Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Imagine sipping a perfect cup of tea while listening to a friend of yours who is busy telling you the juiciest gossips about a person who is always selling himself as the most respectable person that there is. And you laugh and giggle and sometimes your jaw drops, "No! Really! You are kidding me!" and you giggle and are thoroughly amused. Sometimes, you think you shouldn't listen to your friend but you just can't stop because the gossiping is so god damn funny and irresistible. So you keep on sipping tea, you keep on giggling and you keep listening. This is how I felt while reading this book.
It made me laugh out loud several times. Often, I felt that I am becoming a part of an inside joke that only the author and I know. It's a funny feeling!
However, the book has a very good structure, a story that keeps on moving and characters that keep surprising you. The first half is funny, the second half sometimes hit you in the guts. When I finished reading this book, I put it aside and stared at the wall. It made me feel sad for certain people that I never paid attention to before.
Highly recommended!
It made me laugh out loud several times. Often, I felt that I am becoming a part of an inside joke that only the author and I know. It's a funny feeling!
However, the book has a very good structure, a story that keeps on moving and characters that keep surprising you. The first half is funny, the second half sometimes hit you in the guts. When I finished reading this book, I put it aside and stared at the wall. It made me feel sad for certain people that I never paid attention to before.
Highly recommended!
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A wry, satirical reimagining of the events leading to the mysterious 1988 plane crash that killed Zia-Ul-Haq, President of Pakistan. Absurdist, black comedy is used to good effect-even Osama Bin Laden makes a cameo, attending an event at the ambassador’s house (the US has helped the Afghani’s rout out the Soviets) he is told by the top CIA officer, “Good work, keep it up.” The touch of magical realism was a bit much, otherwise a deft and engaging novel.
I hate to rate this book low because i can recognize its significance but it did not hit with me. im unsure if its because im culturally ignorant to pakistan and its politics but i had a hard time following and becoming invested in this book.
SPOILER: Zia Dies.
This is political Satire at its best! I haven't read many subcontinental books but upon the encouragement of certain individuals I gave it a shot, i'm glad I did.
The content of this book isn't very political at all, in fact, it's anything but. Take a step back and you realize it's just a couple of children dressed up in military attire with expensive toys and a drive to be King of the Hill. This book shows you the behind the curtain life of what it is to be a bureaucrat. I should mention that this is by no means a literary work of brilliance; personally for me it was a light entertaining read, something to get me back in the momentum of reading. To me this book is like a Polo Shirt, it's more dressy than a t-shirt, but less than a dress shirt, ehh (brownie points for a witty anecdote)? Don't get me wrong, just because you can't analyze this to bits like you would to the works of Kafka or Vonnegut, it'll do it's job, which is to make show you how silly bureaucracy actually is, silly and deadly.
I loved the bi-linearity of story telling in this, with one section focusing on the Greatest Dictator Pakistan has even seen to the lowly life of an insignificant soldier in the air force, the interesting part is when their paths cross.
To anyone in the mood for a light read interested or not interested in Pakistan, give this a ago. You really don't even need to know who Zia was or what he did, this will tell you most of what you need to know.
This is political Satire at its best! I haven't read many subcontinental books but upon the encouragement of certain individuals I gave it a shot, i'm glad I did.
The content of this book isn't very political at all, in fact, it's anything but. Take a step back and you realize it's just a couple of children dressed up in military attire with expensive toys and a drive to be King of the Hill. This book shows you the behind the curtain life of what it is to be a bureaucrat. I should mention that this is by no means a literary work of brilliance; personally for me it was a light entertaining read, something to get me back in the momentum of reading. To me this book is like a Polo Shirt, it's more dressy than a t-shirt, but less than a dress shirt, ehh (brownie points for a witty anecdote)? Don't get me wrong, just because you can't analyze this to bits like you would to the works of Kafka or Vonnegut, it'll do it's job, which is to make show you how silly bureaucracy actually is, silly and deadly.
I loved the bi-linearity of story telling in this, with one section focusing on the Greatest Dictator Pakistan has even seen to the lowly life of an insignificant soldier in the air force, the interesting part is when their paths cross.
To anyone in the mood for a light read interested or not interested in Pakistan, give this a ago. You really don't even need to know who Zia was or what he did, this will tell you most of what you need to know.
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated