pav_18's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
casparb's review against another edition
I also cannot remember when I read this one but I think I finished it in a Pret ok Daljit is one of the Big Deals I guess that comes of being a two-time TSE nominee (and judge in 2018) -- this is I think certainly his most famous collection & I have fond A-Level memories of the title poem. It seemed stronger in the second half but memory hazes & I was probably also under the influence of sleepiness. I'm also a fan of the Heaney pastiche(?)/reinterpretation(?) Digging which describes shaving to closer approximate a passport photo -- -
He terms it 'Punglish' the Punjab-English blend here and I do find it at times rather splendid
Gourd, grenade-shaped,
okra-green. I prise
each limb of warty flesh,
disembowel each indi-
gestible red-seed memory
of regal pomegranate
He terms it 'Punglish' the Punjab-English blend here and I do find it at times rather splendid
Gourd, grenade-shaped,
okra-green. I prise
each limb of warty flesh,
disembowel each indi-
gestible red-seed memory
of regal pomegranate
nakarem's review against another edition
3.0
I struggled with some parts but this was a really good (? Good seems so inadequate but I can't think of a better word...) collection.
Reading the quote of George Orwell before even seeing the acknowledgements and the list of contents made me feel sick. Immediatly. What a hard hitting move to put this quote at the very start of, even before, the collection.
And sidenote; I'm really thankful for the list of words and their explanations at the end of the book, because I lack most of the knowledge to understand a lot of the refferences and I simply don't know a lot of Punjabi terms/names for food etc.
Reading the quote of George Orwell before even seeing the acknowledgements and the list of contents made me feel sick. Immediatly. What a hard hitting move to put this quote at the very start of, even before, the collection.
And sidenote; I'm really thankful for the list of words and their explanations at the end of the book, because I lack most of the knowledge to understand a lot of the refferences and I simply don't know a lot of Punjabi terms/names for food etc.
nobodyatall's review against another edition
3.0
Heavy dialect meant I didn't understand half of them. The other half were good wth a few standouts.
I imagine if I spent some time I could work out the dialect, but I couldn't be bothered.
I imagine if I spent some time I could work out the dialect, but I couldn't be bothered.