IN AFGHANISTAN: An American Odyssey

by Jere Van Dyke ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 27, 1983

Sporting a turban, armed with a camera from NBC and a right of first refusal from the New York Times, Van Dyke trooped into Afghanistan to make contact with the anti-Soviet guerrillas. He came out with pictures, a six-part story that the paper ran detailing, among other things, a battle between guerrillas and Afghan soldiers with Soviet support, and a notebook full of his three-month life as a guerrilla. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave well enough alone. Van Dyke's ""odyssey"" is a string of relentless clichÉs and unwarranted personal details. We learn that he was a student at the Paris Institute of Political Studies; that he worked for Washington's Senator Jackson; that he won some track competitions (the athlete part is supposed to provide him with 1) the physical capability of staying with the rigors of the journey, and 2) the desire to compete that makes him do the impossible); that he had previously traveled from Paris to Afghanistan, where he had precisely the same experiences as scores of American college kids on the drugs run (but where he became fascinated with the romantic Afghans); and that he has a lot of girlfriends scattered around. At first, everyone he approaches about his desired trip thinks that he's a CIA agent--and no wonder, since despite the training in politics, he couches his desire in terms of general admiration for freedom fighters and the challenge of it all. Instead of some coherent idea of what he's doing, he's being moved to tears by Chariots of Fire and reading T. E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom while recounting how fascinated he was as a child with the likes of Tamerlane. When he cozies up to a group of foreign correspondents in Islamabad we get the requisite encounter with wizened, tough old guys who've seen it all. One of them is actually supposed to have told Van Dyke the following: ""You're going to Afghanistan, going to make your name. Don't be foolish. Don't try to be a hero. Just keep your head down. You're going in for yourself. That's all that really counts. Forget about everyone at home, they don't really care. They'll use you, spit you out, forget you. So you've got to do it for yourself, don't you?"" What it is he's done isn't clear. The guerrillas are a mostly unsavory lot, albeit dedicated. They talk a lot about honor and deride the political parties, and Van Dyke takes it all down without doing anything with it. An odyssey that goes nowhere.

Pub Date: June 27, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1983

Categories: NONFICTION