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The Cruel Way: Switzerland to Afghanistan in a Ford, 1939
'We were both travellers—she always running away from an emotional crisis (not seeing that she was already wishing for the next), I always seeking far afield the secret of harmonious living, or filling up time by courting risk, caught by the clean sharp "taste" it gives to life.'
In 1939, adventurer and writer Ella Maillart set off on an epic drive from Geneva to Kabul, accompanied by journalist and photographer Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who later became an antifascist and lesbian icon.
The two women travelled partly to escape the coming war in Europe, embarking on a daring, and often dangerous, journey through regions where European women were a rarity. But Schwarzenbach was also fighting a losing battle with morphine addiction, and the women's close but often troubled relationship takes centre stage in the narrative as the journey progresses through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan.
Encountering breathtaking landscapes, ancient ruins and nomadic peoples, The Cruel Way is a gripping, lyrical and deeply empathetic portrait of places, people and friendship.
Brought together for the first time with excerpts from All the Roads Are Open, Annemarie Schwarzenbach's parallel account of the journey.
In 1939, adventurer and writer Ella Maillart set off on an epic drive from Geneva to Kabul, accompanied by journalist and photographer Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who later became an antifascist and lesbian icon.
The two women travelled partly to escape the coming war in Europe, embarking on a daring, and often dangerous, journey through regions where European women were a rarity. But Schwarzenbach was also fighting a losing battle with morphine addiction, and the women's close but often troubled relationship takes centre stage in the narrative as the journey progresses through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan.
Encountering breathtaking landscapes, ancient ruins and nomadic peoples, The Cruel Way is a gripping, lyrical and deeply empathetic portrait of places, people and friendship.
Brought together for the first time with excerpts from All the Roads Are Open, Annemarie Schwarzenbach's parallel account of the journey.
217 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1947
42 people are currently reading
854 people want to read
About the author
Ella Maillart
25 books43 followersElla 'Kini' Maillart (February 20, 1903 – March 27, 1997) was a French-speaking Swiss adventurer and travel writer, as well as a sportswoman. She had been captain of the Swiss Women's ice hockey team and was an international skier. She also competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics as sailor in the Olympic monotype competition.
From the 1930s onward she spent years exploring oriental republics of the USSR, as well as other parts of Asia, and published a rich series of books which, just as her photographs, are today considered valuable historical testimonies. Her early books were written in French but later she began to write in English. Turkestan Solo describes a journey in 1932 in Soviet Turkestan. In 1934, the French daily Le Petit Parisien sent her to Manchuria to report on the situation under the Japanese occupation. It was there that she met Peter Fleming, a well-known writer and correspondent of The Times, with whom she would team up to cross China from Peking to Srinagar (3,500 miles), much of the route being through hostile desert regions and steep Himalayan passes. The journey started in February 1935 and took seven months to complete, involving travel by train, on lorries, on foot, horse and camelback. Their objective was to ascertain what was happening in Sinkiang (then also known as Chinese Turkestan) where a civil war had been going on. Ella Maillart later recorded this trek in her book Forbidden Journey, while Peter Fleming's parallel account is found in his News from Tartary. In 1937 Ella Maillart returned to Asia for Le Petit Parisien to report on Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, while in 1939 she undertook a trip from Geneva to Kabul by car, in the company of the Swiss writer, Annemarie Schwarzenbach. The Cruel Way is the title of Ella Maillart's book about this experience, cut short by the outbreak of the second World War.
She spent the war years in the South of India, learning from different teachers about Advaita Vedanta, one of the schools of Hindu philosophy. On her return to Switzerland in 1945, she lived in Geneva and at Chandolin, a mountain village in the Swiss Alps. She continued to ski until late in life and last returned to Tibet in 1986.
Ella Maillart's manuscripts and documents are kept at the Bibliothèque de Genève (Library of the City of Geneva), her photographic work is deposited at the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, and her documentary films (on Afghanistan, Nepal and South India) are part of the collection of La Cinémathèque suisse in Lausanne, Switzerland.
From the 1930s onward she spent years exploring oriental republics of the USSR, as well as other parts of Asia, and published a rich series of books which, just as her photographs, are today considered valuable historical testimonies. Her early books were written in French but later she began to write in English. Turkestan Solo describes a journey in 1932 in Soviet Turkestan. In 1934, the French daily Le Petit Parisien sent her to Manchuria to report on the situation under the Japanese occupation. It was there that she met Peter Fleming, a well-known writer and correspondent of The Times, with whom she would team up to cross China from Peking to Srinagar (3,500 miles), much of the route being through hostile desert regions and steep Himalayan passes. The journey started in February 1935 and took seven months to complete, involving travel by train, on lorries, on foot, horse and camelback. Their objective was to ascertain what was happening in Sinkiang (then also known as Chinese Turkestan) where a civil war had been going on. Ella Maillart later recorded this trek in her book Forbidden Journey, while Peter Fleming's parallel account is found in his News from Tartary. In 1937 Ella Maillart returned to Asia for Le Petit Parisien to report on Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, while in 1939 she undertook a trip from Geneva to Kabul by car, in the company of the Swiss writer, Annemarie Schwarzenbach. The Cruel Way is the title of Ella Maillart's book about this experience, cut short by the outbreak of the second World War.
She spent the war years in the South of India, learning from different teachers about Advaita Vedanta, one of the schools of Hindu philosophy. On her return to Switzerland in 1945, she lived in Geneva and at Chandolin, a mountain village in the Swiss Alps. She continued to ski until late in life and last returned to Tibet in 1986.
Ella Maillart's manuscripts and documents are kept at the Bibliothèque de Genève (Library of the City of Geneva), her photographic work is deposited at the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, and her documentary films (on Afghanistan, Nepal and South India) are part of the collection of La Cinémathèque suisse in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 14, 2021
No hiding that I am a bit of a fan of Ella Maillart's writing (and general outlook on life too).
This book takes place just prior to the outbreak of the second World War, and the author and her friend 'Christina' take the opportunity to leave Switzerland and head, by car no less, for Afghanistan.
'Christina' gains quotation marks as it is not her real name, and her history (and future) play a large part of this book. Christina is recovering from some time in rehab for a morphine addiction, and in travelling to Afghanistan with her, Maillart takes on an active role in assisting her recovery.
While this is a travel book - and an excellent one too, there is much Maillart shares of her inner trouble in seeing Christina struggle with her demons, and the authors sadness, even despair at her friends problems.
In Christina's new Ford, they forge their way from Switzerland, they deal with various issues and people, all well catalogued by the author - checkpoints and petty officials, bustling cities and bleak wildernesses, and took them all in their stride.
Another of those book which leave you shaking your head at the mess that Afghanistan (and Iran) are in now, and how lucky those before us were to have had the opportunity to have spent time there in the good time.
4 stars.
This book takes place just prior to the outbreak of the second World War, and the author and her friend 'Christina' take the opportunity to leave Switzerland and head, by car no less, for Afghanistan.
'Christina' gains quotation marks as it is not her real name, and her history (and future) play a large part of this book. Christina is recovering from some time in rehab for a morphine addiction, and in travelling to Afghanistan with her, Maillart takes on an active role in assisting her recovery.
While this is a travel book - and an excellent one too, there is much Maillart shares of her inner trouble in seeing Christina struggle with her demons, and the authors sadness, even despair at her friends problems.
In Christina's new Ford, they forge their way from Switzerland, they deal with various issues and people, all well catalogued by the author - checkpoints and petty officials, bustling cities and bleak wildernesses, and took them all in their stride.
Another of those book which leave you shaking your head at the mess that Afghanistan (and Iran) are in now, and how lucky those before us were to have had the opportunity to have spent time there in the good time.
4 stars.
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.
July 12, 2015
Description: Once again Ella Maillart is on her way to Asia, but she is not alone. Christina, (real name Annemarie Schwarzenbach) a friend of Klaus and Erika Mann, accompanies her. She possesses exceptional charm and talent but she is a drug addict. Two courageous women, both highly original, find themselves in a difficult situation. An 18 hp Ford car takes the experienced travellers towards Afghanistan, via Istanbul, Trebizond, Tehran and Herat. They face checkpoints, poor roads, petty officials, crowds, deserts. Ella Maillart brings to her account her skill of precise observation, her taste for encounters and her affinity for the nomads, as well as her historical knowledge and the ethnological approach of a great Asia specialist.
Having read All the Roads Are Open, the other side of the coin, I must say that Maillart's offering is to be preferred. I want to read the Silk Road one where Maillart goes drive about with Ian Fleming's bro'.
To ChristinaOpening:"If it's not warmer tomorrow when I take you to the station, the car might easily break down: it can no longer cope with such frosts."
In Memorium
Having read All the Roads Are Open, the other side of the coin, I must say that Maillart's offering is to be preferred. I want to read the Silk Road one where Maillart goes drive about with Ian Fleming's bro'.
May 30, 2014
How have I never heard of Maillart? (Look her up. Her life is astounding.) I just happened on this title, I suppose, from a list of travel books and what a wonderful happenstance. Two especially interesting, accomplished women set out on a journey of recovery and discovery. It is travelogue and philosophical musing - a rich road trip from Geneva to Kabul on the Eve of WWII.
May 30, 2014
Amazing travelogue. It's difficult to imagine why this book has remained pretty undiscovered and unheard of in travel literature. (Perhaps because both travelers were women?) This book is filled with wonderful, lyrical descriptions of a country that has changed so much in the Western imagination over the past century; Afghanistan and Iran are so associated with war and conflict in the American mind now that Maillart's perspective reminds us of the beauty and the long, complex histories of these countries.
The book suffers a wee bit from a discursive style; some informative footnotes about people and events mentioned in the book may have helped. (Also, the conversations between Maillart and her friend Christina seem stilted and artificial at times.) while the foreword by Jessica Crispin is well written, this book could have benefited greatly from a more scholarly/historical foreword or introduction that places the book in context and gives us more biographical information about Maillart and her fellow traveler Annemarie Schwarzenbach, aka "Christina." (As it is, I actually know more about the latter than the former.) Regardless, this is a worthy read.
The book suffers a wee bit from a discursive style; some informative footnotes about people and events mentioned in the book may have helped. (Also, the conversations between Maillart and her friend Christina seem stilted and artificial at times.) while the foreword by Jessica Crispin is well written, this book could have benefited greatly from a more scholarly/historical foreword or introduction that places the book in context and gives us more biographical information about Maillart and her fellow traveler Annemarie Schwarzenbach, aka "Christina." (As it is, I actually know more about the latter than the former.) Regardless, this is a worthy read.
October 12, 2020
I've been aware of this book for years, but had always passed it by. Having finished reading the story I now get the hesitation. Towards the end I found myself largely skimming through Afghanistan.
I'll be honest that Afghanistan isn't a place that much attracts me in terms of travel writing. I did appreciate the author's discussion of the efforts at modernization in the mid-twentieth century, but the landscape itself seemed undifferentiated to me. Book's font wasn't one that worked well for me either, but my library doesn't have it in digital format.
As far as the writing itself, there's observation of people and places, along with a fair amount of history, as well as Ella's concern about Christina. Riffs on tombs constructed a millenium ago doesn't do much for me, generally; I tend to tune out at dates such as 1085. Holds true, by the way, just as much for western Europe.
Regarding Christina's... situation, she came off to me as a self-absorbed brat, driving around in a spiffy new car with her diplomatic passport. However, I have a copy of her description of the same trip: All the Roads Are Open: The Afghan Journey, so will reserve final judgment until then.
What I'm saying here is that while I admired them for making the trip, and the writing itself is solid, the book just didn't do enough for me personally to say I regret having put it off.
I'll be honest that Afghanistan isn't a place that much attracts me in terms of travel writing. I did appreciate the author's discussion of the efforts at modernization in the mid-twentieth century, but the landscape itself seemed undifferentiated to me. Book's font wasn't one that worked well for me either, but my library doesn't have it in digital format.
As far as the writing itself, there's observation of people and places, along with a fair amount of history, as well as Ella's concern about Christina. Riffs on tombs constructed a millenium ago doesn't do much for me, generally; I tend to tune out at dates such as 1085. Holds true, by the way, just as much for western Europe.
Regarding Christina's... situation, she came off to me as a self-absorbed brat, driving around in a spiffy new car with her diplomatic passport. However, I have a copy of her description of the same trip: All the Roads Are Open: The Afghan Journey, so will reserve final judgment until then.
What I'm saying here is that while I admired them for making the trip, and the writing itself is solid, the book just didn't do enough for me personally to say I regret having put it off.
Read
August 1, 2008Maillart was well-known for her Forbidden Journey, a clear-cut account of a seven-month trek across Central Asia in 1934 (with Peter Fleming, older smarter brother of Ian). This story of a 1939 trip between Herat and Kabul is more complicated. It includes material concerned with her personal relationship with her travelling companion Christina, who was having problems with an addiction to morphine. Maillart's descriptions and observations are intelligent and well-written, blending smoothly with the historical facts. Her admiration of the nomadic way of life and of Afghans in general is plain in her writing. Really intense and personal, moreso than most travel writing from between the wars.
February 26, 2018
FAVORITE EXCERPTS
"In my greatest moments, in danger, in love, I remain a spectator of myself. I shall never suffer so intensely, then, as Christina suffers: I cannot become entangled in the show I am witnessing."
"And what fools we are to let the projections of our own mind shape a vale of tears! I could prove it to Christian: the beauty of a wall, the joy of a symphony can, most probably, not be felt by my milk-boy. Beauty, pain, joy, are not intrinsic to a thing, an event, they are nowhere but within me. Therefore, since these latent feelings dwell within me, I can learn to bring forth from my being pure and unconditioned joy, . . . I can shape my world."
"In my greatest moments, in danger, in love, I remain a spectator of myself. I shall never suffer so intensely, then, as Christina suffers: I cannot become entangled in the show I am witnessing."
"And what fools we are to let the projections of our own mind shape a vale of tears! I could prove it to Christian: the beauty of a wall, the joy of a symphony can, most probably, not be felt by my milk-boy. Beauty, pain, joy, are not intrinsic to a thing, an event, they are nowhere but within me. Therefore, since these latent feelings dwell within me, I can learn to bring forth from my being pure and unconditioned joy, . . . I can shape my world."
April 16, 2018
Ella Maillart travels to learn about the inner and outer World and in this case travels to one place to learn about another. At the cusp of WW2 she travels to Iran and Afghanistan not only to discover history and admire natural beauty but also to contrast their way of life with a modern world bent on blowing itself to pièces. It is rather sad to reflect on how much things have now changed in that region. Alongside this is the story of Maillart,s desire to help her drug addict friend in the most sensitive and thoughtfull manner. Maillart was an amazing woman in every way. I challenge anyone not to be inspired by her.
May 2, 2012
Maillart tells the story of a journey in search of a meaningful alternative to the craziness of Europe on the verge of war and in search of healing for a friend who is addicted not only to drugs but to her own pain. Her honest, earnest story cleanses the soul.
January 21, 2025
Une histoire à découvrir. Il est bon de voir que les femmes ont leurs vies à elles, et de se rappeler que ce n’est jamais vraiment la première fois de l’histoire que c’est le cas. Il est important de lire ce livre pour prendre compte du lien qui s’est tissé entre ella et annemarie. On sent que ella ne dit pas tout, mais à la fois l’atmosphère du livre est si fortement imprégné de ce qui s’est passé qu’on finit par le ressentir. Un chapitre à saveur existentialiste m’a particulièrement chamboulée et je crois que le roadtrip de ces deux femmes restera longuement gravé dans mon histoire personnelle. Si j’ai sauté quelques passages très descriptifs, forcément, par la nature de récit de voyage et le manque de références flagrant auquel j’ai fait face par moments, le livre se lit facilement. La voie cruelle frappe d’autant plus qu’il est une certaine fuite de l’europe de 1939, et c’est peut être cette ambiance de fin de quelque chose qui fait tant écho à en ce moment. On s’entend d’ailleurs que évidemment, ce livre a été écrit depuis une perspective européenne en dehors de l’occident ; je ne vais pas réinventer la roue à expliquer ce que ça veut dire. Après, je crois que maillart fait des observations plus sincères que d’autres et je suis d’avis, comme d’habitude, qu’il est bon de lire ces perspectives pour le développement intellectuel. Définitivement une découverte de qualité! À l’amour et l’amitié des femmes.
August 10, 2021
Travelogue from 1939, which still makes a fascinating and enjoyable read nowadays.
Two women in a car, travelling via the Middle East to Afghanistan - this seems a daunting task even today (or perhaps, it's even more difficult today, despite the obvious technological progress).
Maillart describes the trip itself and the people encountered along the way with very respectful interest. She speaks of the nomadic tribes of the Asian mountains and plains, wonderfully describes the nature, which was not yet harmed so much by humans.
The book is more than just a travel journal, it is very literary, as the author and her friend are both very well read.
Highly recommended if you like to dive into times past, and read about the way the world has been.
Two women in a car, travelling via the Middle East to Afghanistan - this seems a daunting task even today (or perhaps, it's even more difficult today, despite the obvious technological progress).
Maillart describes the trip itself and the people encountered along the way with very respectful interest. She speaks of the nomadic tribes of the Asian mountains and plains, wonderfully describes the nature, which was not yet harmed so much by humans.
The book is more than just a travel journal, it is very literary, as the author and her friend are both very well read.
Highly recommended if you like to dive into times past, and read about the way the world has been.
June 15, 2019
Llevaba mucho tiempo sin dejar un libro a la mitad. De hecho, desde que hago de la lectura una rutina diaria no había abandonado ninguno. Así que a lo mejor pensáis: ¿tan malo es el libro? Pues no.
Lo tomé prestado de la biblioteca porque nunca había leído un libro de viajes y quería probar el género. Además, decían que Maillart era la gran escritora de viajes, así que me pareció un buen comienzo. El libro se centra en las vivencias de la autora con una compañera de viaje al principio poco conocida durante el auge del fascismo en Europa, cuando el mundo ya se podía imaginar que estaban a poco de otra guerra mundial. Sin embargo, los países que visita la autora no son ninguno de los implicados, no al menos de forma directa.
Llegué a leer poco mas de 200 páginas. Quería continuar pero se me estaba haciendo muy pesado. Como es de suponer en este tipo de libros, la narrativa era muy descriptiva y aunque al principio me gustaba adentrarme en los monumentos, la historia y la cultura de los lugares por los que pasaba en esa época, al final se me hizo bastante pesado. Además, la historia de la autora con su compañera de viajes también se me hacía tediosa. Para mí era de todo menos interesante. Tanto que cada vez me costaba más ponerme a leerlo o cuando me ponía, se me iba la mente a otras cosas y no me enteraba de nada.
Simplemente, el libro no era para mí, pero creo que a alguien que le gusten las novelas de viajes le podría encantar.
Lo tomé prestado de la biblioteca porque nunca había leído un libro de viajes y quería probar el género. Además, decían que Maillart era la gran escritora de viajes, así que me pareció un buen comienzo. El libro se centra en las vivencias de la autora con una compañera de viaje al principio poco conocida durante el auge del fascismo en Europa, cuando el mundo ya se podía imaginar que estaban a poco de otra guerra mundial. Sin embargo, los países que visita la autora no son ninguno de los implicados, no al menos de forma directa.
Llegué a leer poco mas de 200 páginas. Quería continuar pero se me estaba haciendo muy pesado. Como es de suponer en este tipo de libros, la narrativa era muy descriptiva y aunque al principio me gustaba adentrarme en los monumentos, la historia y la cultura de los lugares por los que pasaba en esa época, al final se me hizo bastante pesado. Además, la historia de la autora con su compañera de viajes también se me hacía tediosa. Para mí era de todo menos interesante. Tanto que cada vez me costaba más ponerme a leerlo o cuando me ponía, se me iba la mente a otras cosas y no me enteraba de nada.
Simplemente, el libro no era para mí, pero creo que a alguien que le gusten las novelas de viajes le podría encantar.
November 28, 2022
Priča o dve žene koje putuju same do Avganistana u osvit Drugog svetskog rata, jedna etnolog, druga spisateljica, lezbijka navučena na morfijum, zvuči bolje nego što je predstavljeno u ovom putopisnom romanu.
Njihov komplikovan odnos, strahovi za budućnost, različita viđenja tog putovanja, predstavljaju najsadržajniji, ali i nedovoljni deo knjige, jer treba putovati, voziti, beležiti imena gradova, jesti, pamtiti i prepričavati običaje i razgovore sa ljudima koji se sreću na putovanju. S obzirom na veliki broj gradova kroz koje su prošle, ni tome nije dato previše prostora.
Ali, čitalac, neupućen, a to je većina, naučiće svašta, čitajući knjigu iz stalno otvorene Google Maps ili Images. Za to je potrebna koncentracija, zato se knjiga čitala skoro tri meseca, a nije uopšte dugačka.
Njihov komplikovan odnos, strahovi za budućnost, različita viđenja tog putovanja, predstavljaju najsadržajniji, ali i nedovoljni deo knjige, jer treba putovati, voziti, beležiti imena gradova, jesti, pamtiti i prepričavati običaje i razgovore sa ljudima koji se sreću na putovanju. S obzirom na veliki broj gradova kroz koje su prošle, ni tome nije dato previše prostora.
Ali, čitalac, neupućen, a to je većina, naučiće svašta, čitajući knjigu iz stalno otvorene Google Maps ili Images. Za to je potrebna koncentracija, zato se knjiga čitala skoro tri meseca, a nije uopšte dugačka.
June 2, 2016
Deux femmes qui prennent une Ford en 1939 et quittent l’Europe plutôt spontanément afin de se rendre en Afghanistan. Elles sont en route plusieurs semaines voire mois et traversent entre autres la Turquie et l’Iran. Rien que cela, en 1939, mérite du respect.
Le report de leur voyage est partagé entre la description des paysages et des rencontres, les souvenirs d’Ella Maillart, qui auparavant avait entrepris des voyages beaucoup plus aventureux que celui-ci, et la relation entre ces deux femmes très différentes.
Ella étant la robuste, l’indépendante, l’aventurier, sa compagne Christina (ce qui n’est pas son nom réel) étant la faible, la droguée, plein d’incertitudes, les deux femmes arrivent à s’arranger, à se comprendre, à trouver un moyen de profiter pleinement de ce voyage et de leur compagnie. Est-ce qu’elles s’aimaient ? C’est possible, mais pas clairement exprimé.
Le voyage est intéressant, surtout sur l’aspect de presque une décennie plus tard : les liaisons politiques entre les pays, les frontières, les coutumes dans des différentes régions ainsi que la guerre en Europe sont des faits qui influencent ce périple. Ella Maillart en parle naturellement dans son récit pourtant que le lecteur d’aujourd’hui y trouve des surprises, des faits pas vraiment connus.
Malgré mon intérêt à ce genre de voyage, malgré une écriture précise et passionnée, malgré un développement de relation, malgré la tension d’un but à atteindre avant que la guerre éclate, j’ai eu beaucoup de peine à m’accrocher à ce petit livre.
C’est dommage…
Le report de leur voyage est partagé entre la description des paysages et des rencontres, les souvenirs d’Ella Maillart, qui auparavant avait entrepris des voyages beaucoup plus aventureux que celui-ci, et la relation entre ces deux femmes très différentes.
Ella étant la robuste, l’indépendante, l’aventurier, sa compagne Christina (ce qui n’est pas son nom réel) étant la faible, la droguée, plein d’incertitudes, les deux femmes arrivent à s’arranger, à se comprendre, à trouver un moyen de profiter pleinement de ce voyage et de leur compagnie. Est-ce qu’elles s’aimaient ? C’est possible, mais pas clairement exprimé.
Le voyage est intéressant, surtout sur l’aspect de presque une décennie plus tard : les liaisons politiques entre les pays, les frontières, les coutumes dans des différentes régions ainsi que la guerre en Europe sont des faits qui influencent ce périple. Ella Maillart en parle naturellement dans son récit pourtant que le lecteur d’aujourd’hui y trouve des surprises, des faits pas vraiment connus.
Malgré mon intérêt à ce genre de voyage, malgré une écriture précise et passionnée, malgré un développement de relation, malgré la tension d’un but à atteindre avant que la guerre éclate, j’ai eu beaucoup de peine à m’accrocher à ce petit livre.
C’est dommage…
November 12, 2015
A highly interesting account of, as the title suggests, two Swiss women's travels through parts of Europe, Iran and Afghanistan. This book is a travelogue, memoir, historical account and mediation on friendship.
Along the way, there are lots of little historical stories (almost all of which I did not know about prior to reading this book so I spent a LOT of time as I was reading Googling names and people to get more information about them).
Maillart writes some very evocative sentences. I have never travelled to either Iran or Afghanistan (although I would love to be able to recreate the journey in the Cruel Way if it wasn't so dangerous these days) but there were times in the book when Maillart's writing made me feel as though I was there alongside her and 'Christina.'
As an example, she writes "Higher up, when we had reached gentle slopes and a good road, we met veiled women riding asses, their pointed shoes dangling from stockinged feet." And, "Christina was fascinated by the eyes of a beautiful but over-petted child with velvety lashes."
I'd have loved to have been able to see the giant Buddha in Bamiyan as these women did. However, it was very sadly destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
I thought the last few chapters were really beautiful and it has left me wanting to read 'Christina's' version of events - "All The Roads Are Open."
Along the way, there are lots of little historical stories (almost all of which I did not know about prior to reading this book so I spent a LOT of time as I was reading Googling names and people to get more information about them).
Maillart writes some very evocative sentences. I have never travelled to either Iran or Afghanistan (although I would love to be able to recreate the journey in the Cruel Way if it wasn't so dangerous these days) but there were times in the book when Maillart's writing made me feel as though I was there alongside her and 'Christina.'
As an example, she writes "Higher up, when we had reached gentle slopes and a good road, we met veiled women riding asses, their pointed shoes dangling from stockinged feet." And, "Christina was fascinated by the eyes of a beautiful but over-petted child with velvety lashes."
I'd have loved to have been able to see the giant Buddha in Bamiyan as these women did. However, it was very sadly destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
I thought the last few chapters were really beautiful and it has left me wanting to read 'Christina's' version of events - "All The Roads Are Open."
Read
May 1, 2020Très beau texte. Voyage en voiture avec Anne Marie Schwarzenbach (allemande, Maillart étant suisse) en partant de Suisse jusqu'en Afghanistan. Voyage pour se ressourcer, entre 2 personnes qui s'apprécient beaucoup, sans vraiment être amies ni très bien se connaître. Se passe en 1939, juste avant la guerre. Le but du voyage pour Maillart est de passer du temps en Afghanistan (ce qui ne se fera pas tant que ça finalement) pour faire un peu d 'ethnologie et fuir l'Occident qu'elle ne supporte plus. Pour Schwarzenbach, c'est un peu une tentative de cure de désintox (qu'elle ne tiendra pas, dès Istanbul, elle qui est en plus maigre comme un clou et constamment malade). Le rapport entre les 2 femmes est très fort, très intense, parfois comme une mère, face à sa fille, avec malgré tout un respect mutuel très important. Les dialogues sont superbes, les rencontres belles aussi. Par contre, très difficile de suivre les nombreuses explications sur l'histoire des différents pays traversés, de l'Europe de l'Est au Moyen Orient. Une histoire complexe avec des protagonistes totalement inconnus pour moi.
December 23, 2025
En 1939 dos mujeres suizas viajan en coche desde Ginebra a Kabul, cruzando Turquía y Persia en el trayecto, y mientras la narradora describe con lujo de detalle las costumbres de cada pueblo, su acompañante enfrenta el lado oscuro de la adicción a la morfina, dejando un reguero de sorpresa entre los habitantes con los que se topaban.
Dentro de la literatura de viajes es un libro bien completo, con mucha información local, ya sea de historia, religión, personajes, comidas, etc...además del drama particular de las protagonistas y la atmósfera prebélica que se respiraba en el aire. El ejemplar contiene además 4 mapas, 84 fotos, bibliografía, un índice cronológico y otro de altitud. Uno de mis favoritos de la colección Caravanserai.
Dentro de la literatura de viajes es un libro bien completo, con mucha información local, ya sea de historia, religión, personajes, comidas, etc...además del drama particular de las protagonistas y la atmósfera prebélica que se respiraba en el aire. El ejemplar contiene además 4 mapas, 84 fotos, bibliografía, un índice cronológico y otro de altitud. Uno de mis favoritos de la colección Caravanserai.
August 30, 2025
Une narration poussiéreuse un poil ethnocentrée peut-être, mais il est très facile d’en faire abstraction pour se laisser convaincre par l’entrain, la curiosité et les connaissances de l’autrice.
À côté des magnifiques images de ce périple, on rencontre les âmes d’Ella et Christina qui malgré leur référentiel différents s’apprécient énormément.
Ce récit est un beau voyage !
October 12, 2013
گرچه ترجمه کتاب خیلی خوب نیست ولی تنها سفرنامه مشترک ایران و افغانستانی بود که از یه اروپایی تا حالا خوندم و به بخشی از تفاوت های فرهنگی مردمان دو کشور ایران و افغانستان ، با همه مشابهت هاشون اشاره می کرد
May 6, 2016
Fascinating read. What stood out most to me was the constant reminders of war that come up throughout Maillart's journey. As they leave Europe behind, war and opinions about Germany are encountered all along the road and this along with Christina's addiction shadow Maillart's observations.
March 25, 2015
Interesting book but heavy on history, geography, etc which needed research, clarification
July 14, 2017
Interesting book
It did have lowpoints in it. It was a travel diary. It only grabs you at the beginning and end with the love and love of the humanspirit.
It did have lowpoints in it. It was a travel diary. It only grabs you at the beginning and end with the love and love of the humanspirit.
November 28, 2018
Récit plus intime et touchant que Oasis interditrs, ce récit de voyage est parmi les meilleurs que j’ai lus
January 30, 2020
It's hard for me to understand why this has been reprinted so often and it seems to me a great case in point why everyone should read (and learn from) Orientalism by Edward W. Said which of course was not available to the author of this irritating book.
Maillart rants self-importantly, she disregards rules about where she can or can't go and taking pictures with all the arrogance of a white person in someone else's country. She gravitates to powerful men and fails to have solidarity or connection with local women (some of that is beyond her control but she has a marked lack of reflexivity about it). She seems overly tolerant of Hitler for someone who is opinionated about everything else, and she has a very colonising attitude where all races should avoid being "ruined" by taking on the greed of the west but should serve to feed the profits and lifestyles of privileged westerners like herself while remaining rustic.
Even her occasional admiration of someone is tinged with othering and a consciousness of "superiority". Vomit...I read stuff like this because I like to try to understand the past. Reading this in tandem with Marx's Capital (which I am very slowly working through) was quite interesting. On p 173 she muses on not wanting to be burdened by conscience over the poverty of her charwoman and charwoman's children and muses "Isn't there a middle way between the bitter knowledge of the Westerner and a tibesman's happy-go-lucky ignorance of the world?" clearly putting everyone she has met into a white-man's-burden worldview and ironically failing to see herself as a woman unaccompanied by men as calling into question her gendered, racialised world-view.
If you want to see the ways capitalism, white-supremacy and a liberal-feminism that oppresses most women is connected (and has shades of Fascism coming through it) then read this book. If you just want to enjoy yourself then don't.
Maillart rants self-importantly, she disregards rules about where she can or can't go and taking pictures with all the arrogance of a white person in someone else's country. She gravitates to powerful men and fails to have solidarity or connection with local women (some of that is beyond her control but she has a marked lack of reflexivity about it). She seems overly tolerant of Hitler for someone who is opinionated about everything else, and she has a very colonising attitude where all races should avoid being "ruined" by taking on the greed of the west but should serve to feed the profits and lifestyles of privileged westerners like herself while remaining rustic.
Even her occasional admiration of someone is tinged with othering and a consciousness of "superiority". Vomit...I read stuff like this because I like to try to understand the past. Reading this in tandem with Marx's Capital (which I am very slowly working through) was quite interesting. On p 173 she muses on not wanting to be burdened by conscience over the poverty of her charwoman and charwoman's children and muses "Isn't there a middle way between the bitter knowledge of the Westerner and a tibesman's happy-go-lucky ignorance of the world?" clearly putting everyone she has met into a white-man's-burden worldview and ironically failing to see herself as a woman unaccompanied by men as calling into question her gendered, racialised world-view.
If you want to see the ways capitalism, white-supremacy and a liberal-feminism that oppresses most women is connected (and has shades of Fascism coming through it) then read this book. If you just want to enjoy yourself then don't.
August 8, 2022
J'avais très envie d'aimer ce livre mais cela n'a pas été le cas; la lecture en a été fastidieuse, j'ai dû finir au moins 6 livres dans le même temps où j'avais bien du mal à avancer avec celui-ci.
Ella Maillart était une aventurière suisse qui en 1939, voyagea de Suisse en Afghanistan, à bord d'une Ford, avec Annemarie Schwarzenbach (nommée Christina dans le récit). Je suis impressionnée et admirative que deux femmes se soient lancées dans pareil périple, je m'attendais à ce que le récit de leurs aventures me fasse rêver grâce aux descriptions de leur vie sur la route, des paysages, des locaux, des problèmes rencontrés. Mais malheureusement, le récit est entrecoupé de lourds détails historiques (tel roi est né en telle née en tel endroit, il a eu un fils en telle année, il y a eu une guerre en telle année, puis en telle année un autre roi l'a détrôné, puis ce roi a fait bâtir cette citadelle en telle année...), trop d'informations sur l'histoire des rois et des monuments était simplement ennuyeux.
Aussi, et ce n'est que mon avis, j'ai trouvé les conversations entre Ella et Christina parfois surannées, et même si je comprends bien qu'on était dans les années 40, je n'arrivais pas du tout à m'identifier et à vraiment accrocher au récit.
Enfin, je dois dire que l'écriture est parfois très belle:
Lorsque des traces d'or étincellent sur un bleu dense, on rêve à un ciel nocturne. Un grand panneau en mosaïque de faïence me fit penser au temps où l'on est amoureux, lorsqu'on croit n'avoir jamais compris la splendeur d'un ciel de minuit: les étoiles, dont il n'en est pas deux qui soient identiques, brillent avec une telle intensité qu'on dirait qu'elles viennent à nous.
Ella Maillart était une aventurière suisse qui en 1939, voyagea de Suisse en Afghanistan, à bord d'une Ford, avec Annemarie Schwarzenbach (nommée Christina dans le récit). Je suis impressionnée et admirative que deux femmes se soient lancées dans pareil périple, je m'attendais à ce que le récit de leurs aventures me fasse rêver grâce aux descriptions de leur vie sur la route, des paysages, des locaux, des problèmes rencontrés. Mais malheureusement, le récit est entrecoupé de lourds détails historiques (tel roi est né en telle née en tel endroit, il a eu un fils en telle année, il y a eu une guerre en telle année, puis en telle année un autre roi l'a détrôné, puis ce roi a fait bâtir cette citadelle en telle année...), trop d'informations sur l'histoire des rois et des monuments était simplement ennuyeux.
Aussi, et ce n'est que mon avis, j'ai trouvé les conversations entre Ella et Christina parfois surannées, et même si je comprends bien qu'on était dans les années 40, je n'arrivais pas du tout à m'identifier et à vraiment accrocher au récit.
Enfin, je dois dire que l'écriture est parfois très belle:
Lorsque des traces d'or étincellent sur un bleu dense, on rêve à un ciel nocturne. Un grand panneau en mosaïque de faïence me fit penser au temps où l'on est amoureux, lorsqu'on croit n'avoir jamais compris la splendeur d'un ciel de minuit: les étoiles, dont il n'en est pas deux qui soient identiques, brillent avec une telle intensité qu'on dirait qu'elles viennent à nous.
January 25, 2023
First book of 2023!
The Cruel Way is a fascinating travelogue of the journey Ella Maillart undertakes with companion Christina. WWII is brewing, and the pair decide to drive from Geneva to Kabul in a Ford.
Christina is recovering from a morphine addiction, though in reality she is still battling the addiction throughout the journey. Maillart, as Christina's companion, is attempting to assist in her recovery, and her anguish and sorrow at her friend's struggle is clear throughout the book.
I agree with other reviews that the style is a little dry, perhaps, and more context would have been helpful in parts, as someone not familiar with the areas the pair travel through on their journey. Nevertheless, I found much of the book to be engaging and interesting, and the passages of evenings and time spent with various locals were some of the best parts. I found the politics surrounding passing across borders rather interesting as well - clearly status played a big role at this time in ensuring safe passage, and I question how many people may have attempted a similar journey away from the brewing war and failed as a result of not having the right connections.
Although this book was written retrospectively, I strongly suspect Maillart must've kept some diary of the time due to the level of detail included in parts. Still, I'm glad for this, as not only does the detail enhance the book, but given the discovery of Christina's ongoing morphine use and her untimely death before the book's publication could lead to an overly sentimental piece focused on Christina and her struggles rather than the travel. Whether by the assistance of a diary from the time or not, Maillart manages to avoid this trap of sentimentality, which is one of the book's great achievements.
The Cruel Way is a fascinating travelogue of the journey Ella Maillart undertakes with companion Christina. WWII is brewing, and the pair decide to drive from Geneva to Kabul in a Ford.
Christina is recovering from a morphine addiction, though in reality she is still battling the addiction throughout the journey. Maillart, as Christina's companion, is attempting to assist in her recovery, and her anguish and sorrow at her friend's struggle is clear throughout the book.
I agree with other reviews that the style is a little dry, perhaps, and more context would have been helpful in parts, as someone not familiar with the areas the pair travel through on their journey. Nevertheless, I found much of the book to be engaging and interesting, and the passages of evenings and time spent with various locals were some of the best parts. I found the politics surrounding passing across borders rather interesting as well - clearly status played a big role at this time in ensuring safe passage, and I question how many people may have attempted a similar journey away from the brewing war and failed as a result of not having the right connections.
Although this book was written retrospectively, I strongly suspect Maillart must've kept some diary of the time due to the level of detail included in parts. Still, I'm glad for this, as not only does the detail enhance the book, but given the discovery of Christina's ongoing morphine use and her untimely death before the book's publication could lead to an overly sentimental piece focused on Christina and her struggles rather than the travel. Whether by the assistance of a diary from the time or not, Maillart manages to avoid this trap of sentimentality, which is one of the book's great achievements.
January 20, 2021
This was an intriguing, but slightly disappointing book.
The book documents the journey of two women from Switzerland to Afghanistan in 1939 driving a Ford car. There are two key aspects of the book - the journey itself and the relationship between them, in particular Christina's drug addiction etc.
Ella covered the journey adequately with interesting descriptions of the Buddha's at Bamian (now destroyed) and other places and people on the journey.
However, the relationship with Christina was clearly a big part of the journey and had a large impact on Ella, yet the coverage was simultaneously not enough/ too much.
"Christina" was actually Annemarie Schwarzenbach who had lead a very colourful life up to this point. Androgynous, gay, possibly manic depressive and a drug addict. She died in an accident a short time after this journey. For me, the complex relationship between the two women is alluded to, but misses huge parts - perhaps due to the time it was written.
In March 2021, an English translation of Annemarie Schwarzenbach's description of the journey is due to be published. I believe this covers far less of the physical journey, but more of her emotional journey. I will get this to gain another perspective.
The book documents the journey of two women from Switzerland to Afghanistan in 1939 driving a Ford car. There are two key aspects of the book - the journey itself and the relationship between them, in particular Christina's drug addiction etc.
Ella covered the journey adequately with interesting descriptions of the Buddha's at Bamian (now destroyed) and other places and people on the journey.
However, the relationship with Christina was clearly a big part of the journey and had a large impact on Ella, yet the coverage was simultaneously not enough/ too much.
"Christina" was actually Annemarie Schwarzenbach who had lead a very colourful life up to this point. Androgynous, gay, possibly manic depressive and a drug addict. She died in an accident a short time after this journey. For me, the complex relationship between the two women is alluded to, but misses huge parts - perhaps due to the time it was written.
In March 2021, an English translation of Annemarie Schwarzenbach's description of the journey is due to be published. I believe this covers far less of the physical journey, but more of her emotional journey. I will get this to gain another perspective.
March 23, 2022
I read this book as a companion to "All the Roads Are Open" by Annamarie Schwarzenbach. Both are accounts of the trek in a 1939 Ford coupe driven from Switzerland through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and India. The Cruel Way accounts for the travel and the relationship between Maillart and Schwarzenbach. It also touches on Annemarie's addiction to morphine. This relationship, is the minor character in The Cruel Way, and is non-existant in All the Roads Are Open. The description of landscapes, encounters with nomads and tribesmen, and the role of women are the real meat. I was captured by the ethnography and was further reminded of how little I understand about alternative culture.
July 1, 2020
Some enlightening reflections in the vernacular of the time:
"Of course I am glad I can read and write and tot up what I have spent when I see my purse is empty, but schools don’t so much develop your faculties as choke them with tired facts and lame arguments that the Chinese student and the Hindu clerk will use like Gospel truth:…
This Afghan might lie or kill according to a code of honour that differs much from ours, but first of all he was a man, a radiant masterpiece, fully alive, at peace with himself, every expression marked with simple nobility."
"Of course I am glad I can read and write and tot up what I have spent when I see my purse is empty, but schools don’t so much develop your faculties as choke them with tired facts and lame arguments that the Chinese student and the Hindu clerk will use like Gospel truth:…
This Afghan might lie or kill according to a code of honour that differs much from ours, but first of all he was a man, a radiant masterpiece, fully alive, at peace with himself, every expression marked with simple nobility."
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