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A review by grogu_djarin
River of Fire by Qurratulain Hyder
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall Thoughts:
It's nice this is translated by the author so we know the spirit of the book is unchanged, but I think I would have rated it higher with a newer translation or if there was a glossary or annotations. It's a challenging read due to many words being transliterated from Urdu rather than translated, so I was often looking up definitions and amassing several footnotes of my own, per page!
The first half covers classical, medieval, and colonial India while the latter half covers the Partition era. It becomes easier to read in the second half, with fewer words needing explanation, but the earlier stories are more interesting and fantastical. The meat of the story is in the latter half though and the first half is almost unnecessary besides the additional historical context it provides and emphasis on the themes of the book (which are still apparent in the latter half).
It's nice this is translated by the author so we know the spirit of the book is unchanged, but I think I would have rated it higher with a newer translation or if there was a glossary or annotations. It's a challenging read due to many words being transliterated from Urdu rather than translated, so I was often looking up definitions and amassing several footnotes of my own, per page!
The first half covers classical, medieval, and colonial India while the latter half covers the Partition era. It becomes easier to read in the second half, with fewer words needing explanation, but the earlier stories are more interesting and fantastical. The meat of the story is in the latter half though and the first half is almost unnecessary besides the additional historical context it provides and emphasis on the themes of the book (which are still apparent in the latter half).
Likes:
- It does an excellent job capturing the emotion and context surrounding Indian/Pakistani history, especially that of colonial India and Partition.
- There is a sort of wisdom and mysticism in it regarding the journey of life that is captured in the many generations of characters and the lessons they learn.
- It has a lot of good themes related to love, human nature, the circumstances of life, identity, and time and has some beautiful writing when it gets philosophical.
Dislikes:
- The translation is extremely tedious, almost academic in nature, with many untranslated words.
- Some of the characters felt trope-ish when considering their historical counterparts since they play similar roles in each era. I felt this was most problematic with Champa, who is implied to be a devious woman solely due to her beauty despite having more depth to her.
Other Notes:
- I found myself caring about the characters, but I wouldn't say any of them were lovable as their flaws consume a large part of their lives.
- Women are generally treated poorly in this story, mostly due to their position in society throughout history and some scenes may be troubling.
- You almost need to go in already having some familiarity with the history of India/Pakistan and some knowledge of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam, Sufism, and classical Indian music, poetry, and dance as these are all heavily referenced.
Would Recommend To:
- Anyone interested in learning more about the history of India/Pakistan and the emotion surrounding Partition. It's also a good story for those interested in the lessons of life and an exploration of human nature as seen through the journeys of the main characters.
Do Not Recommend To:
- Anyone looking for a light read or anyone who is bothered by needing to look up words (you will do it, a lot!).