"Burch's memoir recounts her remarkable experiences over eight years as a photographer covering the war in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s and as a filmmaker, and also her own personal and spiritual journey as a young woman.... Her accounts provide revealing glimpses into the conflict, Afghan culture, and the dangers of war reporting, particularly for a woman." -- Publishers Weekly
"Personal growth, international events, the power of images and of individual experience ... Burch's Journey ... [shows] how strange connections can shape the future of both individuals and nations. A great read, highly recommended." -- Davide Mana, Karavansara Blog
"Melissa's ... account of travels into Afghanistan, Soviet Union, and living as a filmmaker in the NYC 80's art scene is intense, raw and enchanting. She has a story that must be told and she does so with a new and charismatic voice." -- Susana Aikin, Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker of Transformations
"Melissa's true life story is not only fascinating but she had me riveted to every word on the page. Her openness to exploring new horizons, ... eliciting meaning out of her experiences, and incorporating the lessons in the next step of her journey are totally relevant to the needs of all of us today." --Kate Soudant, Editor
"Melissa Burch's memoir is the best memoir I have read since "Girl in the Dark".... In our materialistic culture, about five hundred books a day are published and most of them have all the depth of a mud puddle. This work is a welcome change. Burch's psychological insights are very astute." --Ryan Tilley, Poet
"In this memoir, a documentary filmmaker describes her dramatic journeys, both outward and inward. In 1982, Burch had just turned 21. Eager for adventure, she arranged a freelance assignment in Afghanistan to film the mujahedeen rebellion against Soviet invaders. There, she discovered a paradoxical peace amid war.... Writing with sensitivity and vivid clarity about her evolving self, Burch is unafraid to expose times when she was naïve, self-centered, or judgmental. It s fascinating, too, to read her insider details on documentary filmmaking in dangerous places, especially as a woman.... An absorbing, well-written memoir by a brave adventurer who discovered her own life." --Kirkus Reviews
"At twenty-two, Melissa Burch headed to Afghanistan with a camera... determined to film a war for CBS and to find herself. {This} is the dizzying and dazzling account of that journey." --Foreword Reviews
02/22/2016
Burch's memoir recounts her remarkable experiences over eight years as a photographer covering the war in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s and as a filmmaker, and also her own personal and spiritual journey as a young woman. It begins when she is 21 and working as a freelance photojournalist. She's contracted to get footage of the war between the Afghan mujahedeen and Soviet occupying forces for CBS and BBC. She later returns to Afghanistan to interview an Afghan commander about the ceasefire he negotiated with the Soviet government. Her accounts provide revealing glimpses into the conflict, Afghan culture, and the dangers of war reporting, particularly for a woman. In the Soviet Union, she films a documentary about American teenagers meeting with their contemporaries in hopes of achieving more positive relations between their countries. The later part of the book describes her work in New York with Women in Limbo, a feminist group of multimedia artists, and her search for spiritual enlightenment in Sufism and the teachings of the mystic Gurdjieff. Burch's honest reflections on her work, difficult relationship with her alcoholic mother, sexual encounters, self-doubt, fears, and path to peace and happiness make the book thought-provoking and compelling. (Mar.)
"At twenty-two, Melissa Burch headed to Afghanistan with a camera… determined to film a war for CBS and to find herself. {This} is the dizzying and dazzling account of that journey."
2015-10-26
In this memoir, a documentary filmmaker describes her dramatic journeys, both outward and inward. In 1982, Burch (Vital Sensation Manual Unit 4: Miasms in Homeopathy, 2013, etc.) had just turned 21. Eager for adventure, she arranged a freelance assignment in Afghanistan to film the mujahedeen rebellion against Soviet invaders. There, she discovered a paradoxical peace amid war. As shells destroyed the building where, minutes before, she'd been filming, "I felt calm," she writes. "I was pulled into a sense of timelessness, weightlessness, absoluteness." Adventure helped numb Burch's anxiety, much of it rooted in childhood chaos: a disastrous fire, parental conflict and divorce, and a brilliant, depressed, alcoholic mother prone to pronouncements like "If you don't clean this couch now, I will kill myself." (Sylvia Plath, "an icon in our home," was her mother's friend and college roommate.) Burch describes her bold ventures, including her return to Afghanistan, the creative vigor of living in a SoHo loft with fellow artists, and her exploration of her sexuality. She forged a better relationship with her mother and filmed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But Burch's efforts were often attended by disillusion: broadcast news outlets wanted only footage that would bolster preconceived stories, and egos got in the way: "I was so caught up in the drama, I lost all perspective," she says at one point. Realizing that achieving her external goals required an inward shift, Burch began working with a Gurdjieff spiritual guide, which brought her peace that didn't require braving a war zone. Writing with sensitivity and vivid clarity about her evolving self, Burch is unafraid to expose times when she was naïve, self-centered, or judgmental. She's also frank about her sexuality, describing a passionate encounter with Baba Fawad, a mujahedeen commander, as well as insecurities about weight. It's fascinating, too, to read her insider details on documentary filmmaking in dangerous places, especially as a woman—for example, getting her period on horseback, without tampons or pads, while traveling with an all-male group of tribesmen. An absorbing, well-written memoir by a brave adventurer who discovered her own life.
