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Reviews tagging 'War'
Amanat: Women's Writing from Kazakhstan by Shelley Fairweather-Vega, Zaure Batayeva
1 review
misty_kb's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
I read Amanat as part of a women in translation book club for our month on Central Asia. I knew nothing about Kazakhstan before reading it, but I've come out of this experience feeling like I've had a genuine taste of Kazakh culture and society.
Here's a couple notes on my favourites out of the 24 in the collection:
Aslan's Bride by Nadezhda Chernova
My absolute favourite in the whole book! I need a full-size novel of this story!
I loved every character and all the complexities of the relationships between them. The writing was downright gorgeous, and the story itself was really beautiful, telling of the power of love and unity over historical traumas and cultural clashes.
'Sky, earth, and sea combined into a single enormous space with the tiny village sculpted into it, and there was Milochka's body, a lonely white spot hovering inside it'.
The Beskempir by Zira Naurzbayeva
A recurring theme throughout the collection was the place of elderly women in Kazakh society who seemed to be left behind by the country's quick and violent break into the modern day. Naurzbayeva introduces you to several elderly women from her life, all of them amazing vibrant people brought to life by her writing (I loved Nyanya-Apa: "Are you getting married yet? Well, good, they're all idiots. You're supposed to become a big boss..."). They all felt so real I was emotionally invested in the stories of each and every one of them.
'Its only now that I understand how hard it was for our grandmothers to settle in this strange city of stone, where a completely different set of morals rules, where you need to stand in a suffocating line of people for hours on end to receive a two-kilogram bundle of bones wrapped in cellophane, where your grandchildren might not know a single word of your native tongue.'
Hunger by Aigul Kemelbayeva
I really connected with the protagonist of this story, a starving student who gets by as a nanny. Her discussion of her struggle is so raw and is woven through with the literature she's reading for school and the Kazakh sayings she repeats to herself to keep up her morale.
'My soul was whining like a wolf cub, crying like a camel calf who had been fooling around carelessly and finally stepped into the fire.'
An Awkward Conversation by Zhumagul Solty
This was a story I came to better appreciate after discussing it with others, particularly the storytelling format, though it's hard to talk about without spoilers. I'll say I was really struck by the arc of the narrator's mother whose story seems to reflect a common struggle of women to retain this mask of a perfect woman, wife, and mother.
'I remember my parents as two oxen toiling under the same yoke.'
Poet by Madina Omarova
This story was barely two pages but it spun the story of a relationship between a man and a woman so effectively through a single conversation, it was deeply intriguing.
'"This world has become meaningless. I'm tired. Everything is in vain." He squeezed my hand. Autumn falls quickly in Almaty.'
The Lighter by Olga Mark
This was the story of an orphaned teenage girl living an extremely rough life on the streets, yet is deliriously happy. I felt so sad for her but also felt like she wouldn't give a single damn for my pity. She was such a well-written character she felt so extremely real I'm dying to know what becomes of her.
'Everything was swimming, the headlights, the houses, the streets... The wayward planet was flying into the unknown ... Verka shouted at the lights smeared into thin, bright streaks. "Kind people, have compassion for a poor orphan!"'
My Eleusinian Mysteries by Zira Naurzbayeva
In this story, a woman on a night car trip holds her child and reflects on her female ancestors who came before her. As the last story in the collection, nothing could be a more perfect wrap-up.
"In the car racing across the steppe, I thought about how my daughter would take the cup of life from me, the one our grandmothers had carried through the darkness of millennia, through war and hunger, through victory and defeat. And I also felt that we were not alone in the night, that our foremothers were there, invisible, protecting us.'
There were a few stories I struggled to fully understand without better knowledge of Kaakhstan's history, like 'Orphan' by Ayagul Mantay, 'Operatic Drama' by Lilya Kalaus, and 'Black Snow of December' by Asel Omar. but I feel encouraged to learn more and give them another go because I think there's a lot of hidden significance I'm yet to uncover in them.
Honourable mentions for all the food described throughout the book, it all sounded delicious, and I think I'm willing to try horse after hearing so much praise for it... And also to the descriptions of music, instruments, and folk songs which encouraged me to go out and find some amazing Kazakh artists and add them to my playlist.
All in all this collection was an experience I would strongly recommend, especially if you know nothing about Kazakhstan like I did. It was full of amazing characters, beautiful stories, and so very much complexity and depth. If anything more is published in English by any of these authors I will be first in line for a copy!
Here's a couple notes on my favourites out of the 24 in the collection:
Aslan's Bride by Nadezhda Chernova
My absolute favourite in the whole book! I need a full-size novel of this story!
I loved every character and all the complexities of the relationships between them. The writing was downright gorgeous, and the story itself was really beautiful, telling of the power of love and unity over historical traumas and cultural clashes.
'Sky, earth, and sea combined into a single enormous space with the tiny village sculpted into it, and there was Milochka's body, a lonely white spot hovering inside it'.
The Beskempir by Zira Naurzbayeva
A recurring theme throughout the collection was the place of elderly women in Kazakh society who seemed to be left behind by the country's quick and violent break into the modern day. Naurzbayeva introduces you to several elderly women from her life, all of them amazing vibrant people brought to life by her writing (I loved Nyanya-Apa: "Are you getting married yet? Well, good, they're all idiots. You're supposed to become a big boss..."). They all felt so real I was emotionally invested in the stories of each and every one of them.
'Its only now that I understand how hard it was for our grandmothers to settle in this strange city of stone, where a completely different set of morals rules, where you need to stand in a suffocating line of people for hours on end to receive a two-kilogram bundle of bones wrapped in cellophane, where your grandchildren might not know a single word of your native tongue.'
Hunger by Aigul Kemelbayeva
I really connected with the protagonist of this story, a starving student who gets by as a nanny. Her discussion of her struggle is so raw and is woven through with the literature she's reading for school and the Kazakh sayings she repeats to herself to keep up her morale.
'My soul was whining like a wolf cub, crying like a camel calf who had been fooling around carelessly and finally stepped into the fire.'
An Awkward Conversation by Zhumagul Solty
This was a story I came to better appreciate after discussing it with others, particularly the storytelling format, though it's hard to talk about without spoilers. I'll say I was really struck by the arc of the narrator's mother whose story seems to reflect a common struggle of women to retain this mask of a perfect woman, wife, and mother.
'I remember my parents as two oxen toiling under the same yoke.'
Poet by Madina Omarova
This story was barely two pages but it spun the story of a relationship between a man and a woman so effectively through a single conversation, it was deeply intriguing.
'"This world has become meaningless. I'm tired. Everything is in vain." He squeezed my hand. Autumn falls quickly in Almaty.'
The Lighter by Olga Mark
This was the story of an orphaned teenage girl living an extremely rough life on the streets, yet is deliriously happy. I felt so sad for her but also felt like she wouldn't give a single damn for my pity. She was such a well-written character she felt so extremely real I'm dying to know what becomes of her.
'Everything was swimming, the headlights, the houses, the streets... The wayward planet was flying into the unknown ... Verka shouted at the lights smeared into thin, bright streaks. "Kind people, have compassion for a poor orphan!"'
My Eleusinian Mysteries by Zira Naurzbayeva
In this story, a woman on a night car trip holds her child and reflects on her female ancestors who came before her. As the last story in the collection, nothing could be a more perfect wrap-up.
"In the car racing across the steppe, I thought about how my daughter would take the cup of life from me, the one our grandmothers had carried through the darkness of millennia, through war and hunger, through victory and defeat. And I also felt that we were not alone in the night, that our foremothers were there, invisible, protecting us.'
There were a few stories I struggled to fully understand without better knowledge of Kaakhstan's history, like 'Orphan' by Ayagul Mantay, 'Operatic Drama' by Lilya Kalaus, and 'Black Snow of December' by Asel Omar. but I feel encouraged to learn more and give them another go because I think there's a lot of hidden significance I'm yet to uncover in them.
Honourable mentions for all the food described throughout the book, it all sounded delicious, and I think I'm willing to try horse after hearing so much praise for it... And also to the descriptions of music, instruments, and folk songs which encouraged me to go out and find some amazing Kazakh artists and add them to my playlist.
All in all this collection was an experience I would strongly recommend, especially if you know nothing about Kazakhstan like I did. It was full of amazing characters, beautiful stories, and so very much complexity and depth. If anything more is published in English by any of these authors I will be first in line for a copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Colonisation
Moderate: Confinement and Grief
Minor: Classism, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and War
More...