Have any of you read The Reluctant Fundamentalist? Guess Maha would have. Well, I just finished reading it in a week's time, snatching a few hours in a lean week at work. It is not an achievement, I'd say since many would be able to finish it off in a day's time. It was nominated for the Man Booker prize, and for a seemingly boring narrative - a monologue by a Pakistani young man who left a successful career in New York in the post 9/11 scenario to a wary American stranger that is suggestive of the distrust between the east and the west - it reads very well .
I liked all the little details about life in Pakistan which reminded me how similar it was to life in India - the power cuts, the exotic food, cross-border tensions etc. - and despite the tensions of a possible war in the wake of the Dec 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, one feels a sense of kinship with fellow inhabitants of the subcontinent and the continent.
Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner was another novel I loved. I understand the movie is out.
p.s. From a cbox message on my blog, I decided to clothe my views into a short, proper review. I hope it is not unwelcome.
Some links on MCC:
http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/23/stories/2009092360220400.htm
http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2009/04/13/stories/2009041350270400.htm
A new mall is coming near my house. I am looking forward to more cinema trips and landmark...
http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2009/09/24/stories/2009092450750100.htm
11 comments:
well, i read the review of it.
sounds the same -as what u felt. i remember seeing a photo also!
enjoy reading.
after all we lit students!
take care
usha
Yup read them both and watched Kite Runner movie. The young boy did a fantastic job. I love books set in different cultures for the same reason you mention: the parallels we can draw. Try Girls of Riyadh and De Niro's Game. They are set in Riyadh and Lebanon respectively. You'll enjoy it.
SM
Great! Are we'BookCrossing' here? I tend to read literature written by S.E. Asians or others on S.E. Asia. Reading Sandra Gregory's "Forget you had a daughter" - the novel is set in Bangkok.
Great! Are we'BookCrossing' here? I tend to read literature written by S.E. Asians or others on S.E. Asia. Reading Sandra Gregory's "Forget you had a daughter" - the novel is set in Bangkok.
Maha: guess being a librarian you get to read the latest books :) I am right now trying to revive my reading habit. Want to read A Thousand Splendid Suns next, though i hear it is not as good as Kiterunner.
Right now reading a Malayalam novel to keep up that part of my heritage too.
good for u all. here i take light reading-mostly mystery../romance
heeee
the new bks i leave there.. as invariably i fly through the lib with kids.
then read for them!
or have guests.. this sunday got some how many of u coming..?
take care
ust
Usha is right. Probably I'll have to read for my daughter soon - change my taste.
We are all in the same boat. I am doing that for my kids. I have taken a BCL membership to borrow books for them. It serves two purposes - develops the love for readin in them; i neednt buy too many books and clutter the house.
More and more of those expensive malls eh? It is nice to booktalk isn't it. We can all keep up with the reading. Luckily my son is able to read by himself and doesn't need us anymore. So I can do my own reading before bedtime.
I haven't read the book you have mentioned Rajeev. Looks like non-fiction - biography perhaps!
I don't know about you guys, but the last nine days have been so busy in Saskatoon with Golu - Dashara. Many invitations and too much food - I am full and tired.
Maybe each of us cld give short book review posts to keep the blog active. Whatever we read..
i attended a golu the other day.
yeah, more malls. This one I mentioned is called Skywalk as there is an opening to the sky 80 m above ground level. I call it the Riverwalk as it is on the bank of the Cooum. V says we will wait for a month before entering it - seems to be so precariously positioned and could topple into the river. There were many court stays for violating laws.
Good to see you guys reading so much..... a lost habit I am trying to revive....somehow missed reading books for my kids....and they have grown to read themselves....and I see them do it dutifully before hitting the bed....AM
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