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tcm_62's review against another edition
5.0
This was the best book I have read so far this year. It is very thought provoking and would make a great book club read, there is so much to discuss. Its scope is huge, covering the period from the destruction of Nagasaki in 1945 to the years immediately after 9/11. It traverses continents and intersects cultures through a focus on the stories of two family groups, the Tanaka-Ashrafs and the Weiss-Burtons, and the relationships between them through the generations. We see the intricacies of their lives through some of the most sweeping moments in the 20th century: Japan at the end of WWII, India at the time of Partition, Afganistan and the lead up to 9/11, New York.
The prologue introduces us to an unnamed, newly arrived detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The reader is then swiftly transported back to Nagasaki on that fateful day, where we are introduced to a young Hiroko Tanaka and her German soon-to-be husband Konrad Weiss. She survives, he does not. Most compelling for me was the notion that, although as individuals we try to make 'good' decisions, some events are just too big for us to have any control over.
Discovering the intention behind the title 'Burnt Shadows' is, I think, one of the most poignant things I have read in recent years. Just read it!
The prologue introduces us to an unnamed, newly arrived detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The reader is then swiftly transported back to Nagasaki on that fateful day, where we are introduced to a young Hiroko Tanaka and her German soon-to-be husband Konrad Weiss. She survives, he does not. Most compelling for me was the notion that, although as individuals we try to make 'good' decisions, some events are just too big for us to have any control over.
Discovering the intention behind the title 'Burnt Shadows' is, I think, one of the most poignant things I have read in recent years. Just read it!
kate66's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my heavens what a book. I read Home Fire earlier in the year but didn't think anything could rival it. This did it. We follow Hiroko from Nagasaki to Delhi then to Pakistan and New York. Her life intertwines with various members of two families who all become caught up in Partition, the Cold War, the fight of the Afghans against the Soviets, 9/11 and all those aftermath. This book is full of love and loss, friendship and fear. Its amazing. The writing is superb. I will, however, need some time before I read another Kamila Shamsie. They take a lot out of you but so worth the pain for the pleasure.
kmcguinness's review
5.0
read for uni, i have no words, feel like my heart has been ripped out and stamped on repeatedly
l1nds's review against another edition
5.0
Devastating is the only word I can think of to describe this. I've thought about Home Fire a lot since I read it (particularly since Shamima Begum has been in the news) - it's a brilliant book which resonates with the current toxic climate so much, but I think this might be Kamila Shamsie's true masterpiece. From the opening in Guantanamo you know it can't possibly end well but there's so much hope in the story you get swept up with it and hope against hope that what you think will happen somehow won't. Brilliant and brutal and heartbreaking.
"...countries like yours [America] they always fight wars, but always somewhere else. The disease always happens somewhere else. It’s why you fight more wars than anyone else; because you understand war least of all. You need to understand it better."
"...countries like yours [America] they always fight wars, but always somewhere else. The disease always happens somewhere else. It’s why you fight more wars than anyone else; because you understand war least of all. You need to understand it better."
mckracken's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
magratajostiernos's review against another edition
5.0
Este libro me ha gustado muchísimo.
Con un estilo muy poético y sutil, la autora nos narra la vida de Hiroko, una joven cuya vida estará marcada por los bombardeos en Nagasaki durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Con ella viajaremos a la India de la partición, al Pakistán de los años 80, al Estados Unidos paranoico tras el 11S y finalmente de la mano de su hijo conoceremos el Afganistán de aquellos años.
Es una historia que pasa de puntillas por todos estos acontecimientos, porque está más centrada en los personajes que en los propios acontecimientos Históricos, pero aún así la ambientación y el contexto es muy importante, y la mirada política y social que hace la autora me parece profunda a pesar de su brevedad.
Es una historia que habla especialmente de la familia y de la amistad, de dos familias destinadas a encontrarse, de Ilse e Hiroko, de Harry y Sajjad, de Raza y Kim. Una saga familiar breve que ahonda en las diferencias culturales y en la sensibilidad de sus personajes.
Un libro que aunque no es perfecto por muchas cosas (y cuyo inició disfruté mucho más que su final) me ha dejado tanto poso que no puedo dejar de recomendar encarecidamente.
Con un estilo muy poético y sutil, la autora nos narra la vida de Hiroko, una joven cuya vida estará marcada por los bombardeos en Nagasaki durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Con ella viajaremos a la India de la partición, al Pakistán de los años 80, al Estados Unidos paranoico tras el 11S y finalmente de la mano de su hijo conoceremos el Afganistán de aquellos años.
Es una historia que pasa de puntillas por todos estos acontecimientos, porque está más centrada en los personajes que en los propios acontecimientos Históricos, pero aún así la ambientación y el contexto es muy importante, y la mirada política y social que hace la autora me parece profunda a pesar de su brevedad.
Es una historia que habla especialmente de la familia y de la amistad, de dos familias destinadas a encontrarse, de Ilse e Hiroko, de Harry y Sajjad, de Raza y Kim. Una saga familiar breve que ahonda en las diferencias culturales y en la sensibilidad de sus personajes.
Un libro que aunque no es perfecto por muchas cosas (y cuyo inició disfruté mucho más que su final) me ha dejado tanto poso que no puedo dejar de recomendar encarecidamente.
enigmadame's review
4.0
What an infuriating ending to a wonderful book. Wonderfully written; wonderful development; wonderful questions explored; but HOLYCOW. UGH. The story follows two interwoven families for two generations with Hiroko, survivor of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, as the central character. The novel travels from Nagasaki to India to Pakistan to NYC and causes the reader to reflect on their views of pigeonholing people into their (the reader's) view/biases of the population.
SO glad this book was chosen by my book club. I'm far better to have read it and find it cosmical (is that a word?) that I started reading the book during the on-going Syrian exodus and finished a few days after the terrorist bombings in Paris.
SO glad this book was chosen by my book club. I'm far better to have read it and find it cosmical (is that a word?) that I started reading the book during the on-going Syrian exodus and finished a few days after the terrorist bombings in Paris.
nimra_nazim23's review
3.0
3.5⭐
The start was so promising and the ending was good, but it felt like that the story was dragging in some parts of the story!
The start was so promising and the ending was good, but it felt like that the story was dragging in some parts of the story!
ivannna_u's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0