 How typical was the Afghan family that Seierstad stayed with? |
In a HardTalk Extra interview screened on 18 November, Gavin Esler spoke to journalist Asne Seierstad about her time living with an Afghan family after the fall of the Taleban, the book that resulted and the controversy it caused.
During the war in Iraq many journalists were "embedded" with American or British troops, and it's a practice that has changed the way that wars are reported and witnessed around the world.
But Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad chose a different path. She embedded herself with an Afghan family after the overthrow of the Taleban.
The result -- a novel called "The Bookseller of Kabul" -- became a bestseller and sold two million copies. But it also outraged her Afghan hosts, who felt she had betrayed them.
She talks to Gavin Esler about her own personal clash of civilisations.
HARDtalk can be seen on BBC World at 0430 GMT, 0830 GMT, 1130 GMT, 1530 GMT, 1930 GMT, 0030 GMT
It can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 04:30 and 23:30
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