A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush
Written by Eric Newby
Narrated by Richard E Grant
4/5
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About this audiobook
A classic of travel writing, ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush’ is Eric Newby’s iconic account of his journey through one of the most remote and beautiful wildernesses on earth.
It was 1956, and Eric Newby was earning an improbable living in the chaotic family business of London haute couture. Pining for adventure, Newby sent his friend Hugh Carless the now-famous cable - CAN YOU TRAVEL NURISTAN JUNE? - setting in motion a legendary journey from Mayfair to Afghanistan, and the mountains of the Hindu Kush, north-east of Kabul. Inexperienced and ill prepared (their preparations involved nothing more than some tips from a Welsh waitress), the amateurish rogues embark on a month of adventure and hardship in one of the most beautiful wildernesses on earth - a journey that adventurers with more experience and sense may never have undertaken. With good humour, sharp wit and keen observation, the charming narrative style of ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush’ would soon crystallise Newby's reputation as one of the greatest travel writers of all time.
One of the greatest travel classics from one of Britain's best-loved travel writers, this edition includes new photographs, an epilogue from Newby's travelling companion, Hugh Carless, and a prologue from one of Newby's greatest proponents, Evelyn Waugh.
Eric Newby
Eric Newby was born in London in 1919. During World War II, he served in the Special Boat Section and was captured. He married the girl who helped him to escape, and for the next 50 years she was at his side on many adventures. After the war, he worked in the fashion business and book publishing but travelled on a grand scale, sometimes as the Travel Editor for the Observer. He was made CBE and awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Guild of Travel Writers. He died in 2006.
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Reviews for A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush
15 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I think the most endearing aspect of A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush is the fact that Eric Newby readily admits he had no idea what he was doing when he and a friend decided to explore the Nuristan mountain range in Afghanistan. With very little training and an unclear vision of what was in store, Newby's A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush is little more than a witty, humorous journal. Yet, almost by default it offers intelligent, observant insight into Afghan cultures and terrains few Westerners have ever experienced. Newby begins his tale with the idea of exploring the Hindu Kush mountain range. Recruiting his friend Hugh, they "practice" climbing by scrambling up and down a rock face in Wales. There they learn the tools and of trade and suddenly they are experts. From there, with tongue-in-cheek humor, Newby delightfully journals their subsequent adventures in northeastern Afghanistan.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A wonderful travel adventure from the end of the golden age of exploration. Newby is best when he describes with humor and self-deprecation their woeful lack of credentials in the matter of exploration and mountain climbing. After four days of practice in the relative safety of Wales, Newby and his companion Hugh Carless travel to Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush, attempt to climb the 20,000 ft Mir Samir and trek through Nuristan in northern Afghanistan. The fact that they accomplished all they did is a great testament to their courage and perhaps naive luck. I can't believe any such journey would be possible today.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby. Superb travel writing. Newby abruptly gave up his career in the fashion industry, in England in the 1950s, and went off on a mad hike through the mountains of Afghanistan, after taking a four-day hiking course in Wales. Funny stuff, although Newby, unlike Bill Bryson and other popular travel writers of today, does not load his prose with funny commentary or metaphors. He describes his adventures--an appalling transaction with a Persian car mechanic, being detained for manslaughter somewhere in Armenia, the irritating qualities of the Nuristani tribes he encounters--with a spareness that leaves the reader to decide if the incident is supposed to be funny or tragic. I would love to travel in that part of the world--every account I've read about Afghanistan has made it seem compelling and gorgeous, but, obviously, it's not a tourist destination these days. Maybe within my lifetime. Also, this book has the best last line I've ever read, anywhere.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An enjoyable recount by Eric Newby of his first adventure as a mountain climber in the Hindu Kush.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I didn't get on with this at all and gave up reading halfway through. It was a reading group book, and I usually try to finish them even if I don't like it, but I seemed to be actively avoiding reading this one! It was a bit too "jolly hockeysticks" for me. Also the edition I was reading had slightly fuzzy type and the maps weren't at all clear - if both of those had been better I might have made it further!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They just don't make 'em like Eric Newby any more. Possibly the funniest travel book ever.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A self-deprecating fashion industry Brit (he's careful not to describe appropriate experience - he served in British Special Forces in WWII - this omission helps the story's charm), gathers up incomplete, inadequate provisions and goes on a fun little jaunt in vacation spots north of Kabul. Who knew Afghanistan could be so wonerfully droll...