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A review by nashwa017
Melody of a Tear by Haroon Khalid Akhtar
5.0
4.5*
So my journey of experimenting with Pakistani fiction brought me to this book. I had never heard of it before until I saw it on my library's website and thought I'll give this a go. I had not seen any publicity for this book and honestly didn't know if anyone else had read it. BUT boy, am I glad to have discovered this book. When I think of new writers and fresh stories, this is what I mean.
The plot is original and satisfies all my qualms i.e. to say that it doesn't pander to a Western audience, the story is not cheapened by showing off our hidden cultural rebelliousness (excessive use of alcohol) or marital issues. When I was reading this, I genuinely forgot that this is the work of a Pakistani writer- because the atmosphere, setting and general execution was very match at par with all the creepy Western favourites of mine, such as The Virgin Suicides, DeadKidSongs, White Oleander.
The writing in this book is extremely lush and sophisticated without being pretentious. A lot of the time, when I read local fiction - I think that the author is trying too hard but while reading this book, the writing just seemed like an extension of the author's mind.
Additionally, the characters are very much living, breathing human beings. They each seem to have a hidden pain to deal with, and they are each traumatised by their own past. There is also representation in this book - we find a character struggling with her gender identity and another one with the speech impediment.
I fully realise that while I'm gushing over this book, the "weirdness" of it might be hard for others to absorb but I will say if you want to read an original story set in Karachi in the 90s - you might enjoy this a lot!
So my journey of experimenting with Pakistani fiction brought me to this book. I had never heard of it before until I saw it on my library's website and thought I'll give this a go. I had not seen any publicity for this book and honestly didn't know if anyone else had read it. BUT boy, am I glad to have discovered this book. When I think of new writers and fresh stories, this is what I mean.
The plot is original and satisfies all my qualms i.e. to say that it doesn't pander to a Western audience, the story is not cheapened by showing off our hidden cultural rebelliousness (excessive use of alcohol) or marital issues. When I was reading this, I genuinely forgot that this is the work of a Pakistani writer- because the atmosphere, setting and general execution was very match at par with all the creepy Western favourites of mine, such as The Virgin Suicides, DeadKidSongs, White Oleander.
The writing in this book is extremely lush and sophisticated without being pretentious. A lot of the time, when I read local fiction - I think that the author is trying too hard but while reading this book, the writing just seemed like an extension of the author's mind.
Additionally, the characters are very much living, breathing human beings. They each seem to have a hidden pain to deal with, and they are each traumatised by their own past. There is also representation in this book - we find a character struggling with her gender identity and another one with the speech impediment.
I fully realise that while I'm gushing over this book, the "weirdness" of it might be hard for others to absorb but I will say if you want to read an original story set in Karachi in the 90s - you might enjoy this a lot!