nathiddles_106's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Violence
Minor: Child death and Murder
nikitagaur's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
death2nihilism's review against another edition
4.0
”…the lover revels in his anguish, so why does he weep? The joy lies in the tears.”
Feminist literature? More like misandrist masterpiece!
Feminist literature? More like misandrist masterpiece!
rissasreading's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 - Sultana's Dream I really enjoyed. I loved reading about this society run by women. I mean Sister Sara had it right when she said "they are fit for nothing". I enjoyed it.
Padmarag I didn't enjoy as much because it was just a bit slow and not my type of story. I did enjoy all the different characters and their stories however. I think learning their history was my favorite part of it.
Padmarag I didn't enjoy as much because it was just a bit slow and not my type of story. I did enjoy all the different characters and their stories however. I think learning their history was my favorite part of it.
mahirahmc's review against another edition
4.0
Painfully beautiful. It’s rare that I read a story [Padmarag] where the female protagonist chooses their respect and dignity over what others and their heart wants.
jaydeereading's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
optionalobjectives's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This collection includes the short story "Sultana's Dream" and the novel Padmarag. The first is a short utopic science fiction story, in which a young Muslim woman who lives in seclusion dreams of a country ruled by women. It's incredibly utopic - a city powered by the sun, carpeted in greenery since transportation is mostly aerial, without cars or other obvious polluters of the air and water. The utopia really focuses on three aspects, most obviously gender, as it is the seclusion of men that has led towards a safe and peaceful society. Then there's the environmental aspect, and finally the aspect of international relations as it is the triumph of women's intellect and solar power that has forced other nations to acknowledge its sovereignty. While I'm not sure that the prose and style are any more interesting than other utopias, "Sultana's Dream" does have powerful qualities considering the time and place in which it was written.
Padmarag holds up better. It tells the story of a great romance founded on respect and admiration, with a backstory that indicts colonization and sexism. It's set in then-contemporary India, mostly in Calcutta and nearby areas. Hossain walks a tightrope between her own didactic impulses and those of a standard romance. It's the ending that makes Padmarag really shine to me today, as she walks that tightrope to the end. Hossain refuses to compromise the values of her main character and winds up purposefully and overtly subverting the romantic ending in favor of something greater.
Padmarag holds up better. It tells the story of a great romance founded on respect and admiration, with a backstory that indicts colonization and sexism. It's set in then-contemporary India, mostly in Calcutta and nearby areas. Hossain walks a tightrope between her own didactic impulses and those of a standard romance. It's the ending that makes Padmarag really shine to me today, as she walks that tightrope to the end. Hossain refuses to compromise the values of her main character and winds up purposefully and overtly subverting the romantic ending in favor of something greater.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt
mamanaja's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
readingunderpinkskies's review against another edition
4.0
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was a Bengali writer, educationist, social activist, and advocate of women's rights. She wrote Sultana’s Dream in 1905, which is a feminist utopia novella, where women run the world and men are in the purdah system. (Delightful satire, to say the least.)
Padmarag is another novel published in 1924, chronicling the lives of women from diverse religions, backgrounds and ethnicities, who are working together for the upliftment of women in their society.
I was most pleasantly surprised to read her progressive ideas and way of thinking, considering the era in which she lived and published these works.
Warning: Mild spoilers ahead.
Padmarag refers to the central character of the novel, via whom Begum Rokeya gives readers a most unconventional ending of courtship, rejecting domesticity in favor of individualism.
Rokeya’s Padmarag is a woman who has gone through a series of misfortunes, and arrives at Tarini Bhavan (the welfare center / school) utterly heartbroken and dejected.
Her story arch then moves to the unfolding of her personality to a strong, hardworking, self-sacrificing woman who though very much in love, chooses not to accept the expected path of domesticity.
The novel also depicts the circumstances of women in those days via other characters working at Tarini Bhavan, most of whom have back stories of suffering, either in patriarchy or matrimony, and have left their pasts behind to dedicate their lives to others in need. It portrays the suffering of women in the era, as well as the struggles of women in power during those days.
It does an excellent job of championing education for women, and not just the rote system that is the norm in our country, but quality education that would help them be self-sufficient and not ‘wooden dolls’.
Where Sultana’s Dream is a cheerful, often hilarious satire in an imaginary world, Padmarag is a gritty, melodramatic & authentic work of literature that outlines issues women face even to this day.
Padmarag is another novel published in 1924, chronicling the lives of women from diverse religions, backgrounds and ethnicities, who are working together for the upliftment of women in their society.
I was most pleasantly surprised to read her progressive ideas and way of thinking, considering the era in which she lived and published these works.
Warning: Mild spoilers ahead.
Padmarag refers to the central character of the novel, via whom Begum Rokeya gives readers a most unconventional ending of courtship, rejecting domesticity in favor of individualism.
Rokeya’s Padmarag is a woman who has gone through a series of misfortunes, and arrives at Tarini Bhavan (the welfare center / school) utterly heartbroken and dejected.
Her story arch then moves to the unfolding of her personality to a strong, hardworking, self-sacrificing woman who though very much in love, chooses not to accept the expected path of domesticity.
The novel also depicts the circumstances of women in those days via other characters working at Tarini Bhavan, most of whom have back stories of suffering, either in patriarchy or matrimony, and have left their pasts behind to dedicate their lives to others in need. It portrays the suffering of women in the era, as well as the struggles of women in power during those days.
It does an excellent job of championing education for women, and not just the rote system that is the norm in our country, but quality education that would help them be self-sufficient and not ‘wooden dolls’.
Where Sultana’s Dream is a cheerful, often hilarious satire in an imaginary world, Padmarag is a gritty, melodramatic & authentic work of literature that outlines issues women face even to this day.
amybetch's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0