This unusual memoire revisits the ten years he spent at Murree Christian School, where he was separated from his parents for six months of each year, then reflects on the legacy of such an upbringing. Paper Airplanes in the Himalayas revisits a childhood at the crossroads of several worlds, and follows the author's unfolding journey to rediscover a sense of home. In an age of cultural disorientation, this absorbing memoir resonates with both urgency and comfort. This is a compelling story, written with remarkable candor and deep insight. While not everyone brought up this way went to boarding school, all have known the agony of leaving home, of saying goodbye again, captured so vividly in the train party scenes here.
Seaman evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of Pakistan with such obvious love and clarity.
He knows, too, the peer savagery of Lord of the Flies, yet also feels a deep sense of incompleteness when his family is unable to return to Pakistan for him to finish high school there. This is a thought-provoking account of one man's struggle to find peace with his past. Regardless of their backgrounds, readers will find familiar issues here-and some surprising turns.