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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
I could not find this book fun nor engaging no matter how much I tried it. It was just not for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Ismat appa at her best!
It is difficult to imagine a Muslim female writing such stories against all norms of the very puritanical, priggish society. Her choice of words, the language and idiom used to vividly bring to life characters and situations are magical. I was reminded of Alice Munro's story-telling in the Canadian context. Both writers are similar in the way they go into such minute details to bring to life the individual characteristics of their progeny.
The Quilt, Hell-Bound, My Friend My Enemy and In The Name Of Those Married Women (the title is taken from a verse in Faiz Ahmed Faiz' immortal composition Intesaab) are all favorites.
It is difficult to imagine a Muslim female writing such stories against all norms of the very puritanical, priggish society. Her choice of words, the language and idiom used to vividly bring to life characters and situations are magical. I was reminded of Alice Munro's story-telling in the Canadian context. Both writers are similar in the way they go into such minute details to bring to life the individual characteristics of their progeny.
The Quilt, Hell-Bound, My Friend My Enemy and In The Name Of Those Married Women (the title is taken from a verse in Faiz Ahmed Faiz' immortal composition Intesaab) are all favorites.
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
reflective
medium-paced
"Flowers can be made to bloom in rocks. The only condition is that one has to water the plant with one's heart's blood."
Recommended by one of my sister's favorite literature teachers- we were eager to read it. Honestly, I did not know what I was getting myself into before beginning the book. The introduction was written by Kamila Shamsie which caught my attention- felt that I was in good hands.
The main focus of the various short stories was about how females just like men have needs/desires which need to be full-filled but these needs are underestimated due to patriarchal rules and views. Her stories wanted/want to explain/explore the difficulties of women- how sometimes they even feel lonely and misunderstood.
The writing was a bit tough to understand but it was funny and sarcastic- that was the highlight of the book for me.
A few of my favorites were:
- Hell Bound
- My friend, My enemy
- In the Name of those Married Woman
- Wedding Suit
- All Alone
- Vocation
- The Survivor
I enjoyed her personal stories/essays more than the fictional ones she wrote. One interesting part which caught my eye was how she talked about how there are benefits of being a male writer, how their work was not undermined no matter what topics they wrote about.
Lifting the Veil, was a book I thought I would never pick up but glad I did, as I got to know about harsh realities of being a woman in a patriarchal society, again these realities haven't been dismissed it still goes on.
On the whole, I laughed, felt anger and sadness for the women in the stories.
Recommended by one of my sister's favorite literature teachers- we were eager to read it. Honestly, I did not know what I was getting myself into before beginning the book. The introduction was written by Kamila Shamsie which caught my attention- felt that I was in good hands.
The main focus of the various short stories was about how females just like men have needs/desires which need to be full-filled but these needs are underestimated due to patriarchal rules and views. Her stories wanted/want to explain/explore the difficulties of women- how sometimes they even feel lonely and misunderstood.
The writing was a bit tough to understand but it was funny and sarcastic- that was the highlight of the book for me.
A few of my favorites were:
- Hell Bound
- My friend, My enemy
- In the Name of those Married Woman
- Wedding Suit
- All Alone
- Vocation
- The Survivor
I enjoyed her personal stories/essays more than the fictional ones she wrote. One interesting part which caught my eye was how she talked about how there are benefits of being a male writer, how their work was not undermined no matter what topics they wrote about.
Lifting the Veil, was a book I thought I would never pick up but glad I did, as I got to know about harsh realities of being a woman in a patriarchal society, again these realities haven't been dismissed it still goes on.
On the whole, I laughed, felt anger and sadness for the women in the stories.
This was such a slog. One or two stories were interesting. But the conversations felt so flat and formulaic.
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Lift the veil of a "decent" society
and peek inside,
remove the mask of prejudices,
and you'll get a glimpse of filth.
This filth is reality.
A rotten core coated in shimmering gold
in a hypocrite society.
Chughtai's writing is celebrated as feminist, liberal, bold, courageous, and much more. Her stories reflect the then society. She faced legal charges for writing 'obscene' contents like 'Lihaaf'. In the society where acknowledging the existence of female sexuality is indecent, men went around sexually assaulting little girls and women and got away with it. Her characters are gray i.e. Human.
A few years ago, I had read Lihaaf and didn't think about it much. Writing about homosexuality in 1942 British-India is daring. Chughtai was later thanked by the Begum who inspired this story. The real Begum got the courage to change the course of her life thanks to Chughtai. Re-reading it today, I personally feel the writing is visual with metaphors. But, I couldn't ignore how uncomfortable pedophilia and sexual abuse made me feel and I rarely find people mentioning this aspect of the story. I just wanted fictional Begum to leave the kid alone and continue her quilt-dance. But, Damn!
Anyways, this particular story collection includes both fiction and non-fiction writings. Her friendship with Manto is exciting. Her relationship with her brother is heartbreaking. And she acknowledges them when they're gone. Loss makes her see things she never bothered to notice. Maybe that's the beauty of being human. We live with prejudices and once we know something slipped away from our grip, we grow to find a different light to the same story.
I love the realism Ismat Chughtai offers through her story. I laughed and cried with her words. I got excited, disgusted, frustrated, and angry! For this lovely bumpy ride, 4 Stars!
and peek inside,
remove the mask of prejudices,
and you'll get a glimpse of filth.
This filth is reality.
A rotten core coated in shimmering gold
in a hypocrite society.
Chughtai's writing is celebrated as feminist, liberal, bold, courageous, and much more. Her stories reflect the then society. She faced legal charges for writing 'obscene' contents like 'Lihaaf'. In the society where acknowledging the existence of female sexuality is indecent, men went around sexually assaulting little girls and women and got away with it. Her characters are gray i.e. Human.
A few years ago, I had read Lihaaf and didn't think about it much. Writing about homosexuality in 1942 British-India is daring. Chughtai was later thanked by the Begum who inspired this story. The real Begum got the courage to change the course of her life thanks to Chughtai. Re-reading it today, I personally feel the writing is visual with metaphors. But, I couldn't ignore how uncomfortable pedophilia and sexual abuse made me feel and I rarely find people mentioning this aspect of the story. I just wanted fictional Begum to leave the kid alone and continue her quilt-dance. But, Damn!
Anyways, this particular story collection includes both fiction and non-fiction writings. Her friendship with Manto is exciting. Her relationship with her brother is heartbreaking. And she acknowledges them when they're gone. Loss makes her see things she never bothered to notice. Maybe that's the beauty of being human. We live with prejudices and once we know something slipped away from our grip, we grow to find a different light to the same story.
I love the realism Ismat Chughtai offers through her story. I laughed and cried with her words. I got excited, disgusted, frustrated, and angry! For this lovely bumpy ride, 4 Stars!