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A review by livvywivvy
Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Banu Mushtaq
4.0
after more thought, I'm upping my rating for this one to 4 stars :)
3.5 Stars ----
I have lots of thoughts on this one.........So far on my journey reading the International Booker Prize longlist for 2025, there has been some really amazing works, although this book was not my personal favourite, it is still a really important piece of literature and deserved to win. Just because I, an English speaker, struggled with many parts of it, doesn't take away from the fact that it discusses really important topics, and not only important topics for the West, but also in India. I commend Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthai for shedding light on the sheer atrocities women in India face on a day-to-day basis. I think in the West we can get so caught up in our own problems we forget that there are still many places in which women are still fighting to be seen as human, and this book does an amazing job at shining a light on the mistreatment of women under the guise of religion from a non-western perspective. A really important read.
Personally, I found it hard to get into many of the stories. I struggled to comprehend what was going on as there seemed to be so many characters introduced in the span of a few pages and I just couldn't seem to remember who everyone was or what their purpose was in the story. I found as well that throughout alot of the stories, there were PAGES about some insignificant detail but the real issue presented in the story was skipped over in a paragraph, or the story just ended, hardly mentioning the most important parts. I don't think that critique is unique to this short story collection, though; it seems to be common in most, if not all, the short story collections I've read.
The two stories that really stood out to me were: Black Cobra's and Heart Lamp, both of which I think encapsulate the point of this collection really well. Essentially showcasing the oppression of women in Islam and how poorly they are treated under the guise of religion. It was heartbreaking to read those two stories and know that although they are works of fiction, men do behave that way in real life, and continue to treat women like slaves who's only purpose is to bear them children, and once we can't fulfil that 'purpose' anymore, they move onto another women, repeating the cycle of abuse, whilst we are expected to raise those children and then die. All while the women never had a choice to marry these men in the first place, they were ripped away from their education and sold as child brides... UGH it's disgusting. Anyway, pretty much every story touches on some aspect of what I just wordvomited and it was just harrowing to read. I really struggled so I definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings, although I still recommend reading as it is so important to learn and understand about other cultures and their views on women, in order to dismantle those views (and the patriarchy).
It's also really cool to see works originally written in Kannada win such a big prize!
Quotes I liked:
-'Hakhdaar tarse toh angaar ka nuuh barse...If the one who has rights is displeased, a rain of fire will fall.'
-'No matter how simple some things might seem, they're not, or at least not always. People behave in strange and illogical ways when they're afraid they may have to take responsibility.'
-'Do you know what my new name way? His wife. My body, my mind were not my own.'
3.5 Stars ----
I have lots of thoughts on this one.........So far on my journey reading the International Booker Prize longlist for 2025, there has been some really amazing works, although this book was not my personal favourite, it is still a really important piece of literature and deserved to win. Just because I, an English speaker, struggled with many parts of it, doesn't take away from the fact that it discusses really important topics, and not only important topics for the West, but also in India. I commend Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthai for shedding light on the sheer atrocities women in India face on a day-to-day basis. I think in the West we can get so caught up in our own problems we forget that there are still many places in which women are still fighting to be seen as human, and this book does an amazing job at shining a light on the mistreatment of women under the guise of religion from a non-western perspective. A really important read.
Personally, I found it hard to get into many of the stories. I struggled to comprehend what was going on as there seemed to be so many characters introduced in the span of a few pages and I just couldn't seem to remember who everyone was or what their purpose was in the story. I found as well that throughout alot of the stories, there were PAGES about some insignificant detail but the real issue presented in the story was skipped over in a paragraph, or the story just ended, hardly mentioning the most important parts. I don't think that critique is unique to this short story collection, though; it seems to be common in most, if not all, the short story collections I've read.
The two stories that really stood out to me were: Black Cobra's and Heart Lamp, both of which I think encapsulate the point of this collection really well. Essentially showcasing the oppression of women in Islam and how poorly they are treated under the guise of religion. It was heartbreaking to read those two stories and know that although they are works of fiction, men do behave that way in real life, and continue to treat women like slaves who's only purpose is to bear them children, and once we can't fulfil that 'purpose' anymore, they move onto another women, repeating the cycle of abuse, whilst we are expected to raise those children and then die. All while the women never had a choice to marry these men in the first place, they were ripped away from their education and sold as child brides... UGH it's disgusting. Anyway, pretty much every story touches on some aspect of what I just wordvomited and it was just harrowing to read. I really struggled so I definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings, although I still recommend reading as it is so important to learn and understand about other cultures and their views on women, in order to dismantle those views (and the patriarchy).
It's also really cool to see works originally written in Kannada win such a big prize!
Quotes I liked:
-'Hakhdaar tarse toh angaar ka nuuh barse...If the one who has rights is displeased, a rain of fire will fall.'
-'No matter how simple some things might seem, they're not, or at least not always. People behave in strange and illogical ways when they're afraid they may have to take responsibility.'
-'Do you know what my new name way? His wife. My body, my mind were not my own.'