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kmcguinness's review against another edition
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
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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
grapefruitjuice's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
elleinadarat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I picked this up and put it down again several times. Kamila Shamsie is one of the best authors I've ever read, but I knew this book would be very heavy, and it was. From the first pages you know something bad is about to happen (I mean, this is not a spoiler, the first part takes place in Nagasaki), and the way the author is able to turn heartbreak and destruction into beautiful words absolutely draws you in to the story. I adored Hiroko, and I wanted to give her a hug. I loved how Konrad was a steady thought throughout the whole book. Sajjad and Elizabeth/Ilse and Raza and Kim and Harry were all excellent characters. But I loved that even though there were so many characters who we got to know over the years that the book takes place, Hiroko was the center of it all.