Heroes in Three Cups
Plenty has been written about the heroism of Greg Mortenson, the mountaineer-turned-humanitarian who has founded 58 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan that have provided education to about 24,000 children, 14,000 of them girls. I'm not here to deny any of it. I too was deeply impressed by Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea," and highly recommend it.
But I would also like to speak up for an additional hero, an unsung one: David Oliver Relin, Mortenson's co-author on the book. To my mind he did a thankless job in a stunningly effective way.
Relin made some unusual choices. He served as a sort of ghostwriter, but not in the typical way of writing Mortenson's memoir for him. Nor did he write his own memoir of how he learned about Mortenson. He simply told the story, from beginning to end.
He also made some subtly brilliant choices in structuring that story. After a slightly awkward preface trying to define his role, Relin started, obviously, with Mortenson's wayward descent of K2 that first brought him in contact with remote Pakistanis. But Relin structured that anecdote not in the simple terms of "starving mountaineer" and "generous villagers" but with Mortenson's own inner spiritual needs, needs that could best be fulfilled by helping people.
That's important because otherwise it would be difficult to end the book. An obvious end to Mortenson's story would be when he completed his first school, thus completing his obligation to those first villagers. Unfortunately such an ending would ignore 57 other schools. So another potential ending would be Mortenson's retirement -- also unacceptable because it may be dozens of years in the future.
By focusing on the spiritual rewards that Mortenson gains from the journey, Relin is able to conclude the book with a beautiful passage of Mortenson engaging in a new journey. That humble but powerful ending is not only appropriate to what Relin has shown us of Mortenson's character, but lets readers like me walk away from the book feeling deeply moved.
I'm always interested in feedback, below or via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
But I would also like to speak up for an additional hero, an unsung one: David Oliver Relin, Mortenson's co-author on the book. To my mind he did a thankless job in a stunningly effective way.
Relin made some unusual choices. He served as a sort of ghostwriter, but not in the typical way of writing Mortenson's memoir for him. Nor did he write his own memoir of how he learned about Mortenson. He simply told the story, from beginning to end.
He also made some subtly brilliant choices in structuring that story. After a slightly awkward preface trying to define his role, Relin started, obviously, with Mortenson's wayward descent of K2 that first brought him in contact with remote Pakistanis. But Relin structured that anecdote not in the simple terms of "starving mountaineer" and "generous villagers" but with Mortenson's own inner spiritual needs, needs that could best be fulfilled by helping people.
That's important because otherwise it would be difficult to end the book. An obvious end to Mortenson's story would be when he completed his first school, thus completing his obligation to those first villagers. Unfortunately such an ending would ignore 57 other schools. So another potential ending would be Mortenson's retirement -- also unacceptable because it may be dozens of years in the future.
By focusing on the spiritual rewards that Mortenson gains from the journey, Relin is able to conclude the book with a beautiful passage of Mortenson engaging in a new journey. That humble but powerful ending is not only appropriate to what Relin has shown us of Mortenson's character, but lets readers like me walk away from the book feeling deeply moved.
I'm always interested in feedback, below or via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
