evilmonkey85's review against another edition
5.0
I can't remember where and when I saw this book and the name of the author who I searched here on http://www.goodreads.com read a couple of mixed reviews and found it at my local library. The book starts with a flashback or a walk down memory lane for protagonist Kirpal who has been invited back to Kashmir to cook for the general’s daughter’s wedding.
From here we embark on a journey the first time Kip came to Kashmir and met his mentor the proud chef Kishen, whose experience and expertise lies in international cuisine but Kishen has a weird way of asking for fruit and vegetables but he creates some fantastic dishes. But one costly mistake and Kishen is assigned to the Siachen Icefields this resulted into a promotion for Kip. With learning the skills of working in an army kitchen he also starts to experiment with Muslim and Hindu Kashmiri flavours and ingredients and creates some of his own fantastic dishes.
I see why Kip has joined the army as his father the Late Major Iqbal Singh died in a plane crash in the Siachen Icefields and Kip wanted to be close to his father in spirit. Kips gets his teaching of the cookery world from chef Kishen but he also sees and experiences that cruelty and injustice towards the Muslim and Hindu Kashmiri’s which doesn’t matter to the high ranked Indian army officials. Kips is angry at the Indian army officials and Kishen as he isn’t able to justice and help poor Irem a Muslim girl who is mistreated by the Indian Army which also includes General Kumar.
I get to sense from the pages of this book what Kip is feeling toward Irem and how he cooks Rogan Josh for her according to the way she has been cooking it when she was in Pakistan here I felt Kip has a soft centre for Irem. I like how Jasdeep Singh has written this book with emotions and feelings and how we get to the connection Kishen, Kirpal and Irem all connected through food. There are aspects in the books that I missed to what happened to Kirpal after he left Kashmir what did he do with life or has been waiting for this invitation from the General?
From here we embark on a journey the first time Kip came to Kashmir and met his mentor the proud chef Kishen, whose experience and expertise lies in international cuisine but Kishen has a weird way of asking for fruit and vegetables but he creates some fantastic dishes. But one costly mistake and Kishen is assigned to the Siachen Icefields this resulted into a promotion for Kip. With learning the skills of working in an army kitchen he also starts to experiment with Muslim and Hindu Kashmiri flavours and ingredients and creates some of his own fantastic dishes.
I see why Kip has joined the army as his father the Late Major Iqbal Singh died in a plane crash in the Siachen Icefields and Kip wanted to be close to his father in spirit. Kips gets his teaching of the cookery world from chef Kishen but he also sees and experiences that cruelty and injustice towards the Muslim and Hindu Kashmiri’s which doesn’t matter to the high ranked Indian army officials. Kips is angry at the Indian army officials and Kishen as he isn’t able to justice and help poor Irem a Muslim girl who is mistreated by the Indian Army which also includes General Kumar.
I get to sense from the pages of this book what Kip is feeling toward Irem and how he cooks Rogan Josh for her according to the way she has been cooking it when she was in Pakistan here I felt Kip has a soft centre for Irem. I like how Jasdeep Singh has written this book with emotions and feelings and how we get to the connection Kishen, Kirpal and Irem all connected through food. There are aspects in the books that I missed to what happened to Kirpal after he left Kashmir what did he do with life or has been waiting for this invitation from the General?
szeglin's review against another edition
1.0
ARC received through the First Reads giveaway program.
The language is very poetic, but overall Jaspreet Singh's Chef left me very confused. I had a hard time relating to Kip, the protagonist. I couldn't really get a handle on him. I didn't get much of a sense of any personality. He seemed to function mostly as a sounding board for others.
I didn't read (or pick up on) enough information about the India/Pakistan conflict, but in this case it's because of a rather large gap in my knowledge. A sense of place was missing, too. I never got a good idea about the places where the story was set (other than the glacier, of course). I had the sneaking suspicion that I was missing something the entire time I was reading this one.
I see Chef as being one of those polarizing love-or-hate books. This one was not for me, unfortunately.
The language is very poetic, but overall Jaspreet Singh's Chef left me very confused. I had a hard time relating to Kip, the protagonist. I couldn't really get a handle on him. I didn't get much of a sense of any personality. He seemed to function mostly as a sounding board for others.
I didn't read (or pick up on) enough information about the India/Pakistan conflict, but in this case it's because of a rather large gap in my knowledge. A sense of place was missing, too. I never got a good idea about the places where the story was set (other than the glacier, of course). I had the sneaking suspicion that I was missing something the entire time I was reading this one.
I see Chef as being one of those polarizing love-or-hate books. This one was not for me, unfortunately.
heathermollauthor's review against another edition
2.0
I could barely get through this book. It's written in a style that some would call lyrical, but for me it's too slow-paced and convoluted.
I just couldn't plod my way through and it felt like a chore to read through 250 pages.
I never got a good feel for the narrator's personality as we skipped through perspective and time. He doesn't engage me and I can't relate to him in any way. In the end, I didn't care about him, his dying, his relationships, his food, nothing at all.
At the end of the book I understand Kashmir and its occupation no better, I understand Kip's personality and his relationships with women no better, and the relationship between food and life seemed shallow and ill-formed connection.
I just couldn't plod my way through and it felt like a chore to read through 250 pages.
I never got a good feel for the narrator's personality as we skipped through perspective and time. He doesn't engage me and I can't relate to him in any way. In the end, I didn't care about him, his dying, his relationships, his food, nothing at all.
At the end of the book I understand Kashmir and its occupation no better, I understand Kip's personality and his relationships with women no better, and the relationship between food and life seemed shallow and ill-formed connection.
acton's review against another edition
4.0
Jaspreet Singh's novel Chef is a moving story centered around needless fighting, suffering, and deprivation. Deprivation of more than comfort; the deprivation of love and open expression that comes with violent conflict, in this case, between India and Pakistan.
This is Kirpal Singh's story, which he tells us close to the end of his life, so the narrative jumps around in time to good effect. Kirpal, or Kip, as he is known, was General Kumar's chef, up until some fourteen years ago, and now he is returning to Kashmir after all this time to prepare a wedding banquet for the general's daughter, who he remembers comforting as a child.
Kip remembers for us not just his story, but other people's stories, those of people who were important to him. And there are many mysteries, many questions that will forever remain unasked.
The general's daughter has grown up to be a writer, a poet. In her, Kip sees a new hope, a way to reveal the thoughts and feelings of so many people, so many sad, scared, lonely, desperate people.
It's a beautiful book.
This is Kirpal Singh's story, which he tells us close to the end of his life, so the narrative jumps around in time to good effect. Kirpal, or Kip, as he is known, was General Kumar's chef, up until some fourteen years ago, and now he is returning to Kashmir after all this time to prepare a wedding banquet for the general's daughter, who he remembers comforting as a child.
Kip remembers for us not just his story, but other people's stories, those of people who were important to him. And there are many mysteries, many questions that will forever remain unasked.
The general's daughter has grown up to be a writer, a poet. In her, Kip sees a new hope, a way to reveal the thoughts and feelings of so many people, so many sad, scared, lonely, desperate people.
It's a beautiful book.
amysbrittain's review against another edition
2.0
Ehhhhhh. This one left me cold. Only one relationship felt real and full, and it was between virtual strangers. I liked the book's detail of cooking and Indian cuisine, but the constant, endless rumination on a small portion of the military and its poltics and personal vendettas re: India-Pakistan-Kashmir battles...ai yi yi. Didn't hold my interest. The main character felt like merely a vehicle for watching things happen around him; he wasn't inherently interesting and didn't do anything himself. His obsession with his extremely disturbed, dangerous, and malicious chef mentor made me want to close the book in disgust by the end.
rossjenc's review against another edition
3.0
There are so many things about this book that I enjoyed. I liked the author's style of writing. Like the train that Kip took to Kashmir the text seemed to roll off the page in a very natural way. The story itself had a degree of simplicity yet I thought the language of the book was very rich. The book is like a poem where every word matters.
I've always been intrigued with Kashmir so I was eager to read this story. The setting and the drama unfolding left me feeling very sad and the life realizations of Kip and the General's daughter had stayed with me and I think would resonate with anyone who reads this book. Although, this book takes place in a small corner of the world that differs greatly from the modern world I think everyone can find a connection to it. I would highly recommend reading it.
I've always been intrigued with Kashmir so I was eager to read this story. The setting and the drama unfolding left me feeling very sad and the life realizations of Kip and the General's daughter had stayed with me and I think would resonate with anyone who reads this book. Although, this book takes place in a small corner of the world that differs greatly from the modern world I think everyone can find a connection to it. I would highly recommend reading it.
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