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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders is a collection of eight short stories set in the Punjab region of Pakistan in the 1970s-1990s. Each story focuses on a different character and all are in some way connected to K.K. Harouni, the patriarch of a once wealthy land owning family whose fortunes are in decline. Some characters are family members; others work for the Harounis in some capacity including an electrician, a maid, a farm manager. Many of the themes were familiar to me and seem to crop up frequently in literature from this area - corruption, the divisions between rich and poor and the near impossibility of upward social mobility, misogyny and the vulnerability of women, poorer people being forced into impossible situations for want of any other choice. The stories centred on the poorer characters held my interest more than the others, even if they were rather depressing. The socioeconomic and political system seemed deliberately designed to keep poor people down and prevent them from catching a break. All in all this collection did a good job highlighting some of the problems in Pakistan connected with the feudalistic nature of rural society. This impact was enhanced by all the stories being connected to a single family, giving them a consistent through line, highlighting the fact that they were all part of a single story, a story based on systemic issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, and Police brutality
steveatwaywords's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Mueenuddin's collection of short inter-woven tales is a terrific microcosm of contemporary Pakistan, replete with corruption, suffering, violence, and even some attempts at love. Each story follows the events (we dare not call it destiny) of a single character, servant class through member of the downwardly-mobile "old money" families. And while they vary widely in means, generation, and circumstance, they share two qualities: geography and ill fortune.
One would think that this latter issue is character flaw, and indeed most of who we encounter has a share of angst, corruption, lack of empathy, or downright cruelty. But we also meet those of real virtue, smart in their productivity or ignorant in their dedication to service. Regardless, the makings of character seem impotent against the circumstances which drive them downwards. More, the occupants of Mueenuddin's Pakistani estate--in line with, say, Anderson's Winesburg Ohio or Joyce's Dubliners--seem just as real as representations of the larger country as they are individuals.
Should we live as global-minded free thinkers or local holders of tradition? as entrepreneurs involved in the machinations of statecraft and capitalism or as humble devotees to private virtues? It seems to matter little, in the end: the unscrupulous in power, the entitlement of birth, the enfeeblement of will create a near impossibility for joy or love as we have learned to romanticize it. Characters write and revise their paths until what they have left to value is only the quality of their headstone.
Still, none of this means to dissuade readers from immersing themselves. Yes, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders is a stark framing of a Pakistan unable to free itself from itself, even while it transitions into modernity. But meeting the characters inside its pages--young struggling women to aging inward-turning men--is every bit equal to meeting an Elizabeth Willard, a Biff Loman, or a boy at Araby.
One would think that this latter issue is character flaw, and indeed most of who we encounter has a share of angst, corruption, lack of empathy, or downright cruelty. But we also meet those of real virtue, smart in their productivity or ignorant in their dedication to service. Regardless, the makings of character seem impotent against the circumstances which drive them downwards. More, the occupants of Mueenuddin's Pakistani estate--in line with, say, Anderson's Winesburg Ohio or Joyce's Dubliners--seem just as real as representations of the larger country as they are individuals.
Should we live as global-minded free thinkers or local holders of tradition? as entrepreneurs involved in the machinations of statecraft and capitalism or as humble devotees to private virtues? It seems to matter little, in the end: the unscrupulous in power, the entitlement of birth, the enfeeblement of will create a near impossibility for joy or love as we have learned to romanticize it. Characters write and revise their paths until what they have left to value is only the quality of their headstone.
Still, none of this means to dissuade readers from immersing themselves. Yes, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders is a stark framing of a Pakistan unable to free itself from itself, even while it transitions into modernity. But meeting the characters inside its pages--young struggling women to aging inward-turning men--is every bit equal to meeting an Elizabeth Willard, a Biff Loman, or a boy at Araby.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
jmbz38's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Torture
Minor: Sexual assault