Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson: Is it Appealing to Readers?


Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea, has come out with a new book called Stones into Schools. It is a detailed account of Mortenson's travels, experiences, and successes in building schools in hard to reach places in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mortenson is a member of CAI (Central Asia Institute) which organizes and builds these schools making sure that both boys and girls of those countries get a good education. However, the author needs to rewrite the book so it will be more appealing to readers by keeping to the main point, being less repetitive, and making the book more memorable.

While reading Stones into Schools, I noticed that the author went down many rabbit trails to explain the background of organizations, people, or places. It was often distracting, and by the time the author came back to the main point, I had to try and remember what the main point was. The background information was helpful to understand these, but I thought it deviated away from the main point much too often. The author should have condensed the background information in fewer paragraphs that way the reader would not get lost.

Mortenson's work with the CAI goes over the course of many years, telling the story of many different schools. As I read along, I felt that I was reading the same story with only slightly different details. I realize the importance of tthe stories of every one of those schools, but I think that the author should choose from the many stories and focus on just a few of them. It would add to the book by focusing on just a few stories to show what the CAI has been doing to help other people.

Learning about these schools being built was encouraging to read about, but I did not think the book was written in a way that was memorable. The parts that were most memorable to me were the defects that tooked away from the importance of the stories being told. The book has several good moments scattered here and there throughout its pages. If the author had helped to make those moments shine a bit more, it would have added to the book and made those moments stand out.

All in all, Greg Mortenson has had an amazing adventure helping to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and has a good start for his book. There are many areas that need to be fixed if this book is to be appealing to readers. Once these areas are fixed and polished, Stones into Schools will be able to let people know that there is another way of bringing peace to war ridden countries. And that way is through education.