Burnt Shadows
Reading Kamila Shamsie’s ‘Burnt Shadows’ feels a little like drinking a tumbler of weak filter coffee : you keep hoping that the strength of the decoction will hit you and deliver that caffeine rush as you go along, but it never does. One of the ‘big’ Pakistani novels to come out this year, the novel moves over a very wide and ambitious canvas, and it makes for some interesting reading in parts, but eventually, left this reader feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
The story of a hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor from Japan, ‘Burnt Shadows’ moves from Nagasaki to partition-era Delhi to the newly formed country of Pakistan and finally to the United States. The first half of the novel set in Tokyo and Delhi is perhaps the most interesting part and draws us into the horrors of the atomic aftermath. Hiroko, the central character of the novel, whose life is torn apart by the bomb, flees to Delhi, clutching at straws to keep herself alive.
Shamsie details beautifully the intersection of two worlds in Delhi - the colonial ‘burra-saheb’ life with its class distinctions, elegance and yet, underlying anxieties and the world of artisan Muslim families in Old Delhi - rich in family ties and obligation and the weight of traditions, certain that life will continue as it has for generations, even as the threat of Partition nears their lives. Hiroko, the outsider arrives at the intersection of both these worlds and ironically, at the cusp of another conflict.
The second half of the novel which deals with the life that Hiroko and her newfound love, Sajjad make for themselves in Pakistan and the complications brought on by their never-quite-at-home son, Raza is somehow not as compelling. Where all the characters in the first half are so well grounded, in the second half, beyond Hiroko herself, everyone else is elusive. I also felt as though from this point on, the characters start ’serving a larger cause’ and become theatre artistes acting in the service of themes such as disarmament and terrorism. In short, they stopped speaking with their own voices. Raza, especially is a nebulous character, his motivations and his very nature unclear. Considering how central he is to the plot, this is quite damaging.
In summary : A decent enough read, but one wishes the author had exchanged some width for depth.
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If only I had read this before paying that hefty amount for this book
Smita, this is why I’ve become wary of buying any newly released books
mostly I buy only established authors or stuff which I cannot get at the library. Otherwise, I mostly pick up from the library and then buy later, if I really liked it…