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Over the Edge: A True Story of Kidnap and Escape in the Mountains of Central Asia by Greg Child(March 2, 2015) Paperback
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June 3, 2025
DNF'd at 29% due to inaccuracy and misleading depictions of religion in Central Asia.
Having lived in Kyrgyzstan, some of the details in this book started to bother me and, after discovering that one of the opening anecdotes was completely wrong, realized there was no way I could continue reading.
When discussing Islamic militant groups in the region, Child brushes over the fact that Islam is the dominant religion in most of the areas discussed - to the point that I had to put the book down and remind myself that Uzbekistan, while it practices a more moderate form of Islam, is more than 80% Muslim (source: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factboo...).
While I understand that this book is discussing events that happened more than 20 years ago, Uzbekistan's religious scene has not changed that dramatically. I'm concerned that the way this section is written will give readers less familiar with Central Asia an inaccurate understanding of the religious landscape.
The straw that broke the camel's back for me, though, was an anecdote about the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan, which Child says was named after the poisonous bat plant. There is a flower that is unique to the region, but that is the (not poisonous) aigul flower. Furthermore, I checked in with a friend of mine who was born and raised in Batken (with family there for generations) - the name comes from "bat - fast, quick" and "ken - place or valley" and has been translated as "valley of wind." That friend had never head of a poisonous bat flower.
Aigul flower: https://kyrgyzstan-tourism.com/blog/a...
Additional source: https://eurasia.travel/kyrgyzstan/bat...
While it isn't essential to the story, getting an easily researched detail like this one wrong undermines the credibility of the entire narrative in my mind. I cannot justify continuing to read this and recommend that future readers take any background information provided about the complex political situation in Central Asia (...and perhaps even the flora and fauna...) with a heaping spoon of salt.
Having lived in Kyrgyzstan, some of the details in this book started to bother me and, after discovering that one of the opening anecdotes was completely wrong, realized there was no way I could continue reading.
When discussing Islamic militant groups in the region, Child brushes over the fact that Islam is the dominant religion in most of the areas discussed - to the point that I had to put the book down and remind myself that Uzbekistan, while it practices a more moderate form of Islam, is more than 80% Muslim (source: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factboo...).
While I understand that this book is discussing events that happened more than 20 years ago, Uzbekistan's religious scene has not changed that dramatically. I'm concerned that the way this section is written will give readers less familiar with Central Asia an inaccurate understanding of the religious landscape.
The straw that broke the camel's back for me, though, was an anecdote about the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan, which Child says was named after the poisonous bat plant. There is a flower that is unique to the region, but that is the (not poisonous) aigul flower. Furthermore, I checked in with a friend of mine who was born and raised in Batken (with family there for generations) - the name comes from "bat - fast, quick" and "ken - place or valley" and has been translated as "valley of wind." That friend had never head of a poisonous bat flower.
Aigul flower: https://kyrgyzstan-tourism.com/blog/a...
Additional source: https://eurasia.travel/kyrgyzstan/bat...
While it isn't essential to the story, getting an easily researched detail like this one wrong undermines the credibility of the entire narrative in my mind. I cannot justify continuing to read this and recommend that future readers take any background information provided about the complex political situation in Central Asia (...and perhaps even the flora and fauna...) with a heaping spoon of salt.
Displaying 1 of 1 review