Reviews

The Carpet Weaver by Nemat Sadat

chickchickchicken's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense 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

3.75

I was excited to read a book from brown and queer perspective and this book did not disappoint. The language and tone is jarring at points. The character development was great until the climax. I wanted an extra 50 pages to actually see the development in the main character’s journey. It made me cry when Kanishka freed his pigeons.

meowngi's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

asiemsanyal's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars

A bittersweet bildungsroman juxtaposed against the war in Afghanistan, told from the point of view of Kanishka Nurzada, a young Afghan man who falls in love with his best friend, Maihan Melatyar, and how that romance plays out over the years.

No review is ever wholly unbiased, as the reviewer tends to draw upon their lived experience to make associations and connections with the text in hand; I am no different. The way this story pans out is very similar to what befell a very dear friend of mine, and therefore I was more invested in this book than I otherwise would have been.

Nemat Sadat's prose is lucid throughout, and it is easy to understand the characters and their motivations, even if not to wholly relate with them. However, I have docked stars because the ending felt very rushed, and a little artificial.

That said, I am very happy that there are queer Afghan voices sharing their stories with the world, and I look forward to what Nemat Sadat writes next!

nafisa_tasnim67's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

queerpoetssociety_'s review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

mattheww98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

marriedtopages's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

srimallika's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

rubal_mittal's review against another edition

4.0

Carpet Weaver by Nemat Sadat, with it's cover and base introductions - seems like a book on taboo of homosexuality and forbidden love. But as you read through the pages and comb through the details - you will realise it is much more than that - it is a beautiful coming-of-age book, weaved on the backdrop of religious intolerance and political conflicts in Afghanistan.
The book begins in Kabul, 1977 and transcends years and geographies (Kabul, Pakistan and USA), as our young protagonist - Kanishka Nurzada, battles life to find his love, safeguard his family and discover himself.
Kanishkh in the journey of self-discovery, loses his childhood, innocence, his home, land and discovers that what he considers love might not be same for others.
Kanishkha, realizes early on that he is a Kuni (a derogatory term used for Gay men) and falls in love with Maihan, his bisexual best friend. Amidst hiding his love from the family and society in the name of Afghaniyat (believes me sounds more like Indian "sanskar"), while he gets bullied, beaten up and even sodomized - the turbulent political movement takes a turn for the worse. The saur revolution, an army coup, a regime change, a Maoist father, smuggled into a labour camp in Pakistan and his journey to freedom makes it a fast-paced read while intricate with beautiful urdu words, Afghan culture and hope.

Reading this book in the current political landscape of Afghanistan (2021 - Taliban take over), you are surprised to see the modern & liberal Afghanistan of 1970s (Daoud Khan rule)- Male and females are interacting openly in public and private, Quran and Rig Veda are chanted together, Sunni marrying Shia, stories of Rumi and Shams love are remembered often and you pray for peace of the land and the people who have lost it all.

karnam's review against another edition

4.0

I didn't know what to expect when I started the book only that the vibes resembled to those of the Kite Runner and I loved Kite Runner. The story is set in 1977, Afghanistan. The book deals with a lot of issues. From homophobia to how people perceive gays in the light of their religion. War and the hardships people suffer because of it. It's after reading books like these that I appreciate my birth place. The main character, Kanishka, knows he's gay or a kuni and he has this secret buried deep in this heart. The plot is beautiful. It keeps you gripped and makes you turn pages one after another. The writing was nice, nothing extraordinary. Though there are so many words in the native language, it makes you wonder the beauty of how different cultures are.

I loved the characters. especially Kanishka. His character development is magnificent. I didn't care much about Manihan but I really enjoyed Kanishka's family. You get to see the working behind the Islamic families and the political views.

Over all, it was a really good book. And if you are looking for something that's more than just a love story, this will be perfect for you.