Customer Reviews:
 Crappy writing. Crappy everything. Just crappy. July 29, 2010
matchless_orinda (Canada)
Terrible, terrible writing. Cliched, painful prose. Self-aggrandizing. Forcing Western educational regimes on societies too poor to resist or demand alternatives is just wrong. I hated this book. Everything about it stunk.
 Should be on everyone's required reading list! July 8, 2010
Stefanie (Alberta, Canada)
Three Cups of Tea, which chronicles the founding of Greg Mortenson's Central Asia Institute, is likely the most inspiring book I have ever read. Completely aside from the great writing and adventure in this book, here is why all North Americans should read it:
The people and cultures of Pakistan and Afghanistan are presented with great sensitivity, without lapsing into the realm of moral relativism. No apologies are made for the atrocious behaviour of groups like the Taliban, which have harmed their own people immeasurably. Three Cups of Tea presents the very best and the very worst of the Muslim world in a fair manner, and outsiders can learn a lot about the region from this book.
Greg Mortenson's story is proof that anyone really can make a difference in this world with enough effort and enthusiasm. Despite initially having no training in education, business or international development, and even living out of his car for a time, his efforts have resulted in thousands of children receiving a quality education.
The numerous interviews with graduates of his schools (especially young women) will convince you that education is the most empowering gift that anyone can give.
In short, if you care about education, humanitarianism, equality, or even domestic security, you must read this book!
 Inspiring story, uninspiringly told. June 30, 2010
L. Cooper (Grande Prairie, AB, CAN.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great story, very inspiring. Difficult to get through, especially the middle section (very boring...not well written). Picks up at the end, so worth slogging through the boring stuff! Made me think, certainly, and get a better understanding of the Muslim faith and the people of Pakistan.
Three Cups of Tea June 20, 2010
Schwarzli (Canada)
An excellent read. The type of book you cannot put down once you begin. Every American should read this and feel pride in one of their country men, Greg Mortenson. The work this man had done recently is outstanding. His experiences in accomplishing his goals among the poor in a Muslim world of Pakistan and Afghanistan are incredible. It gave me a better understanding of what our countries( Canada and USA) are up against as they fight the Taliban. It also emphasized the difference between the Muslim extremists and the true, peaceful Muslim caught up in the frenzie of the extremists.
`Doctor Greg, you must take time to share three cups of tea.' May 27, 2010
J. Cameron-Smith (ACT, Australia)
The third time you share a cup of tea become family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything, even die.'
In 1993, Greg Mortenson stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village in the Karakoram Mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Deeply moved by the kindness shown to him by the villagers, he promised to return a build a school. This book is the story of how Greg Mortenson fulfilled that promise and how it became the first step in a journey which is still in progress. In the following decade, fifty five schools were built in the forbidding terrain of rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.
I read this book after reading `Stones into Schools' so I already knew a bit about Greg Mortenson and the work of the Central Asia Institute (CAI) in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Did I need to read `Three Cups of Tea' as well? Probably not: in terms of understanding the importance of the work being done by Greg Mortenson and the CAI, `Stones into Schools' is very clear about what is being done and how and why it is being done. However, `Three Cups of Tea' provides insight into why Greg Mortenson is committed to making a difference in this part of the world. `Stones into Schools' demonstrates more clearly the lessons Greg Mortenson has learned from engaging with the communities he is so keen to assist.
In some ways, I am pleased that I read the two books out of order. Both are important, each is different but they share a unity of purpose: bringing education to one of the most remote and turbulent regions on earth.
`What we are trying to do may just be a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.'
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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