Thursday, January 19, 2017

From the M Shelf...

"...it's the people that matter."

Partitions by Amit Majmudar

1947 was a turbulent time for Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus in India--the summer of Partition when Pakistan split away and one country divided into two. It is into this maelstrom that Majmudar sets his characters:  Sonia and her twin boys, Shankar and Keshav, whose Brahmin-born father, though dead, still watches over them; Simran Kaur, a young Sikh girl whose own father would rather see her dead than defiled; and Ibrahim Masud, an elderly Muslim doctor whose compassion sees only wounds to heal, not ethnicities or creeds.

Living in Lahore, Sonia knows she and her young sons "have to leave.  This is Pakistan now. The land meant to be pak, pure. Pure of them." But at the crowded train station, Shankar and Keshav get separated from her and must head east into India on their own.

In the Punjab, Masud watches his neighborhood as it burns and realizes "he isn't Ibrahim Masud to anyone but himself now. His profession, too, means nothing. Muslim:  that's suddenly the defining thing about him ... The official line is that he can stay if he wants or leave for Pakistan. His choice--stay here in India or shift west. Just over there. Like crossing the aisle on a bus." 

And then there's Simran, who refuses to drink the poisoned milk her father prepares for her and the rest of her family, and who must flee her own home in order to stay alive. But once on her own, navigating the refugee-filled roads and trying to avoid the men who would use her, or sell her, she begins to rethink her decision.

My thoughts:
I loved these characters, especially Dr. Masud and his stammering gentleness who "knows that caregiving is neither Muslim, nor Sikh, nor Hindu. Or rather it is all three of these." And I loved Majmudar's unconventional narrator--the spirit of the twins' dead father--who knows what's ahead for his sons and for Simran and Masud, and who watches over all of them until their journeys finally intersect. I also loved Majmudar's lyrical prose. And how much I learned reading this book about Partition and the violence that ensued on both sides during it. And to think, I almost didn't check this book out of the library; I would have missed out on so much if I'd left it sitting on the M shelf. I'm so glad I didn't. Because this book is amazing!

Here are just two of my favorite quotes from Amit Majmudar's Partitions:

How little we knew each other, though for centuries our homes had shared walls. How little we will learn, now that all we share is a border.

If there is one thing dangerously abundant right now, it is certainty. Certainty makes possible in men the most extreme good and the most extreme evil. A land like the Punjab, five rivers and three faiths, could do with a little less certainty.

 Happy Reading!

12 comments:

  1. I like the sound of Dr. Masud. Great quotes--oh, the divisions of religious fervor.

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    1. It's sad what we as human beings do to one another over such small differences.

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  2. Glad you picked it up and didn't leave it behind. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This one sounds very good.

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    1. I feel like I really lucked out with this book...and it wasn't on any of my lists. Just library serendipity. :)

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  3. This sounds like a book that is right up my alley! I've put it on my wish-list immediately, it sounds really good.

    Kind regards,

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    1. I hope you can get a copy soon! I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about this book, and if you liked it, too. So let me know! :)

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  4. This sounds like a book that I SHOULD read, but if it is something of a heart-breaker then I shall keep it for a sunnier and more hopeful time of year.
    Miss Cellany.

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    1. Sad things happen in this book, but the ending redeems it. It's a book that touches your heart, not breaks it. Thanks for commenting! :)

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  5. Sounds like a good read with interesting characterisation. Love a book that touches our hearts.

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  6. I hadn't heard of this one before, but it sounds intriguing. I'm going to add it to my Goodreads TBR list right now!

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    1. I hope you get a chance to read it...I thought it was wonderful.

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