A story set in the fifteenth-century Ottoman empire of miniaturists in Istanbul, ‘My Name is Red’ is an example of excellent storytelling. A notable feature was Pamuk’s portrayal of complex personalities. Shekure thinks something, says something else, now loves Black, now Hasan. A great job with creating intriguing, crafty, complex characters. The book ends on a high note too.
A must-read!
What a book! An amazing book told from the POV of five-year old who is born in captivity and has never seen the outside world. His mother has been kidnapped and detained by a savage. It starts dark and depressing but the POV of a five-year old makes it a little light. When they escape and make it to real world – it strikes the mother and the son very differently. Brilliant concept, brilliantly executed.
Don’t miss it.
A simply written account of art from Renaissance period. The author keeps it simple by providing illustrations and talking about the why the period and its art was special – so it never gets too much for the uninitiated.
Read if you want to learn about Renaissance Art.
Tim Mackintosh-Smith has a deep love for Yemen and takes us on a journey to the country – both in the north (Sanaa) – and the South (Aden). He introduces the readers to the multiple tribes, communities and historically significant sites through his travels. And when I say he takes the readers on a journey, he does that effectively. The accounts, despite being commonplace, are so vivid and real that you end up with a good glimpse of the enigma Yemen is. The book is pre-civil war – so it largely keeps away from the politics and the conflict, but does a great job in introducing readers to Yemeni culture. At the end, Mackintosh-Smith leaves us at the rooftop of the house he lived in Sanaa, chewing qat and watching out the city and other rooftops hosting fellow qat-chewers.
Kamila Shamsie picks up a very important subject for ‘Home Fire’: radicalization of Muslim youth in Europe and wedge it has driven in the society. She handles the subject sensitively while spinning a tale that keeps the reader engaged. There is no over-the-top drama but still a convincing account of a young Londoner getting drawn to ISIS and how it upends an already-struggling family. The key characters shine in their own narratives and their respective truths speak to the reader. Despite the book being more than just the radicalization of youth, Shamsie boldly takes us to Raqqah briefly and gives us a snapshot of that world. The book’s only weak point, for me, was the ending. The whole scenario unfolding in Pakistan with the decaying body, the dust storm, and high drama somehow went against the texture of the book.
A major disappointment after ‘Life of Pi’. Beatrice and Virgil are a donkey and a monkey respectively, representing holocaust sufferers, that live on a shirt. A ex-Nazi is writing the story, and our protagonist gets consulted. Except for one portion (end-games for Gustav), that is deeply touching , and brings out the horrors of holocaust, the book is painfully slow and meandering.
Bennett takes us to Mallard, a small town in Louisiana populated by light-skinned blacks who practice their own brand of racism; they look down on dark-skinned people. Desiree and Stella, the twin sisters, run away from the town and embark on astonishingly different journeys. It is an interesting story but what makes the book stand out is beautiful, lyrical, insightful writing. Bennett does a particularly great job capturing the subtlety and intensity of the multiple relationships in the book: between the twins, Desiree with her mother and her daughter, Jude and Reese, Stella with her daughter. It was wonderful just to admire such beautiful and wise words pour out on paper.
A major disappointment from the author of ‘The case of exploding mangoes’. The book starts out quite well when the major characters are introduced, interviewing Alice Bhatti. Laugh out loud funny, and then suddenly it stops working. Sometimes you get the impression of Hanif trying too hard to be funny. He succeeds in parts, but the parts don’t add up. Razor-thin plot, illogical actions of some of the characters, and poor editing are some of the main issues. Gone is the delicious multi-layered intrigue of Mangoes!
A beautifully written book on the people of Jewish faith today – caught between the horror of yesterday and the shame of today. The human story takes center stage though –through the three central characters – two Jewish and one wannabe. The humor is superb. Treslove’s character, is particularly well etched. He is the protagonist –a weak guy, full of self pity – yet Jacobson manages to get the readers on Treslove’s side – by gently poking fun at him.
Two almost-unrelated novellas join to make ‘Noon’. However, it is not clear at all why the book is titled Noon. The only thing common between the two stories is the flight of the protagonist. The 2nd part of the book that explores brother-brother and father-son relationship had potential, but didn’t quite meet it. The writing is excellent though: elegant and polished. The visuals, specially of modern-day Delhi are excellent. A writer to watch though. He would be great, if he really had a story to tell.
