Morgen's War

By Leonard Schonberg

Robert Morgen, a successful New York physician, searches for a less stressful lifestyle and moves to Vermont with his wife and son. But the rural lifestyle becomes the catalyst for the dissolution of his marriage. Discontented with the practice of medicine and saddened by the loss of his son to his wifes custody, Robert volunteers to work as a physician in the border town of Peshawar, Pakistan, during the Russian-Afghan war in 1986. While training refugee Afghan physicians and working in Afghan refugee camps, he develops a deep respect for the tenacious courage of the Afghan people. His dedication to the Afghan cause leads him to cross into Afghanistan with a French physician and nurse and a group of Afghan warriors. They are ambushed by Russian troops on a mountain pass and Robert and the nurse, Simone, are the only survivors. Their endurance tested to the maximum and often in danger in Afghanistans deadly wartime environment, Robert and Simone struggle to make their way back across the border. In the journey through the unknown, Roberts life is irrevocably changed. LEONARD SCHONBERG served as a volunteer physician on the Afghan border in 1985 and 1986 during the Russian-Afghan war. His three previous novels, DEADLY INDIAN SUMMER, FISH HEADS and LEGACY were all published by Sunstone Press.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865344418
• ISBN13: 9780865344419
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Sunstone Press
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Presents such sad situations with humor and cynicism

Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (9/06) "Morgen's War" begins with the main character, Robert, discovering that the woman he had fallen madly in love with, married, and fathered a child with, does not love him any longer. She does not break this to him suddenly, but the readers will see it clearly as she moves a few states away for the sake of her career. Any reader with an ex-spouse will love to live vicariously through Robert as he is able to air the dirty laundry of his ex-spouse and her family. Robert slams her and her father with subtle jabs. Alyssa is often not smart enough or is too self-absorbed to pick up on the smart-aleck remarks and actions. As the book progresses, the reader and Robert realize that there is more to Alyssa than first realized. An old friend comes back into his life, though he had ignored her because of an awkward sexual encounter. Robert finds that she is so different than Alyssa, but is he capable of putting Alyssa behind him? As it always is the case, their son, Davey, is the one who suffers because of the failed marriage. Robert seems to be the only one who cares about this. Davey just wants his family to live together. Though Davey lived with Robert while Alyssa worked a few states away, two lawyers assure him that a judge will never grant Robert custody, because he is male. It is always assumed that a woman can be a better parent than a man. Left without anything to live for on a daily basis, Robert goes to Pakistan to work as a volunteer physician. The lack of basic medical supplies and personnel is such a shock to the physician. More of a surprise is the way women are treated. The examples given remind me of how farmers think of cows. Robert decides to risk his life and cross over to Afghanistan. This is a decision that almost cost his life and does cost him the life of his fellow physician. This book reads so quickly. Several spots were so funny that I could not help but laugh out loud. On the flip side, I developed a lot of anger toward Alyssa. This was an emotional rollercoaster ride. Leonard Schonberg is also the author of "Deadly Indian Summer," "Fish Heads," and "Legacy." I loved "Morgen's War" so much that I plan on reading the rest of his works. I recommend you do so, also.

Morgen's War

Have read all of Dr Schonberg's novels. Have enjoyed all and this one was no exception. Keep 'em coming!

Reader's Review

This is an extremely interesting book with an engaging structure. The story goes back and forth in time, explaining the background and concerns of the main character and showing his development as a man, husband and father. But it is the sections on Afghan culture that are the most interesting and illuminating. Working at the Afghan Women's Hospital, the protagonist becomes all too familiar with Afghan culture and its extreme tyranny over women. For example, a man lets his wife die, rather than allow her to leave their home for treatment at a medical clinic, explaining that it is easy to get (i.e., purchase) another wife. In Afghan culture, with its pathological belief in men's honor, the repository of that honor is the family's women. If those women "misbehave" in any way, then the family's honor is called into question. Rather than let this happen, Afghan men essentially imprison women from the time they are older girls until post-menopausal. This includes forbidding them from leaving the family compound, even if their lives are at stake. Other atrocities that happen under this crude and primitive belief system include killing a woman if any male relative believes that her actions have, in some undefined way, sullied his honor. In one instance, when a woman's family discovered that her husband (to whom the family had arranged the marriage in the first place) was homosexual, they killed the woman; not because they blamed her for her husband's homosexuality but because they believed it would (at some undefined point in the future) cause her to misbehave. Therefore, under the Afghan form of twisted logic, it would be better to kill her before she could (theoretically) endanger the family honor - a sort of pre-emptive strike. Needless to say, in Pakistan's Islamic culture, none of these crimes are punished. Because these customs directly affect women, they are all too often considered by Westerners to be "cultural" and that outsiders should not take issue with another's culture. Using this logic, then all cultural practices past and present, such as Chinese foot binding, Indian widow burning, African female genital mutilation, female infanticide in some parts of the Asian world, and honor killings should not be condemned but tolerated. This is carrying cultural relativism past belief. It is noteworthy that these customs all involve some level of oppression of women, not men. It is an interesting intellectual exercise to contemplate how the "world" would react if this oppression were directed at males. A ready example that comes to mind is South African apartheid which imprisoned South African black men (and incidentally the women) to a form of lifetime imprisonment in "homelands" and being subject to a pass system. This was not accepted by the outside world but the same thing - when it happens to women in much of the Islamic world -- is excused as "culture". This book brings some of these issues to light and is a worthwhile re

Engrossing read, well written

L. Schonberg uses his background and experiences to weave a compelling and engrossing story without losing touch with reality. It is all believeable (sometime unfortunately so). I was unable to put the book down and I have passed on my thoughts to others. I look forward to the next one. I bet if I met him, I'd like him (haha)

Morgan's War

"Morgan's War" opens with Dr. Robert Morgan leaving the airport in Peshawar, Pakistan to join volunteer doctors treating Afghan refugees. Then a new story begins as Morgan recalls the events that lead him to leave his medical practice in New York City, move to rural Vermont, and finally to Pakistan. The use of flashback works very well in this book. Having two plots unfolding simultaneously was a lot of fun and kept me off balance for what was coming next. Morgan's War is actually two books in one, a love story and an adventure story. This is one of those books that makes you sad when it ends, because you don't want to stop reading. Since I will probably never get to visit the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, I enjoyed reading the vivid descriptions of the people, culture, and landscapes therein. The material in this book is very relevant to current affairs, because of the clash of cultures that is taking place in that region today. If you like adventure stories set in exotic, far away places, you need to add this book to your collection.