What readers think of Three Cups of Tea, plus links to write your own review.

Great mission--poor medium. Relin's overblown, melodramatic and unselective writing makes what could be an inspiring story a drudgery to read. Too much detail, too much hero worship, too much redundancy. Characters are flat - a missed opportunity to introduce a culture to a world of readers. Half of this book would have been enough. But kudos to the work of CAI.

It's a shame Greg Mortensen's remarkable and inspiring story ended up in the hands of such a mediocre writer. What Mortensen has accomplished is nothing short of amazing. This book tells an important story, and one with which people should be familiar. Be prepared, however, for over-blown writing that borders on hero-worship, as well as some truly tedious sections a good editor would have removed. My rating: 5 for story, 3 for writing, = a good, solid 4.

At first I thought it would have been better written in the first person, but then that would have made the lavish praise heaped on Greg Mortesen impossible. He seems to be humble enough but by the third time I read about his exceptional skills and abilities, I was ready to puke.

The author, not Greg Mortison but David O. Relin, has obviously done a lot of research interviewing nearly everyone who ever had contact with Greg. The guy who helped Greg make photocopies is named and quoted for example. The idea, I suppose, is to make the account ring true and objective, but it is actually tedious to read. In keeping with this newspaper style, he refers back to people with simply their last name. I found this annoying and had to backtrack to see who was being referred to.

What could have been beautiful mountain descriptions or even riveting action fell flat and soggy for me as I had to read a few passages several times to figure out what was meant. Often I just gave up and jumped ahead to the next “plot paragraph”.

While too much time and detail were spent on some aspects, at other times key points seem to be missing.

I can appreciate that there is a lot to encompass and it is not an easy story to tell, but I think of Wild Swans or Milan Kundera or even Bill Bryson and I wish this book had been written by someone else.

I found the book to be inspiring. It isn't a book about Mortenson's courage or ingenuity, though both of these things come through. It is more a book about how to go about peace through acts of grace. His ideas about promoting peace through education and other aide strike a deep cord in our modern self centered world. The book is also about a life and what turns it has taken. It is in every sense a "hero's" journey, though I strongly believe Mortenson would disagree with the title. In as much as all of us have choices to make and may either leave a positive mark or vanish without legacy, this book inspires us to take up the journey and face the challenges along the way with persistence and single minded determination.

A non-fiction book that reads like a novel. This book is fascinating for the inside glimpse it gives into a part of the world most of us will never experience and which is very misunderstood, if not ignored, by Americans. Greg comes off as a very genuine person, not as a self-centered egoist. In many cases he explicitly describes times when he experienced rejection, failure, self-doubt but persevered. What is incredible is that he is just an ordinary man but driven by his commitment to other people. Other people have commented about whether he could be helping Americans at home, but if you look at the big picture he is helping us all as human beings. He is not asking others to NOT help Americans, but for people who agree with his goals to support humanity and girls in particular.

An overrated and poorly written book lacking in good editing. It seemed in several passages there were 2 writers instead of one. I'm pleased to find others not as enchanted. I also felt that if he was driven to do good he could start at home, particularly with his medical training. His experiences in Asia did not ring true as mentioned by other critics.

The book was Okay. But can't help thinking will all that is going on in the world today... these "schools" are going to wind up being used to educate terrorist so they can bomb the hell out of our cities again. Why not put all that money into good use right here... There are children starving in Appalachia!

This book had a serious impact on me. Maybe it reads like fiction because it flies in the face of what we commonly believe to be true. Accepting people as they are? Not make them fill our mold of what is best? There is no way it can be as easy as using the force of education to change the world! Or can it?

Greg Mortenson's approach to the Muslim world worked. It's too bad none of our leadership recognizes the power in giving people what they need - and in their own way. Three Cups of Tea should be put in the hands of everyone who can read. No wonder its been on the best seller list for so long.

A powerful story and although unbelievable -- true.