"Three Cups of Tea"
Written by: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
2009
Penguin Books

4.25/5 Stars
Consensus: True or not (and it appears mostly true, just exaggerated or guessed at in some parts, sloppy and unfortunate but not totally damning), Greg Mortenson's story of the beginning of CAI (Central Asai Institute) is both compelling and interesting. Its a good read and especially important as it offers an alternative to fighting the war on terror.

Plot: We follow Greg Mortenson in his real life journey to build schools for impoverished Muslim children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Prose: The prose is that of a "matter-of-fact" journalistic sort and for good reason. It does well to clearly explain and create pathos for Mortenson and his foundation, the Central Asia Institute (CAI). Most effectively it followed debate format in favor of Mortenson, whilst following his mission i.e. at the beginning of the book we are told briefly who Mortenson is and why this book is about him and that he is tall, then it briefly goes over many people's feelings of his shortcomings. After giving concessions to his antagonists it then proceeds to tell his story and does a marvelous job at creating sympathy for both him and the children he helps. It was interesting and easy to read prose. It wasn't the gorgeous borderline poetry you get from the likes of McCarthy or Bradbury and frankly, its a good thing it isn't, it paints a wonderfully vivid picture of Pakistan while still being easy to read and not getting hung up on minor details. Relin, as he states at the beginning of the book, is a journalist, so one would expect the prose to be good, to the point and articulate, and it is. It feels very much like reading a newspaper, only better because the story won't get old in a week. ****

Character Development: By the end of the novel you feel like you are best friends with Greg Mortenson and you find yourself inevitably rooting for him and his cause. People like Haji Ali (Mortenson's mentor) come to life and you can almost hear their voices inside your head, you feel a connection to them. Especially considering these are real life people an incredible justice has been done to them, but its not without its flaws. People like Dr. Marina, Mortenson's ex-girlfriend in the plot are villianized unnecessarily and other heroic characters such as Mortenson's wife, Tara Bishop, aren't given enough page time. Especially considering Tara's role in Mortenson's mission she ought to have been given more attention, what about the many lonely nights she spends with her children? The missed days, the heroic and noble sacrafice this women gives to her husband every day ought to have been given more attention and less to villianizing people like Marina. ****1/2

Originality: Well, you can't get much more original than what happened to you in real life. Assuming it did happen, a subject that is now highly disputed and controversial (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7363068n) as it appears Mortenson exaggerated parts of the novel. That said there is no doubt that he is doing a lot of good in the middle east, at least to me. Hopefully, the allegations made against him are simply his mistake of exaggerating the truth to try and help a group of people that he loves. If so that is an unfortunate mistake, but we all make them and Mortenson does help thousands of hopeless children. That said most of allegations made against him require rather... shady sources. It seems exaggerated and hyped up. The misuse of funds is very serious, and as far as any research can be done we don't see Mortenson moving to a condo in Manhatten Beach and driving Italian sports cars especially. My personal conclusion is that he exaggerated and fish told a story to try and make himself, and his cause sound better. While this is wrong, if he apologizes we need to lay off him and recognize that he still does and has done a great amount of good in the world. Slandering him and over-hyping fish stories only serves to sensationalize and criticize someone who is doing plenty of good and made a few mistakes. For all we know, the media is lying and the likes of Jon Krakauer, Mortenson's chief accuser, had their toes stepped on and are seeking to defame and sensationalize someone who didn't do things their way or play by their book. Keep an open mind and be extremely ready to forgive someone who has done so much good is what I say. The most devastating of all this controversy is co-author David Oliver Relin's untimely and tragic suicide. Frankly this whole controversy is suspicious, suicide via blunt force trauma to the head sounds fishy(http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/03/entertainment/la-et-jc-david-oliver-relin-three-cups-of-tea-mortenson-20121203). Wouldn't you render yourself unconscious before you could ultimately die? There is a ton of fishy things with the story, it will no doubt be brushed away quickly but suffice to say it seems unlikely that Relin committed suicide as much as was murdered. By who and for why remains to be seen, and for all I know never will be seen, black coats tend to like that sort of thing, but the fact that he is dead is both tragic and undisputed. *****

Simplicity: Towards the end of the novel there are so many new characters and individuals it becomes difficult to keep track of who is who. But up to that point the story is straightforward enough. 1+1=2 and so forth. Its easy to understand and evokes an incredible amount of pathos for the people that are being written about. The many Arab names so foreign to an American were difficult to keep track of who is who and at what point their involvement became crucial. ***1/2