Will Byrnes's Reviews > Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
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Will Byrnes's review
bookshelves: nonfiction, books-of-the-year-2011, all-time-favorites-non-fiction, favorites
Aug 08, 2010
bookshelves: nonfiction, books-of-the-year-2011, all-time-favorites-non-fiction, favorites
When late-twenty-something Conor Grennan felt guilty about spending an entire year travelling the world, he decided to dedicate three months of this time to volunteering at a Kathmandu orphanage named “Little Princes.” His experience would be a life altering one for him. The children in this orphanage had arrived mostly because of traffickers. Unscrupulous men promise desperately poor rural parents that their children will be well looked-after, well educated, and will be safe from being taken by Maoist insurgents. They then charge these poor people enormous sums but do not deliver on their promises. Some of the children are sold into slavery, some are used as professional beggars for Fagin-like masters, some are dumped on families no better able to raise and protect them than their own families, and some are dropped off at orphanages. The “orphans” Grennan encountered were often children who still had living families. He made it his mission to try to reconnect the children with their loved ones.
I was reminded of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson’s tale of building schools for education-deprived kids in Pakistan. There is plenty of observation of the surrounding physical and political environment, but Grennan’s tale hews more closely than Mortenson’s to his personal story, and so far as we know, to the truth.
In fact, it reads like a novel, with a bit of something for everyone. There is suspense. Grennan must fear for his life as Dickensian evil-doers, such as politically connected human traffickers and Maoist rebels who do not appreciate his interefence with their theft of children, pose a constant threat. There is adventure, as Grennan, who is injured at the beginning of the journey, and a team, trek the Himalayas trying desperately to find the families of his lost children before winter sets in. There is a tale of moral uplift as this young middle-class westerner finds a calling to help children in need in a remote, impoverished land. This is accompanied by an understated exploration of spirituality. But most of all, this is a love story. For it is his love for the children he encounters that sets Grennan on his life's new path, love for the corps of new friends with whom he shares his work and finally, love for a woman he meets via e-mail while he is in Nepal, a woman he believes will be the love of his life. (I always enjoy hearing of people who have met this way, having met my wife-of-twelve-years on-line myself) He describes their impending meeting: "man walks twenty-seven hours in two days to get out of the mountains to meet girl who has just flown nine thousand miles for a visit." Not your typical first date.
At times, I was racing through the pages as if I were reading a Stieg Larsson, eager to see what happens next, and at others, I had to put the book down to wipe my eyes. You will be engaged, moved and uplifted. There really are good things happening in this world. There really are good people. And it is really good to be reminded of that.
I stumbled across a video re Grennan and the book. It is a promotional piece, but captures well what the book is about. There are more vids on Connor's site.
PS – The copy I read was an ARE, so lacked some items that I hope will make it into the production version. Maps would help situate one in the geography here, and I really wanted to see photos of the places and people Grennan writes about.
PPS - The author graciously posted a comment about this. Maps and photos were indeed in the hard cover.
==============================EXTRA STUFF
Grennan's personal website
The website for Next Generation Nepal, the foundation that was set up to continue Grennan's work
I was reminded of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson’s tale of building schools for education-deprived kids in Pakistan. There is plenty of observation of the surrounding physical and political environment, but Grennan’s tale hews more closely than Mortenson’s to his personal story, and so far as we know, to the truth.
In fact, it reads like a novel, with a bit of something for everyone. There is suspense. Grennan must fear for his life as Dickensian evil-doers, such as politically connected human traffickers and Maoist rebels who do not appreciate his interefence with their theft of children, pose a constant threat. There is adventure, as Grennan, who is injured at the beginning of the journey, and a team, trek the Himalayas trying desperately to find the families of his lost children before winter sets in. There is a tale of moral uplift as this young middle-class westerner finds a calling to help children in need in a remote, impoverished land. This is accompanied by an understated exploration of spirituality. But most of all, this is a love story. For it is his love for the children he encounters that sets Grennan on his life's new path, love for the corps of new friends with whom he shares his work and finally, love for a woman he meets via e-mail while he is in Nepal, a woman he believes will be the love of his life. (I always enjoy hearing of people who have met this way, having met my wife-of-twelve-years on-line myself) He describes their impending meeting: "man walks twenty-seven hours in two days to get out of the mountains to meet girl who has just flown nine thousand miles for a visit." Not your typical first date.
At times, I was racing through the pages as if I were reading a Stieg Larsson, eager to see what happens next, and at others, I had to put the book down to wipe my eyes. You will be engaged, moved and uplifted. There really are good things happening in this world. There really are good people. And it is really good to be reminded of that.
I stumbled across a video re Grennan and the book. It is a promotional piece, but captures well what the book is about. There are more vids on Connor's site.
PS – The copy I read was an ARE, so lacked some items that I hope will make it into the production version. Maps would help situate one in the geography here, and I really wanted to see photos of the places and people Grennan writes about.
PPS - The author graciously posted a comment about this. Maps and photos were indeed in the hard cover.
==============================EXTRA STUFF
Grennan's personal website
The website for Next Generation Nepal, the foundation that was set up to continue Grennan's work
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 1, 2010
–
Finished Reading
August 8, 2010
– Shelved
August 9, 2010
– Shelved as:
nonfiction
August 12, 2010
– Shelved as:
books-of-the-year-2011
January 28, 2011
– Shelved as:
all-time-favorites-non-fiction
January 28, 2011
– Shelved as:
favorites
Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)
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![Down arrow](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/down_arrow-1e1fa5642066c151f5e0136233fce98a.gif)
![Conor Grennan](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1442519036p1/4138684.jpg)
![Sheila](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1609695407p1/6821072.jpg)
![Caroline](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1329765864p1/6257531.jpg)
I am delighted to see I can order this from the library. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention :-)
![Kalliope](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1428482885p1/3593962.jpg)
I am not sure you are aware of the scandal surrounding Mortenson. It was unveiled by Krakauer.
https://www.byliner.com/jon-krakauer/...
![Will Byrnes](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1291462190p1/1526851.jpg)
I am not sure you are aware of the scandal surrounding Mortenson. It was unveiled by Krakauer.
https://www.byliner.com/jon-krakauer/..."
The scandal had not yet happened when I wrote this in 2010. But I had read Mortenson's book, and the sort of things he wrote of were of a cloth (even though they may not have been entirely truthful) with the things that Grennan writes of here. I have not seen anything to suggest that there are any such issues with Grennan's reporting.
Thanks for the reminder, though. I have added a small update in the text to address the issue.
![Kalliope](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1428482885p1/3593962.jpg)
..."
I had not noticed the date.
I had read Mortensen's book and I wrote to them asking how much of the book sales went for the cause. They replied and said that "none"... that is when I started feeling not too enthused about it, since I was getting ready to make a donation...
Then the scandal arose.
So sad because it damages other good causes.. We begin to demand more evidence or proofs...
![Jan Rice](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1692820809p1/5864678.jpg)
Enjoyable and informative review, Will.
![Steve](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1291695844p1/236411.jpg)
![Brit Cheung](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1565714326p1/49013470.jpg)
![Sharon Orlopp](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1661371188p1/45147300.jpg)
![Nina (ninjasbooks)](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1649007052p1/11215896.jpg)
Conor Grennan