Often I read long form pieces and the signal/noise ratio is so low it feels like someone was blessed with a short point to get across but burdened with a large word budget.
This is one of those rare exceptions; when I reached the end, I found within myself an unexpected feeling of grief—mildly, for the end of a piece that managed to convey such a rich sense of place, and deeply, for the pain our senseless wars inflict on the innocent.
Yeah, even the first paragraph hooks you, it makes me want to go to the Afghanistan that was part of the hippie trail in the 70's, that faraway exotic unknown place, not the place you can look up on Instagram or YouTube...
Signal to noise ratio should be high for signal (in this context the quality of writing) be better. Saying "signal/noise ratio is so low" you are saying that the content is basically useless.
This is one of those rare exceptions; when I reached the end, I found within myself an unexpected feeling of grief—mildly, for the end of a piece that managed to convey such a rich sense of place, and deeply, for the pain our senseless wars inflict on the innocent.