Talk:Caravans (novel)

[Untitled]
This reads more like a review than an article --Awiseman 19:39, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

I read the novel decades ago (but I browsed it a few years back) and I think it was set essentially contemporaneous with its publication (that is, in the early 1960s), not "immediately after WWII." Not a matter of cosmic importance, but I'll check it if I get the opportunity -- to check my memory, if nothing else. 137.82.188.68 (talk) 06:20, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

The article is correct. The novel was set in 1946-48 period. Anorlunda (talk) 17:56, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps a mention could be made of the constant narrative drive of the novel in relation to Westerners and Afghan meetings. Modernization gets validated by "by associating  it with  mythic  conventions  in which an  American  overcomes  Asian  hostility  by  a  display  of  competence. In Caravans,  his 1963  novel  of  Afghanistan,  Michener  invites  readers  to  choose  between  futures  imag- ined  by  two  characters:  Nur Mohammed,  religious,  proud,  and  suspicious  of  change, and  Nazrullah,  a foreign-educated  expert,  impatient,  outspoken,  and  eager  for  help from  the Americans  if possible,  the Soviets  if necessary.  Nazrullah  was  an  engineer, damming  the Helmand  with boulders  blasted  from  a nearby  mountain.  "Each  day we must throw  similar  rocks  into  the  human  river  of  Afghanistan,"  he  tells  the  Amer- ican  narrator.  "Here  a school,  there  a road,  down  in the gorge  a dam. So far, our human river  isn't  aware  that  it's  been  touched. But we shall never  halt  until  we've modified  it completely". [Calluther, p. 531  'Damming  Afghanistan:  Modernization  in a Buffer  State',The  Journal  of American  History,  September  2002 ]  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.150.249.119 (talk) 10:31, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Michener's First Book?
If I'm not mistaken, this was Michener's first and shortest book, and he was disappointed by its reception. Immediately thereafter, he spent considerable energy doing research for future works, keeping it up throughout his career. I found his description of nomadic tribes fascinating, especially their relationships with regard to settled local people and foreigners. He also describes ancient, long underground watercourses in southwest Afghanistan, interrupted regularly by man-made caverns with buildings above. Somewhere (I think in "Caravans", but I'm not sure) I read that there were columns constructed mainly of dirt or unfired clay which were reinforced by human skeletons, with the toes towards the centers, and the skulls towards the outsides, of the columns. He also writes about attempts by German engineers to build bridges, all excellently designed and constructed, but utterly inadequate to resist the immense volumes of water which occur rarely, leaving only traces of columns and spans in a desert environment with a trickle of water underneath. I note in Pakistani and Indian texts the frequent use of the word "tribal", but Michener used "nomadic". What the relationship is between tribes (whether settled or nomadic) and peoples who are not considered "tribal", is a mystery to me. 172.56.26.11 (talk) 13:36, 12 May 2014 (UTC)


 * @172.56.26.11 This was Michener's seventh book, not his first, and it was preceded by his epic "Hawaii." Perhaps he needed a little break? What I find fascinating about it is thinking of the influence of his own travels on nine different trips through Afghanistan and seeing that country in its pre-modernized, near primitive state. 2601:642:4200:E521:301F:B942:4AA0:8D5 (talk) 06:18, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

Jagatai Khan
If I recall correctly, Genghis Khan chose his son Jagatai (Chagatai) to rule Afghanistan, and those skeletons I mentioned above were those of people killed by the Mongol invasion. 172.56.27.222 (talk) 13:41, 12 May 2014 (UTC)