What do you think?
Rate this book
All the Roads Are Open: The Afghan Journey
In June 1939 Annemarie Schwarzenbach and fellow writer Ella Maillart set out from Geneva in a Ford, heading for Afghanistan. The first women to travel Afghanistan's Northern Road, they fled the storm brewing in Europe to seek a place untouched by what they considered to be Western neuroses. The Afghan journey documented in All the Roads Are Open is one of the most important episodes of Schwarzenbach's turbulent life. Her incisive, lyrical essays offer a unique glimpse of an Afghanistan already touched by the "fateful laws known as progress," a remote yet "sensitive nerve centre of world politics" caught amid great powers in upheaval. In her writings, Schwarzenbach conjures up the desolate beauty of landscapes both internal and external, reflecting on the longings and loneliness of travel as well as its grace. Maillart's account of their trip, The Cruel Way, stands as a classic of travel literature, and, now available for the first time in English, Schwarzenbach's memoir rounds out the story of the adventure.
Praise for the German Edition: "Above all, [Schwarzenbach's] discovery of the Orient was a personal one. But the author never loses sight of the historical and social context. . . . She shows no trace of colonialist arrogance. In fact, the pieces also reflect the experience of crisis, the loss of confidence which, in that decade, seized the long-arrogant culture of the West." —Süddeutsche Zeitung
Praise for the German Edition: "Above all, [Schwarzenbach's] discovery of the Orient was a personal one. But the author never loses sight of the historical and social context. . . . She shows no trace of colonialist arrogance. In fact, the pieces also reflect the experience of crisis, the loss of confidence which, in that decade, seized the long-arrogant culture of the West." —Süddeutsche Zeitung
124 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
26 people are currently reading
823 people want to read
About the author
Annemarie Schwarzenbach
47 books143 followersAnnemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942) was a Swiss writer, journalist, photographer and traveler.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
May 3, 2025
Servirá para alguma coisa fazer este trajeto, milha após milha, e continuar a viver assim, irrevogavelmente? (...) De onde vens tu, estrangeira? (…) Da Pérsia, do Turquestão… Os caminhos, é certo, estão abertos e não conduzem a parte alguma, a parte alguma.
Em 1939, Annemarie Schwarzenbach e a fotógrafa/escritora Ella Maillart deixaram a Europa com a guerra prestes a estalar…
E cuidava de me proteger, pois, caso contrário, que seria de mim? Prisioneira ou um ser humano livre?
…para empreender uma viagem de carro que cruzaria os Balcãs, a Turquia e o Irão até chegarem ao destino a que se propunham, o Afeganistão, tendo na Índia apanhado um navio de volta à Europa, que percorreu o oceano Índico, o mar Arábico, o mar Vermelho, o canal do Suez e o Mediterrâneo até aportar em Génova. Duas mulheres sozinhas, sem intérprete e com apenas conhecimentos rudimentares de persa, recebidas por expatriados europeus e populações locais com igual hospitalidade, sem que Annemarie relate alguma situação de perigo, o que de facto faz pensar, conhecendo o estatuto da mulher nas culturas que seguem o Islão.
Gostaríamos de ver um rosto, olhos vivos, uma bela boca, um sorriso, mas não podemos fazer mais do que assistir à passagem furtiva das grades que os escondem, sabendo, ao mesmo tempo, que estas criaturas amedrontadas e desamparadas não veem suficientemente bem para evitar os camelos vacilantes, os cavalos titilantes de guizos dos gadi, os homens que deambulam com jovial desenvoltura – e que vivem, portanto, num temor permanente.
Neste país, onde as mulheres só tiram a burca depois de se certificarem que Annemarie, com o seu aspecto andrógino, não é um rapaz, a destemida viajante relata como atravessou o Afeganistão sem perder de vista o omnipresente Hindu Kush, como foi acolhida pelas mulheres na casa de um administrador, como passou perigosos desfiladeiros sempre sob a protecção das honradas tribos locais que garantiam o salvo-conduto a quem passasse entre o nascer e o pôr-do-sol. Mas face à sua admirável liberdade é gritante aquela que falta às suas congéneres.
As alunas da escola de Cabul eram rapariguinhas muito dotadas, vivas e recetivas, tão inteligentes como os rapazes, bonitas, e tinham os olhos tão brilhantes que era difícil imaginar que esses pequenos rostos, tão graciosos e atentos, seria um dia desterrados para a sombra do interior das paredes de um harém, prisioneiros de um sinistro tchadri.
Nesta viagem, Schwarzenbach não se distanciava apenas física e mentalmente da guerra ainda relativamente circunscrita, mas iniciava outra espécie de fuga relacionada com a depressão e com a dependência de morfina.
Despojarmo-nos da roupa que trazemos vestidas, reconhecer que avançámos até demasiado longe, que estamos sob estes céus estrangeiros como um mendigo, uma criança sem berço, um sacerdote sem igreja, um cantor sem voz – que procuramos a segurança e que tememos ter vivido em vão? Que queríamos reparar alguma coisa, recuperar tudo que deixámos fugir?
Sendo eu caseira por natureza e não tendo grande interesse em livros de viagens, abro sempre uma excepção para a fascinante Annemarie Schwarzenbach, mas a par das descrições de locais selvagens e deslumbrantes que sei que nunca visitarei, em tempos que já pouco têm a ver com os de hoje, assombram-me as reflexões da autora.
Sentimo-nos, muitas vezes, demasiado seguros de nós; consideramos que a nossa casa foi construída para a eternidade, somos tentados a crer numa estabilidade que, para uns, torna problemático o envelhecer e, para outros, dá a qualquer mudança exterior as aparências de uma catástrofe. Esquecemo-nos que se trata de um processo em curso, que a terra está em movimento perpétuo e que estamos implicados (…) em tudo o que se passa muito longe do meio imediato que nos rodeia, visível e tangível: mendigos ou reis, atores todos da mesma grande comédia.
Em 1939, Annemarie Schwarzenbach e a fotógrafa/escritora Ella Maillart deixaram a Europa com a guerra prestes a estalar…
E cuidava de me proteger, pois, caso contrário, que seria de mim? Prisioneira ou um ser humano livre?
…para empreender uma viagem de carro que cruzaria os Balcãs, a Turquia e o Irão até chegarem ao destino a que se propunham, o Afeganistão, tendo na Índia apanhado um navio de volta à Europa, que percorreu o oceano Índico, o mar Arábico, o mar Vermelho, o canal do Suez e o Mediterrâneo até aportar em Génova. Duas mulheres sozinhas, sem intérprete e com apenas conhecimentos rudimentares de persa, recebidas por expatriados europeus e populações locais com igual hospitalidade, sem que Annemarie relate alguma situação de perigo, o que de facto faz pensar, conhecendo o estatuto da mulher nas culturas que seguem o Islão.
Gostaríamos de ver um rosto, olhos vivos, uma bela boca, um sorriso, mas não podemos fazer mais do que assistir à passagem furtiva das grades que os escondem, sabendo, ao mesmo tempo, que estas criaturas amedrontadas e desamparadas não veem suficientemente bem para evitar os camelos vacilantes, os cavalos titilantes de guizos dos gadi, os homens que deambulam com jovial desenvoltura – e que vivem, portanto, num temor permanente.
Neste país, onde as mulheres só tiram a burca depois de se certificarem que Annemarie, com o seu aspecto andrógino, não é um rapaz, a destemida viajante relata como atravessou o Afeganistão sem perder de vista o omnipresente Hindu Kush, como foi acolhida pelas mulheres na casa de um administrador, como passou perigosos desfiladeiros sempre sob a protecção das honradas tribos locais que garantiam o salvo-conduto a quem passasse entre o nascer e o pôr-do-sol. Mas face à sua admirável liberdade é gritante aquela que falta às suas congéneres.
As alunas da escola de Cabul eram rapariguinhas muito dotadas, vivas e recetivas, tão inteligentes como os rapazes, bonitas, e tinham os olhos tão brilhantes que era difícil imaginar que esses pequenos rostos, tão graciosos e atentos, seria um dia desterrados para a sombra do interior das paredes de um harém, prisioneiros de um sinistro tchadri.
Nesta viagem, Schwarzenbach não se distanciava apenas física e mentalmente da guerra ainda relativamente circunscrita, mas iniciava outra espécie de fuga relacionada com a depressão e com a dependência de morfina.
Despojarmo-nos da roupa que trazemos vestidas, reconhecer que avançámos até demasiado longe, que estamos sob estes céus estrangeiros como um mendigo, uma criança sem berço, um sacerdote sem igreja, um cantor sem voz – que procuramos a segurança e que tememos ter vivido em vão? Que queríamos reparar alguma coisa, recuperar tudo que deixámos fugir?
Sendo eu caseira por natureza e não tendo grande interesse em livros de viagens, abro sempre uma excepção para a fascinante Annemarie Schwarzenbach, mas a par das descrições de locais selvagens e deslumbrantes que sei que nunca visitarei, em tempos que já pouco têm a ver com os de hoje, assombram-me as reflexões da autora.
Sentimo-nos, muitas vezes, demasiado seguros de nós; consideramos que a nossa casa foi construída para a eternidade, somos tentados a crer numa estabilidade que, para uns, torna problemático o envelhecer e, para outros, dá a qualquer mudança exterior as aparências de uma catástrofe. Esquecemo-nos que se trata de um processo em curso, que a terra está em movimento perpétuo e que estamos implicados (…) em tudo o que se passa muito longe do meio imediato que nos rodeia, visível e tangível: mendigos ou reis, atores todos da mesma grande comédia.
April 30, 2024
Pedesetak godina nakon što je štampan "Okrutni put: Dve žene i ford na putu za Avganistan" Ele Majar, danas klasik putopisne proze, gde je detaljno predočeno Elino putovanje sa Anemari Švarcenbah od Ženeve do Kabula u sam osvit Drugog svetskog rata, neko se setio da bi bilo lepo kad bismo mogli da ovo putešestvije sagledamo i kroz vizuru njene problematične saputnice, te su uzeli objavljene i neobjavljene kratke putopisne tekstove Švarcenbahove sa avganistanskog putovanja i i sabrali ih u vidu ove fragmentarne, kratke, necelovite ali zaokružene knjige.* I dobro je što su to uradili jer bi bilo šteta da ne znamo kako se estetika i senzibilnost već uveliko završene vajmarske dekadencije tako lepo preliva po pejzažima bliskog istoka. Pismo je lirsko, nežno i melanholično zagledano u pustinju, ruševine, usamljene ljude, nomade, rastakanje, praznine, vrhove planina, gostoljubivost, islamske vrtove, nesrećne žene ispod čadora, konje, hrtove, siromašne i ponosne ljude, I to sve sagledano sa dosta poštovanja očima nekog ko bi mogao da bude androgini arhangel Gavrilo navučen na morfijum ili “opustošeni anđeo” kako je autorku nazvao Tomas Man. Nema mnogo ni faktografije, ni turizma, ali ima dosta atmosfere. Puna rečenica iz koje je preuzet naslov ovog priređenog izdanja je: „Svakako, svi putevi su otvoreni, i nikuda ne vode, nikuda” i ona dosta sumira suštinu ovih tekstova.
January 18, 2015
This a combined review of All the Roads Are Open: The Afghan Journey and The Cruel Way: Switzerland to Afghanistan in a Ford, 1939. Quotes are taken from The Cruel Way.
"The gist of our dialogue had been that if she was mad I was mad too: I was unwilling to let myself be strangled by that prudent life that everybody advocated. I also was convinced that— whether we succeed or not— it is our job to search for the significance of life."
The Cruel Way and Alle Wege Sind Offen (published in English as All the Roads are Open) are two accounts of an incredible road trip. In 1939, Annemarie Schwarzenbach and Ella Maillart - both women were Swiss journalists and experienced travelers - set off from their native Switzerland on the eve of WWII to escape the madness of Europe and drive (yes, drive) across Europe, Turkey, Persia (Iran) to Afghanistan (and India if they can reach it).
Though, the wish to escape was probably more AS' motive. EM quite openly discusses that her motive was to help her friend (AS) to shake a morphine addiction and to recuperate from bouts of depression - descriptions of both are described quite vividly and (as far as I can tell) earnestly in The Cruel Way.
Maillart's book (The Cruel Way) was published in 1947 (five years after AS' death), and on request of AS' family, Maillart disguised AS as the character Christina.
Schwarzenbach's account Alle Wege Sind Offen was published in 2008, though some of her articles were published during the trip.
I originally started reading Alle Wege sind Offen - a journal of her third and last journey from Switzerland to Afghanistan. When I reached the part where she non-nonchalantly mentions that she drove the car into a ditch, I was curious to see what impact this had on her travels and most of all how her travel companion, Ella Maillart, experienced the accident - and whether it would be mentioned in Maillart's book.
It made sense to read both in parallel. Reading both books in parallel was like being told the story in 3D.
It was also quite gut-wrenching. AS' writing is lyrical and reflects her anxieties and weariness. I'm not sure this is deliberate. It feels more like her writing is inevitably the only true way she can express herself. EM hints at this in her book, too.
"She was harassed by her fight with the doctors: they would not understand that writing was life and food to her, that the regenerative cure of enforced rest applied to dyspeptics and hysterics could not suit her."
EM's writing is a contrast to that of AS - no aloofness to be found here. She's fairly grounded and practical. Because of that, more of the actual circumstances of the trip are revealed.
"Our descent was impressive. The track had been hacked out half -way down a sandy slope. Christina drove, sitting towards the mountain— which was lucky: from my seat it looked as if our off-side wheels were in the void. At some places the crumbling soil was stiffened with a row of faggots. While we skidded round sharp curves, the glistening shale reminded me of the icy track the ski-racers had rushed down six months ago at Zakopane. I said nothing: to this day I am sure that Christina never guessed how soft that ledge was."
Having read the two accounts and looking at how not only the lives of AS and EM but how the world they describe would change shortly after their accounts end, makes for tough reading.
“I am thirty. It is the last chance to mend my ways, to take myself in hand. This journey is not going to be a sky -larking escapade as if we were twenty— and that is impossible, with the fear of Hitler increasing day by day around us. This journey must be a means towards our end. We can help each other to become conscious, responsible persons. My blind way of life has grown unbearable. What is the reason, the meaning of the chaos that undermines people and nations? And there must be something that I am to do with my life, there must be some purpose for which I could gladly die or live! Kini . . . how do you live?”
The reward for having read both books is that I get a better understanding of the world they traveled, a world that would disappear shortly after the trip. That I learned much about the attitudes of travelers and people they meet, attitudes sometimes so liberal and forward thinking that it is surprising and terrifying to know that only a few decades later it would seem that the countries they have traveled in had always been closed to visitors.
"The gist of our dialogue had been that if she was mad I was mad too: I was unwilling to let myself be strangled by that prudent life that everybody advocated. I also was convinced that— whether we succeed or not— it is our job to search for the significance of life."
The Cruel Way and Alle Wege Sind Offen (published in English as All the Roads are Open) are two accounts of an incredible road trip. In 1939, Annemarie Schwarzenbach and Ella Maillart - both women were Swiss journalists and experienced travelers - set off from their native Switzerland on the eve of WWII to escape the madness of Europe and drive (yes, drive) across Europe, Turkey, Persia (Iran) to Afghanistan (and India if they can reach it).
Though, the wish to escape was probably more AS' motive. EM quite openly discusses that her motive was to help her friend (AS) to shake a morphine addiction and to recuperate from bouts of depression - descriptions of both are described quite vividly and (as far as I can tell) earnestly in The Cruel Way.
Maillart's book (The Cruel Way) was published in 1947 (five years after AS' death), and on request of AS' family, Maillart disguised AS as the character Christina.
Schwarzenbach's account Alle Wege Sind Offen was published in 2008, though some of her articles were published during the trip.
I originally started reading Alle Wege sind Offen - a journal of her third and last journey from Switzerland to Afghanistan. When I reached the part where she non-nonchalantly mentions that she drove the car into a ditch, I was curious to see what impact this had on her travels and most of all how her travel companion, Ella Maillart, experienced the accident - and whether it would be mentioned in Maillart's book.
It made sense to read both in parallel. Reading both books in parallel was like being told the story in 3D.
It was also quite gut-wrenching. AS' writing is lyrical and reflects her anxieties and weariness. I'm not sure this is deliberate. It feels more like her writing is inevitably the only true way she can express herself. EM hints at this in her book, too.
"She was harassed by her fight with the doctors: they would not understand that writing was life and food to her, that the regenerative cure of enforced rest applied to dyspeptics and hysterics could not suit her."
EM's writing is a contrast to that of AS - no aloofness to be found here. She's fairly grounded and practical. Because of that, more of the actual circumstances of the trip are revealed.
"Our descent was impressive. The track had been hacked out half -way down a sandy slope. Christina drove, sitting towards the mountain— which was lucky: from my seat it looked as if our off-side wheels were in the void. At some places the crumbling soil was stiffened with a row of faggots. While we skidded round sharp curves, the glistening shale reminded me of the icy track the ski-racers had rushed down six months ago at Zakopane. I said nothing: to this day I am sure that Christina never guessed how soft that ledge was."
Having read the two accounts and looking at how not only the lives of AS and EM but how the world they describe would change shortly after their accounts end, makes for tough reading.
“I am thirty. It is the last chance to mend my ways, to take myself in hand. This journey is not going to be a sky -larking escapade as if we were twenty— and that is impossible, with the fear of Hitler increasing day by day around us. This journey must be a means towards our end. We can help each other to become conscious, responsible persons. My blind way of life has grown unbearable. What is the reason, the meaning of the chaos that undermines people and nations? And there must be something that I am to do with my life, there must be some purpose for which I could gladly die or live! Kini . . . how do you live?”
The reward for having read both books is that I get a better understanding of the world they traveled, a world that would disappear shortly after the trip. That I learned much about the attitudes of travelers and people they meet, attitudes sometimes so liberal and forward thinking that it is surprising and terrifying to know that only a few decades later it would seem that the countries they have traveled in had always been closed to visitors.
October 6, 2022
A travelogue into Afghanistation and the experiences of getting there. Annamarie apparently maintained a personal diary which was later converted into this book.
She has a very good writing style suiting a travel author. I learnt later that she had a troubled personal life and died very young. Her writing is compulsive and makes the reader feel the moment.
She has a very good writing style suiting a travel author. I learnt later that she had a troubled personal life and died very young. Her writing is compulsive and makes the reader feel the moment.
February 25, 2014
Whilst reading this particular travelogue I found it useful and so very fascinating to refer to The Literary Archive of the Swiss National Library.
http://www.nb.admin.ch/aktuelles/0195...
More than 7000 photos from Annemarie Schwarzenbach’s estate are also available in the NL’s archive database, HelveticArchives. I find that these resources breathe such life into her writings.
http://www.helveticarchives.ch/suchin...
Annemarie Schwarzenbach and Ella Maillart with their 18 hp Ford Deluxe Roadster, June 1939.
“And so one day I wanted to break away, not knowing exactly from which fate, seeming to grasp only that I had been struck by calamity, as anyone can be, and now must stand apart, silent. How do the others live, I asked myself, how do they bear this land and the day to come, how do they bear it?”
http://www.nb.admin.ch/aktuelles/0195...
More than 7000 photos from Annemarie Schwarzenbach’s estate are also available in the NL’s archive database, HelveticArchives. I find that these resources breathe such life into her writings.
http://www.helveticarchives.ch/suchin...
Annemarie Schwarzenbach and Ella Maillart with their 18 hp Ford Deluxe Roadster, June 1939.
“And so one day I wanted to break away, not knowing exactly from which fate, seeming to grasp only that I had been struck by calamity, as anyone can be, and now must stand apart, silent. How do the others live, I asked myself, how do they bear this land and the day to come, how do they bear it?”
January 12, 2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2021
I read The Cruel Way: Switzerland to Afghanistan in a Ford, 1939 by Ella Maillart a while back, and then ordered a copy of this book. However, I don't recall much in the way of specifics for the other story (as usual), so it's about the approach, as that one is a full-length travel narrative, with this one a collection of previously published articles; tone described as "poetic" with which I agree.
I'm conflicted on my feelings for this book, as it's well-written, conveying a sense of the people encountered, in addition to the place descriptions. Author obviously bonded with the locals. However, fairly or not, I felt a sense of... slumming isn't the right word, so perhaps gawking, by this woman from a rich Swiss family traveling on a French diplomatic passport courtesy of her "estranged" French husband. The mother sounded like a real dragon, dressing the daughter in boy's clothes to be a "son" as well as refusing the husband access to the dying author! No wonder Annemarie had attempted suicide and turned to drugs!
I'd recommend this one after reading Maillart's book for a full grasp of the trip. Am considering other titles by Annemarie as well. Just can't get a full four stars out of this one.
I'm conflicted on my feelings for this book, as it's well-written, conveying a sense of the people encountered, in addition to the place descriptions. Author obviously bonded with the locals. However, fairly or not, I felt a sense of... slumming isn't the right word, so perhaps gawking, by this woman from a rich Swiss family traveling on a French diplomatic passport courtesy of her "estranged" French husband. The mother sounded like a real dragon, dressing the daughter in boy's clothes to be a "son" as well as refusing the husband access to the dying author! No wonder Annemarie had attempted suicide and turned to drugs!
I'd recommend this one after reading Maillart's book for a full grasp of the trip. Am considering other titles by Annemarie as well. Just can't get a full four stars out of this one.
July 9, 2012
I found this book while browsing at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC. Hooray for bookstores.
I had never heard of Schwarzenbach nor Ella Maillart, her companion on this trip. Indeed, this narrative in newly (2011) translated into English.
It's the narrative of a trip by car, driven mostly by Schwarzenbach herself, in 1939 from Switzerland to India.
Both women were Swiss and both were already published travel writers. Maillart was born in 1903 and Schwarzenbach in 1908.
This account is Schwarzenbach's and she does not mention Maillart specifically; she refers to a companion or says "we." A lot of the writing is discursive and poetic. It's definitely not a travel diary. Although it's just 130 pp it covers a lot of geographic, sociological, and personal territory. For example she writes about the Hindu Kush from the perspective of her living in the Alps. She writes about Afghan women. And so forth.
The 6 sections are entitled Mt. Ararat - from the Balkans to the border of Iran; The Steppe - driving across Iran to Herat, Afghanistan; The Women of Kabul; The Bank of the Oxus - where she did some archaeology in Afghan Turkestan near Mazar i Sharif; Two Women Alone in Afghanistan; and Onward to Peshawar (now Pakistan, then still part of British India) - first over the Kyber Pass and later up the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal.
An exotic book about exotic places.
I had never heard of Schwarzenbach nor Ella Maillart, her companion on this trip. Indeed, this narrative in newly (2011) translated into English.
It's the narrative of a trip by car, driven mostly by Schwarzenbach herself, in 1939 from Switzerland to India.
Both women were Swiss and both were already published travel writers. Maillart was born in 1903 and Schwarzenbach in 1908.
This account is Schwarzenbach's and she does not mention Maillart specifically; she refers to a companion or says "we." A lot of the writing is discursive and poetic. It's definitely not a travel diary. Although it's just 130 pp it covers a lot of geographic, sociological, and personal territory. For example she writes about the Hindu Kush from the perspective of her living in the Alps. She writes about Afghan women. And so forth.
The 6 sections are entitled Mt. Ararat - from the Balkans to the border of Iran; The Steppe - driving across Iran to Herat, Afghanistan; The Women of Kabul; The Bank of the Oxus - where she did some archaeology in Afghan Turkestan near Mazar i Sharif; Two Women Alone in Afghanistan; and Onward to Peshawar (now Pakistan, then still part of British India) - first over the Kyber Pass and later up the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal.
An exotic book about exotic places.
December 23, 2023
Veramente interessante questo reportage del viaggio che la Schwarsenbach verso la fine degli anni Trenta intraprese con Ella Maillart, famosa scrittrice e viaggiatrice. Due donne, sole, che intraprendono un percorso difficile, che sarebbe irto di ostacoli anche adesso. Ne nascono riflessioni molto personali, a volte liriche nella descrizione di certi panorami, ma, a mio parere molto sofferte. Nel rappresentare gli incontri umani con popoli dalle usanze molto diverse o nel raffigurare certi panorami incredibili si percepisce che il tormento personale della scrittrice non è guarito, bensì sempre vigile, anche se sembra sopito. Il viaggio, come scriveva Orazio, non guarisce quel “male di vivere..”, che ti porti dietro!!!!
December 2, 2019
Na verdade já terminei a leitura deste livro há uns meses. Que maravilha, a Annemarie Schwarzenbach que no começo da 2a Guerra Mundial se mete no seu Ford com a fotógrafa Ella Maillart a caminho do Afeganistão e nos relata parte da(s) viagem(ns) neste belíssimo conjunto de crónicas, de uma Europa de leste e de um Oriente em plena mudança, e que pouco tempo depois não mais seriam os mesmos. E que aventura... Fazê-lo hoje seria arriscado. Duas mulheres fazerem-no então...
September 1, 2025
"Il viaggio non richiede alcuna decisione e non mette la nostra coscienza di fronte a scelte che ci rendono colpevoli e pentiti, umili e ostinati fino a farci dubitare di ogni giustizia, pensando che questa nostra vita sia solo un labirinto, una prova fatale. La partenza è liberazione-oh, unica libertà che ci è rimasta!- e richiede solo un coraggio indomito, che ogni giorno si rinnova..."
A.S.
Giugno 1939
Poco prima dello scoppio della Seconda Guerra Mondiale due giovani intraprendenti scrittrici, giornaliste, fotografe svizzere, alla guida di una fiammante Ford Roadster Deluxe, partono verso l'Asia. Attraverso Italia, Jugoslavia, Albania, Grecia, Turchia, Persia, Afghanistan arriveranno in India.
Questo libro è una raccolta degli articoli e reportage e fotografie che Annemarie pubblicò dopo essere tornata in una Europa stravolta dalla guerra.
Purtroppo per noi Annemarie non ha visto la fine della guerra. Dopo aver girato il mondo e visto posti che ancor oggi sono considerati "alla fine del mondo", la sua breve ma intensa vita fu interrotta da una banalissima caduta in bicicletta nella natìa Engadina.
A.S.
Giugno 1939
Poco prima dello scoppio della Seconda Guerra Mondiale due giovani intraprendenti scrittrici, giornaliste, fotografe svizzere, alla guida di una fiammante Ford Roadster Deluxe, partono verso l'Asia. Attraverso Italia, Jugoslavia, Albania, Grecia, Turchia, Persia, Afghanistan arriveranno in India.
Questo libro è una raccolta degli articoli e reportage e fotografie che Annemarie pubblicò dopo essere tornata in una Europa stravolta dalla guerra.
Purtroppo per noi Annemarie non ha visto la fine della guerra. Dopo aver girato il mondo e visto posti che ancor oggi sono considerati "alla fine del mondo", la sua breve ma intensa vita fu interrotta da una banalissima caduta in bicicletta nella natìa Engadina.
June 28, 2021
There are enough reasons to fall in love with Annemarie (her photographs, her bravery, her historical role in struggle against the rise of fascism in Germany etc) and this book being one of them. The brave tale of two women travelling from Europe to Afganistan and then to India is not an ordinary tale. This book is a minimalistic triumph of travelouge, Annemarie succeeds in unveiling the geo-political reality of Hindu Kush region, it's culture, food and hospitality with presicion. Although closing of the book is abrupt and she does not tell us why the adventure disappointed her eventually but her account of the disappointment is also a great existentialist prose. Alongwith this book comes Ella Maillart's account of the same journey 'The Cruel Way' which is considered a travel classic. There are some differences between both writer's account of the journey, one reason being Annemarie wrote this essays while she was travelling and Ella wrote it years later. Two things are strangely missing from her account, their struggles of the journey and Ella Maillart. Her prose is like a monologue, experience of a single person and at some places she even does not use 'we', Ella is with her almost like a ghost. Her account is a fleeting poetic impression of their journey influenced by instantaneous joys and sorrows.
December 2, 2021
This account of Annemarie Schwarzenbach's overland journey from Geneva to Afghanistan with Ella Maillart in the spring and summer of 1939 as war is brewing at home in Europe, is an especially striking read in the light of recent events in Afghanistan. The portrait painted in this collection of essays is one of the excitement of travel, the terrible beauty of the landscape and the hospitality of the Afghan people—the settled and the nomads alike. Schwarzenbach's enthusiasm and lyricism, often hiding struggles with drugs and a growing distance from her companion, is infectious. This book with its Introduction by the translator, and Afterword by editor Roger Perret that helps put the work into perspective, is a pleasure to read. Now, to read Ella Maillart's account, The Cruel Way.
A longer review can be found at: https://roughghosts.com/2021/12/02/de...
A longer review can be found at: https://roughghosts.com/2021/12/02/de...
October 19, 2016
"Why do we leave this loveliest country in the world? What urges us to go east on desert roads?" Is it the desire to explore remote lands, getting to know different and more archaic cultures, escaping the ferocity of war, or we need to forget our own problems and afflictions? This book is all this together, and much more. A woman describes her adventurous journey through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and more east, up to India. Seas, mountains and deserts. But this journey is nothing like a holiday of a rich spoiled young lady (which she could have been, giving her family background). It's desolate and sad landscapes to get lost into, because where can you find the peace of mind if not in a desert?
July 5, 2017
I confess, my enjoyment of this has much more to do with Schwarzenbach's life than it does the actual text, which is less expressionistic than the (slightly absurd) 'Death in Persia,' but also not noteworthy in itself. If the author had been a dull school-master, there'd be no reason to read it. The author was not a dull school-master, and it's published by Seagull with all that publisher's usual finery and attention to detail, so I imagine I'll pick it up again at some point.
September 8, 2014
Sto amando questo libro alla follia..
December 13, 2023
La partenza è liberazione
Questo libro raccoglie gli appunti di viaggio che Annemarie Schwarzenbach scrisse durante una spedizione partita dall'Europa e arrivata fino alle porte dell'India. Il libro non era stato concepito in forma di reportage. E' stato infatti pubblicato solo molti anni dopo la morte dell'autrice dal curatore Roger Perret grazie ai lasciti ritrovati all'Archivio svizzero di letteratura.
E' un testo molto intimo, ricco di descrizioni poetiche dei paesaggi che l'autrice e la sua compagna di viaggio, Ella Maillart, attraversano.
I testi proposti si concentrano soprattutto sull'Afghanistan, una terra antica che sta sperimentando i rapidi mutamenti del XX secolo.
Nel desiderio di conoscere una realtà altra, cioè che appartiene ad altri canoni, si nota spesso il rimpianto per l'appiattimento culturale che inevitabilmente coinvolgerà anche questo paese.
In particolare sono le tribù nomadi a vedere il progresso come un'ineluttabile condanna e le loro tradizioni spazzate via.
I vecchi nella torre sono prigionieri e non capiscono granché delle leggi. Ma ricordano altri tempi, quando possedevano armi e cavalli veloci, quando la steppa risuonava sotto i loro zoccoli ferrati, e nella luce della sera, scintillante e pervasa dal fremito della polvere, si stendeva la grande libertà, un mare di onde dorate! I loro figli crescevano felici!
I cambiamenti politici sono infatti terremoti che rivoluzionano la vita delle persone.
Ovunque si guardi, il progresso è in marcia, è necessaria un'organizzazione, lo stato è onnipotente, la gente impara a leggere e a scrivere, ottiene diritti civili, paga le tasse, fa il servizio militare, costruisce strade e colloca cannoni.
Non è così però per le donne afgane che continuano a vivere invisibili nei loro burqa e chiuse nei loro giardini-mondo. La stessa Annemarie non riesce a entrare davvero in contatto con nessuna di loro.
I testi non danno comunque un grande approfondimento sulle persone e sui costumi del paese.
Il racconto infatti si fa sempre più intimo e personale; tutti questi bozzetti nel loro insieme mostrano la fragilità e il tormento di Annemarie Schwarzenbach e, anche se non mi hanno mostrato molto dell'Afghanistan, mi hanno fatto venire voglia di sapere qualcosa di più sull'autrice e i suoi scritti.
Non avevo una meta precisa, né intendevo un giorno fermarmi, trovar pace, pensare di essere giunta in un paradiso terrestre
April 29, 2021
En 1939, la escritora suiza Annemarie Schwarzenbach emprende un viaje en un Ford en dirección a Afganistán, para ello debe cruzar los Balcanes, sortear el desierto y sus caravanas, envolverse en las ciudades de comerciantes y escuchar la lengua desconocida de los desplazados. Un libro que amé y una prosa que no se olvida.
Read
September 12, 2013Travelogue of a visit to Afghanistan by Swiss German lesbian radical shortly before WWII. Lots of lovely landscape descriptions, people exoticized if in a well-meaning way, more focus
on architecture and landscape than people. (It is so odd to me, how little she mentions people even when she's talking about cities.) I probably wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been translated by a friend, and it's very slow, but I liked the prose enough that I am interested in Schwartzenbach's fiction.
on architecture and landscape than people. (It is so odd to me, how little she mentions people even when she's talking about cities.) I probably wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been translated by a friend, and it's very slow, but I liked the prose enough that I am interested in Schwartzenbach's fiction.
August 26, 2013
This was not what I expected/wanted it to be which is why the low rating. It was more disappointed expectations maybe. If you want to read about a young woman's travels through Asia, this isn't it. It was more a musing on somethings that she had seen and felt as opposed to a travelogue. But if you don't want details, it might warrant 3 or 4 stars.
July 12, 2019
Spoiled druggy brat.
December 14, 2022
Beautiful, poetic descriptions. That's all that I remember at the moment, which might have more to do with reading in a busy, distracted time than with the book.
December 11, 2023
Ho apprezzato tantissimo il resoconto finale su questa particolare avventura: vengono accennate le differenti personalità delle due donne, cosa non è andato a buon fine, e i tentativi di pubblicazione mentre il mondo era travolto dalla guerra. Forse avevo aspettative differenti su questo testo, immaginavo un diario di bordo invece di descrizioni di paesaggi e popolazioni, ma anche questo mi ha colpito. Porto con me i colori, le limitazioni e l'ospitalità dei posti visitati insieme ad Annemarie e Ella.
July 4, 2019
Un llibre petit i preciós. Dues dones travessen Àsia amb un Ford, des de Turquia fins l’Índia, passant per Iran i Afganistan, l’any 1939. L’autora transmet, amb unes articles breus i plens de lirisme, un món on batega la vida més pura. Paisatges i vida humana es confonen i el desassossec de l’autora arriba a travès de la descripció d’alguns paisatges i climes aspres que fan la vida humana difícil.
Ha sigut una delícia veure un món perdut a través dels ulls d’una dona valenta, encara que torturada, dels anys 30. Un llibre petit que fa gran la literatura.
Ha sigut una delícia veure un món perdut a través dels ulls d’una dona valenta, encara que torturada, dels anys 30. Un llibre petit que fa gran la literatura.
May 26, 2018
Una donna insofferente, l'ansia costante di viaggiare, di raggiungere nuove mete.
Un racconto a metà strada tra le considerazioni personali, quasi un diario intimo e la descrizione dei luoghi visitati.
Incredibile pensare alla grande ospitalità offerta alle due donne in viaggio dal popolo afgano, ospitalità data senza riserve sia da personalità di rilievo che dalla popolazione più povera, in un paese in cui le donne non avevano alcuna rilevanza sociale, ma a questo punto la scrittrice si sofferma su un pensiero che può lasciare perplesse: "...ma queste donne erano davvero infelici? Si può desiderare solo ciò che si conosce. Ed era giusto, necessario, istruirle, informarle e far nascere in loro il pungolo dell'insoddisfazione?"
Aldilà del femminismo più sfrenato che opporrebbe subito una risposta al vetriolo, bisogna sempre considerare le circostanze che portano una popolazione a stabilire il proprio ordine morale e sociale prima di partire per crociate che raramente portano a qualcosa di buono. L'emancipazione parte da lontano e credo non possa essere imposta in alcun modo, è un processo lento che deve toccare le coscienze, partire dal basso e non essere imposto dal di fuori.
Un racconto a metà strada tra le considerazioni personali, quasi un diario intimo e la descrizione dei luoghi visitati.
Incredibile pensare alla grande ospitalità offerta alle due donne in viaggio dal popolo afgano, ospitalità data senza riserve sia da personalità di rilievo che dalla popolazione più povera, in un paese in cui le donne non avevano alcuna rilevanza sociale, ma a questo punto la scrittrice si sofferma su un pensiero che può lasciare perplesse: "...ma queste donne erano davvero infelici? Si può desiderare solo ciò che si conosce. Ed era giusto, necessario, istruirle, informarle e far nascere in loro il pungolo dell'insoddisfazione?"
Aldilà del femminismo più sfrenato che opporrebbe subito una risposta al vetriolo, bisogna sempre considerare le circostanze che portano una popolazione a stabilire il proprio ordine morale e sociale prima di partire per crociate che raramente portano a qualcosa di buono. L'emancipazione parte da lontano e credo non possa essere imposta in alcun modo, è un processo lento che deve toccare le coscienze, partire dal basso e non essere imposto dal di fuori.
March 9, 2025
Though in times overly romanticising, an impressive read. For a deeper understanding it is worth reading the afterword first. Especially Schwarzenbachs thoughts about travelling expressed often in poetic words and her observations of the beginning industrialisation of the regions she travelled through got me. Schwarzenbach's travel companion Ella Maillart's book about the trip, The Cruel Way, has to be the next read...
March 1, 2021
Es un libro escrito muy lindo, con lindas descripciones. En un punto, se pone muy tedioso porque es muy descriptivo, me costó terminarlo. La historia de la autora es muy interesante y vale la pena averiguar sobre ella antes de leerlo.
August 19, 2018
Este libro es un grande suspiro. Esta mujer transpira tristeza pero a la vez todo es bonito.
Dan ganas de ir a Afganistán (por supuesto).
Dan ganas de ir a Afganistán (por supuesto).
February 1, 2023
“Aquello que no se ha visto con los propios ojos ni estrechado entre los propios brazos no se puede amar de verdad; la propia nostalgia siempre es, únicamente, un torrente de soledad sangrante”
April 11, 2021
"Ciertamente, todos los caminos están abiertos, y no llevan a ninguna parte, a ninguna parte."
6 de junio de 1939. La Segunda Guerra Mundial está a punto de estallar en Europa. Annemarie Schwarzenbach (historiadora, arqueóloga y reportera) y Ella "Kini" Maillart (reconocida escritora de viajes), dos mujeres emancipadas de personalidades dispares, parten de Ginebra conduciendo un Ford, rumbo a Afganistán en un viaje que durararía seis meses. Cargadas de máquinas de escribir, cámaras fotográficas, filmadoras y un montón de rollos, se disponen a documentar lo ajeno en un viaje profesional.
Para Annemarie, "el ángel caído" (en palabras de Thomas Mann), el viaje representaba una necesidad para mantenerse ocupada y alejada de su adicción a la morfina. Maillart escribiría : “Mis verdaderos propósitos, a fin de cuentas, eran adquirir el dominio de mí misma y salvar de sí misma a mi compañera”. Pero ambas buscarán en Oriente posibles respuestas a la soledad ineludible a la que lleva la cambiante y materialista cultura occidental.
La solidaridad con las víctimas de Schwarzenbach, convencida antifascista, le impedía alcanzar su felicidad personal. Y su mirada trágica de la vida hacían el resto: "Sigo creyendo que el dolor recurrente, la lucha, la tensión, el conflicto, la conmoción interior es la vida misma."
Durante el trayecto de regreso, Annemarie recuerda el viaje plasmándolo en los artículos que recoge este libro. Poderosas imágenes salpicadas de hondas reflexiones que profundizan en el propio yo, de infierno en infierno, en lucha contra su propio letargo. Viajar como forma de vida para después escribirlo. Los caminos salvajes de un corazón indómito y maldito.
"Así fue como, por aquel entonces, me dispuse a abandonar Persia, movida por la idea de que en alguna parte tenía que haber parajes más plácidos y familiares, incluso quizá una orilla que me devolviera a la infancia, a la tierra prometida. No me sentía preparada para enfrentarme a la yerma vastedad asiática, cuya inmensidad, espanto, conmovedor despliegue de colores y férreo poder de destrucción no lograba calibrar. En realidad, solo estaba cansada de viajar y quería volver a casa. Temía haber ido demasiado lejos y haber sobrepasado, aún involuntariamente, la frontera del territorio asignado al ser humano."
6 de junio de 1939. La Segunda Guerra Mundial está a punto de estallar en Europa. Annemarie Schwarzenbach (historiadora, arqueóloga y reportera) y Ella "Kini" Maillart (reconocida escritora de viajes), dos mujeres emancipadas de personalidades dispares, parten de Ginebra conduciendo un Ford, rumbo a Afganistán en un viaje que durararía seis meses. Cargadas de máquinas de escribir, cámaras fotográficas, filmadoras y un montón de rollos, se disponen a documentar lo ajeno en un viaje profesional.
Para Annemarie, "el ángel caído" (en palabras de Thomas Mann), el viaje representaba una necesidad para mantenerse ocupada y alejada de su adicción a la morfina. Maillart escribiría : “Mis verdaderos propósitos, a fin de cuentas, eran adquirir el dominio de mí misma y salvar de sí misma a mi compañera”. Pero ambas buscarán en Oriente posibles respuestas a la soledad ineludible a la que lleva la cambiante y materialista cultura occidental.
La solidaridad con las víctimas de Schwarzenbach, convencida antifascista, le impedía alcanzar su felicidad personal. Y su mirada trágica de la vida hacían el resto: "Sigo creyendo que el dolor recurrente, la lucha, la tensión, el conflicto, la conmoción interior es la vida misma."
Durante el trayecto de regreso, Annemarie recuerda el viaje plasmándolo en los artículos que recoge este libro. Poderosas imágenes salpicadas de hondas reflexiones que profundizan en el propio yo, de infierno en infierno, en lucha contra su propio letargo. Viajar como forma de vida para después escribirlo. Los caminos salvajes de un corazón indómito y maldito.
"Así fue como, por aquel entonces, me dispuse a abandonar Persia, movida por la idea de que en alguna parte tenía que haber parajes más plácidos y familiares, incluso quizá una orilla que me devolviera a la infancia, a la tierra prometida. No me sentía preparada para enfrentarme a la yerma vastedad asiática, cuya inmensidad, espanto, conmovedor despliegue de colores y férreo poder de destrucción no lograba calibrar. En realidad, solo estaba cansada de viajar y quería volver a casa. Temía haber ido demasiado lejos y haber sobrepasado, aún involuntariamente, la frontera del territorio asignado al ser humano."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews