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nverdiguel's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tanushka's review
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The book in all it's glory doesn't achieve it's full potential- the stories however well written, end abruptly, perhaps for the use a metaphor. The author does manage to hit a few nerves and soft spots, with stories like "Breaking it Up" and "Sehrabai".
swethamaryann's review
2.0
For starters.... i have no idea what the hell the whole book was about
It had eight short stories
The first two centred around Zareen and her family.
The first one being set in an Indo-Pak war, with the dilemmas of the family that was always in the brink of a bomb threat. Zareen’s husband called this a gentlemanly war a couple of times and viola its the title... i mean what???
. The second one struck a cord in me because I could literally visualise it and the title bore it well. But even so, the story being from the perspective of a woman soo narrow minded and “ethically moral” was a tad too much to digest. It wasn’t exactly an impartial third person narrative.
The third and four involve Ruth.
Ruth and the hijackers.... she had nothing to do with them. And for what reason that story was named so, i am at a loss of words. The story starts with the hijacking if an Indian aircraft and then it is nowhere mentioned until maybe the last couple of pages.
Ruth and the Afghan was better written with the story actually sticking to the title and the diversity if the Pakistan and Afghanistan brought about in light of their culture than their guns.
Their language of love... A newly wed couple. A control freak husband who resorts to unnecessary bravado which irks the wife but she still coddles him..... if it was satire that was intended ... it was lost on me.
Sehra bhai... the life of a grandmother played in parts, from when she was Sehra to when she became Sehra bhai... it was not that bad .. too much description on women’s appearance though..
The trouble easers... a fable of a saint told by a mother which in the end the child questions in absurd religious colours...
Defend yourself against me... childhood friends meet in foreign soil. Old wounds opened in religious conflicts by two cousins.. description of the horrors during partition of India and Pakistan, inflicted on women.
As such, the book has short stories wich look like chapters from a book haphazardly thrown into a book for the sake of it.
The explicit portrayal of women, as either a loot or as a showcase item, both depicting them as display items... felt really bad. Either the rich society ladies were seducing each others husbands or they were being carried away as loots and plunder of war to be sold off or raped , or they were mute spectators to a debacle. I get that all books needn’t be about women empowerment, but this was degrading, not stating a fact.
The only thing i liked about in this book is the way Pakistan and Afghanistan is pictured .. not as the gruesome war torn , bullet wielding country, but for its beautiful countryside and customs and the simplicity of some of its people and the staunch loyalties some display.
It had eight short stories
The first two centred around Zareen and her family.
The first one being set in an Indo-Pak war, with the dilemmas of the family that was always in the brink of a bomb threat. Zareen’s husband called this a gentlemanly war a couple of times and viola its the title... i mean what???
. The second one struck a cord in me because I could literally visualise it and the title bore it well. But even so, the story being from the perspective of a woman soo narrow minded and “ethically moral” was a tad too much to digest. It wasn’t exactly an impartial third person narrative.
The third and four involve Ruth.
Ruth and the hijackers.... she had nothing to do with them. And for what reason that story was named so, i am at a loss of words. The story starts with the hijacking if an Indian aircraft and then it is nowhere mentioned until maybe the last couple of pages.
Ruth and the Afghan was better written with the story actually sticking to the title and the diversity if the Pakistan and Afghanistan brought about in light of their culture than their guns.
Their language of love... A newly wed couple. A control freak husband who resorts to unnecessary bravado which irks the wife but she still coddles him..... if it was satire that was intended ... it was lost on me.
Sehra bhai... the life of a grandmother played in parts, from when she was Sehra to when she became Sehra bhai... it was not that bad .. too much description on women’s appearance though..
The trouble easers... a fable of a saint told by a mother which in the end the child questions in absurd religious colours...
Defend yourself against me... childhood friends meet in foreign soil. Old wounds opened in religious conflicts by two cousins.. description of the horrors during partition of India and Pakistan, inflicted on women.
As such, the book has short stories wich look like chapters from a book haphazardly thrown into a book for the sake of it.
The explicit portrayal of women, as either a loot or as a showcase item, both depicting them as display items... felt really bad. Either the rich society ladies were seducing each others husbands or they were being carried away as loots and plunder of war to be sold off or raped , or they were mute spectators to a debacle. I get that all books needn’t be about women empowerment, but this was degrading, not stating a fact.
The only thing i liked about in this book is the way Pakistan and Afghanistan is pictured .. not as the gruesome war torn , bullet wielding country, but for its beautiful countryside and customs and the simplicity of some of its people and the staunch loyalties some display.