into war-torn Afghanistan. Picturing himself seated by a roaring fire, listening to the song of a pagan chief, Jonny sets out to experience the ancient ways of the tribes of Kafiristan -- and discovers himself along the way.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Pakistan, India, Asia

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 1998

About the author

Rock singer, writer and travel entrepreneur, Jonny Bealby has streetwise savvy and miles of travel under his belt. His experiences have given him the ideal background for setting up Wild Frontiers, the specialist award-winning tour operator which takes small groups and tailor-made clients to roads less travelled.

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Jonny Bealby's second book. In his first, he tells the sad story of the death of his girlfriend while travelling in Kashmir. Seven years later, he is again on a journey, and to some degree still learning to cope with that loss.

This journey was inspired by a book given to the author by that girlfriend. The first book he read, at age 21 - Kipling's The Man Who Would be King. A fictional book about a journey, Bealby sets out to follow the route. This book is written in '98, so the travel occurred shortly before - I think '96 based on the events being described - the same time the Taliban in Afghanistan started a drive to take power. Bealby literally moved through Afghanistan ahead of the Taliban pushed the government forces out of Kabul and took control.

The travel writing - the actual travel, the people he met, the cultural explanations and places he spent time we particularly enjoyable reading. The narrative is very personal - the author shares his concerns, his pleasure and displeasure, the awkwardness of his relationship with his travelling companion. There are however short interludes to this writing, where the author recalls moments from his life - from childhood right up to the present. These occur around once a chapter, and are from a half page to maybe 2 pages. They tend to relate to a situation current to the travel - sometime pretty loosely related. I understand what he was doing - providing depth to his person background, adding some layers of information on 'who he is' and maybe how he got to who he is, but these seemed unnecessary, and to me detracted, and disturbed the context, so for me they didn't work.

Bealby is obviously still troubled by the loss of his girlfriend, and although this is not an overly spiritual book, he mentions it often enough that it becomes an element of the story. Other readers might appreciate that more than me, but importantly it wasn't so significant that it bothered me - although in his first book I recall it being the dominant theme.

Overall if you enjoy reading about Pakistan and Afghanistan travel, enjoy honesty in writing and the thoughts of a young(ish) British man, it is worth seeking this out. For the record, I haven't read Kipling's book on which the journey is based - it didn't effect the understanding of the book as far as I could tell, as the narrative explains the book and offers comparison.

Like his other (two) books, I have given this three stars. I read the other books in 2012 & 2013, before I wrote reviews. It would be interesting to see how they compared to this one - perhaps I will re-read them one day. This is probably 3.5 stars, so I could be generous and bump this to 4 stars, but that might do a disservice to the other books, which I only gave 3.

[Andrew Fear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travel books are odd things, sometimes they are about places, sometimes they are about people. This is more of the latter type. For me that was a disappointment as to be honest I bought it to find out more about the Kalash people. There is some intriguing information about them and their legends, but they don't play as big a role in the book as the title implies. Really this is a book about Jonny Bealby, but he writes well and vividly about the people and characters he encounters on his trip. However the "flashback" bits in italics didn't work at all for me I'm afraid. The end was also a little abrupt a sort of "and in one bound I was back home". One thing that does come out of the book is the deadening hand of mohammedism, as we move from a colourful India through a grey pakistan and into a bright Kaffiristan. The book was written as storm clouds were gathering and the optimism about the Kalash sadly seems a little out of place now. Overall, this is a well written book with many entertaining bits. But caveat lector, it is more about the journey than the places journeyed through.

[Trinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it would be along the lines of the Kiterunner or I am Malala. But there wasn't much magic so to speak about the afghani culture. It was a disappointment :(

[Bruce Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Jonny, I loved so deeply I traveled welcoming death. Like Jonny, I willingly put myself in danger. What I wondered about is why Jonny felt the need to share. Or flashback and wander off to Africa or where ever he pleases. It's hard enough following where he is going in the main story without jumping continents. By the end of the book, there are still threads untied. His relationship with his travel partner, without whom the journey wouldn't have been possible, for example. Or how he returned. Readable, but not mind blowing.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off OK but I then got bored with it - not enough interesting travel bits in it for me.

[Димитър Тодоров · Rating 3 out of 5]

Вдъхновението ми за пътешествия в Афганистан и Пакистан