A review by ria_mhrj
A Golden Age, by Tahmima Anam
4.0
Here are my thoughts in no specific order:
1) What a deceptively clever book, masquerading as a simple story - a war as told by a mother. The book is very readable and evocative and I got lulled into mistaking this book for simple, until the final sentence smacked me in the face and highlighted themes and echoes I had clearly missed.
2) This book made me so hungry, the food sounded so delicious.
3) I really don't know how I feel about Rehana. She's got this drive to do anything to keep her kids safe, but her frayed relationship with Maya makes you wonder what the cost was. I wish this relationship had been better explored so I could better understand why she valued Sohail more highly, besides the obvious.
4) I am devastated that nobody slapped Mrs Chowdhury. She was the actual worst, the agent of so many awful situations in this book (I'm even going to blame her for a creepy blind man getting robbed because she was the engineer of that grim situation in the first place). The Silvi plot thread was disturbing and topical in our current climate, and I felt like more could have been explored here.
5) I am very ignorant of much Asian history, thanks to a British education that focuses on Britain and not much else. I want to learn more about why on earth Pakistan got to claim territory so far away from its own borders, and more about the war I'm so clueless about beyond this book.
6) The significance of the title has gone over my head. Curious to see what the rest of book club think.
7) I am sad that the Major had to nobly sacrifice himself, I was hoping for a happier resolution.
A very engaging and thought-provoking read, I'm looking forward to discussing it with the rest of book club.
1) What a deceptively clever book, masquerading as a simple story - a war as told by a mother. The book is very readable and evocative and I got lulled into mistaking this book for simple, until the final sentence smacked me in the face and highlighted themes and echoes I had clearly missed.
2) This book made me so hungry, the food sounded so delicious.
3) I really don't know how I feel about Rehana. She's got this drive to do anything to keep her kids safe, but her frayed relationship with Maya makes you wonder what the cost was. I wish this relationship had been better explored so I could better understand why she valued Sohail more highly, besides the obvious.
4) I am devastated that nobody slapped Mrs Chowdhury. She was the actual worst, the agent of so many awful situations in this book (I'm even going to blame her for a creepy blind man getting robbed because she was the engineer of that grim situation in the first place). The Silvi plot thread was disturbing and topical in our current climate, and I felt like more could have been explored here.
5) I am very ignorant of much Asian history, thanks to a British education that focuses on Britain and not much else. I want to learn more about why on earth Pakistan got to claim territory so far away from its own borders, and more about the war I'm so clueless about beyond this book.
6) The significance of the title has gone over my head. Curious to see what the rest of book club think.
7) I am sad that the Major had to nobly sacrifice himself, I was hoping for a happier resolution.
A very engaging and thought-provoking read, I'm looking forward to discussing it with the rest of book club.