Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson

Hmmm... Okay. I read this book knowing that I would read Jon Krakauer's "Three Cups of Deceit" afterwards, so knowing that the allegations were out there that much of this book is fabricated or untrue most likely has changed how I viewed this book while reading it.

Without knowing the specifics on the allegations regarding this book, there were a few things that bothered me about it, that I think I would have picked up on anyway.

First, the author here is listed as Greg Mortenson, but Greg is not the author of this book, it's written by David Relin based on interviews and visits Relin made with Mortenson. Right away that makes me wary. If the book was properly researched and written, Relin wouldn't need Mortenson as an additional author. So I'm not sure what is going on there. If anything it seemed like an excuse to write about Mortenson without Mortenson singing his own praises.

Second, there are far too many "quotes" of things people said and they are presented as direct quotations, even where the events occurred four or five years before Relin even met Mortenson. So there is no way that anyone remembered the exact words used by anyone else that far back, and to present them as quotations rings false.

Third, some of the quotes seem to canned. Even the broken English of translated quotes was too canned and saccharin to be believed.

I didn't have any problems with the events that occurred in the book, aside from the fact that I know they may not have happened the way they are presented, but the above issues with the storytelling really bothered me throughout the book and cast a shadow of doubt around the events described.

That being said, the actual premise of the book, that building schools and investing in education is a better way to fight fundamentalism than bombs and war is totally believable and laudable. It's unfortunate that the message is presented in this format, and now that it's been discredited that the premise may be forgotten or discarded because the messenger was flawed.

2/5 Stars.