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Title: Salt and Saffron by Kamila Shamsie ISBN: 1-58234-261-X Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Pub. Date: 15 May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.3 (10 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The food IS the story, the story IS the food
Comment: I am surprised to read some of these reviews. This is a skillfully written book that sparkles with wit, culture, and intrigue. There ARE majestic descriptions of food within, as well as lengthy passages relating family history, but far from being distractions from the main story, they are alternate ways of telling the main story. Kamila Shamsie uses all the tools at her disposal to help the reader connect with her tale of awakening to, confronting, and digesting issues of class and caste in life.
I found the novel enjoyable from beginning to end, and more than that - substantial. In the sense that a wonderful, savory, tantalizing meal is also substantial - it fills the hungering part of you. While the meal fills the belly and awakens the senses, this novel fills the soul and awakens the conscience. This novel is good not in the "eat your vegetables - they are good for you" sense, but in the "it was good spending time with you" sense.
Well done, Shamsie. I eagerly await your next novel.
Rating: 2
Summary: Bland despite the food
Comment: A convoluted story which stretches from the Mughal era to present day and tries to connect characters and fates from each to the other. Central is the theroy of the 'not quite twins', each set of each generation supposedly destined to bring tragedy on the Dard-e-dil clan. The protagonist, Aliya, fears herself to be a not quite twin with one Marium. Marium has already brought social calamity on the family and now the family is wondering if she is family at all. Aliya fears that she too will become a pariah -even in her own eyes- because she has fallen for a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. The most intersting story line in the novel is that of the class differences, but not much time is spent exploting this. The rest i.e. the laborious food descriptions that became repetitive, and the long winded family history, were for me, eventually tedious. I finished the novel because I am a Pakistani and find it hard to come by any novels set in Pakistan. Had it been set elsewhere I may have put it down. To be read only if you are very, very bored.
Rating: 5
Summary: Thought provoking and fun
Comment: Despite limited knowledge of the Pakistan culture, I found myself completely absorbed with the interesting characters brought to life by Kamila Shamsie. Mysterious relatives, clashing values, spirited wit, thoughtful commentary,and a love story (or is it lust?) to boot. Great book!
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Title: Kartography by Kamila Shamsie ISBN: 0151010102 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: The Mango Season by AMULYA MALLADI ISBN: 0345450302 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: For Matrimonial Purposes by Kavita Daswani ISBN: 0399150706 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 19 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier ISBN: 0439510112 Publisher: Scholastic Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi ISBN: 0345450299 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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