Instant City by Steve Inskeep

Instant City: Life and Death In Karachi by Steve Inskeep
304 pages
Published October 2011 by Penguin Group
Source: the publisher and TLC Book Tours

On December 28, 2009 a bomb blew up on the streets of Karachi, Pakistan as Shia Muslims marched in their annual Ashura procession marking the death long ago of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussein.  Who placed the bomb? Who set the fires that destroyed blocks of nearby buildings the same day? In most cities, this would be a day that would long be remembered for its violence. For Karachi, it has almost become par for the course.

Inskeep uses the events of this day to look at the larger problem that is the instability in the country of Pakistan, most visibly in Karachi, which Inskeep calls an "instant city." He defines "instant city" as "a metropolitan area that's grown since 1945 at a substantially higher rate than the population of the country in which it belongs." According to conservative estimates, Karachi has grown at least 30 times larger than it was in 1945, most of the grow occurring in the weeks following the partition of India into two countries, India and Pakistan.

Using December 28, 2009 as a way of exploring the greater problems plaguing Karachi and Pakistant, Inskeep introduces his readers to a number of people, past and present, those who influenced Pakistan as it grew following Partition and those who were present the day of the bombing. Historically Inskeep looks at the divide between the sects of Islam, the friction between India's majority Hindu population and Pakistan's majority Muslim population, and the rifts between ethnicities and classes.

When I was approached about this book, I jumped at the chance primarily because I so enjoy listening to Steve Inskeep on NPR. The fact that it deals with a part of the world that fascinates me and that it fits with my goal of reading more non-fiction this year sealed the deal. Inskeep does not disappoint. By using the one event to tie all of issues that plague Karachi together and by introducing so many people involved that day, Inskeep has developed this work of non-fiction into something resembling a mystery that pulls the reader through the book in search of answers. In his debut novel, Inskeep exhibits the same mix of journalism and storytelling that I appreciate in this radio work. In his skilled hands, Karachi comes alive.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour! For more thoughts on this book, check out the full tour.

The Girl In The Garden by Kamala Nair

The Girl In The Garden by Kamala Nair
320 pages
Published June 2011 by Grand Central Publishing

As her wedding day draws near, Rakhee Singh leaves her fiance a long letter and her engagement ring and makes her way to India to come to terms with something she has been keeping secret from her fiance, something that has been causing Rakhee pain since the summer when she was ten years old.

That summer Rakhee's mother began receiving mysterious letters from India, letters that seemed to affect her parents' relationship, letters that seem to have convinced her mother not to take the pills that made her a happier person. As isolated and alone as Rakhee feels in small town Minnesota, she is not at all happy when her mother announces that the two of them will be traveling to India for the summer.

Once they arrived in India, however, Rakhee became completely absorbed in life in the small village where her mother's family has lived for generations. In Malanad, Rakhee's family, the Varmas are highly respected and live in the biggest house. Rakhee immediately noticed, however, that everything in the house appeared to be a little shabby and the hospital that her family owns was being operated by a man, Dev, Rakhee instinctively disliked.

The longer Rakhee was in Malanad, the more questions she had. What was  going on with the hospital and what hold did Dev have over the family? Who was the "old family friend," Prem, who seems to be the only person who could make Rakhee's mother happy? Why did the family seem to blame Rakhee's mother for their problems?  But most importantly, what is the secret of the forest behind the family's home? The cousins had been told that a rakshasi (a she-demon) lived and that only adults were allowed to go into the forest to make offerings. But Rakhee did not believe in things like she-demons and when she saw her mother and aunt go into the forest late one night she became determined to discover the truth for herself. When she did, everything changed.

Is it possible that there just is not a book set in India that I will not like? Once again, I have found myself utterly engrossed by a book set in this country. Library Journal calls The Girl In The Garden a cross between Francis Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden and Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. Nair has clearly drawn inspiration from both but she has certainly crafted a work that is utterly her own (**tomorrow the story of the inspiration for this novel**).

"They were washing the clothes in the river, roughly and efficiently, then standing and slapping them dry on rocks. Each time they brought a piece of cloth down upon the rock it made a resilient thwack. It was almost a dance; the women in their stained, monochromatic saris, their prematurely graying hair pulled back into frazzled buns, crouching, washing, standing and beating, the rhythm of their movements imbued with a surprising grace."

India comes alive in Nair's hands; while I was reading, I completely forgot my own surroundings. Book clubs would find much to talk about with this book; the many ways Nair explores love alone would make for a lively discussion. Family relationships, guilt, shame, responsibility...all included as well.

Thrity Umrigar, author of The Space Between Us, calls The Girl In The Garden "an impressive debut." It certainly is.

Thrity Thursdays or "The Space Between Us" Readalong (Friday Version!)

Welcome to the Friday edition of Thrity Thursday! This is what happens when you agree to a review date without checking your calendar. At least my fellow readers were on top of things:

Ti at Book Chatter
Dar at Peeking Between The Pages
Staci at Life In The Thumb
Kathy at Mommy's Reading
Booksync at Book In The City
Bailey at The Window Seat Reader
Mari at Bookworm With A View
Amy at The House of Seven Tails

Chapters 16-20
In these chapters, we find that Maya and Bhima have taken to walking down to the beach every evening and it's reviving Maya and softening Bhima. It's also giving Bhima time to reflect on the past.
"They say that when something is very beautiful, the Gods of Jealousy notice it. Then, they must destroy it. Even if it's their own creation, it's beauty begins to make them jealous and they are afraid it will overshadow them. So they destroy the very temples that they have built."
We learn the story of how Bhima's once wonderful marriage was torn apart after Gopal suffered an accident at work and began drinking heavily.
"..it was then that she knew the gods had played a trick--they had kept Gopal alive, but they had taken away that essential something that makes a man want to keep on living. Gopal was like an empty shell of a clock whose insides had been removed. There was nothing to keep him ticking anymore."

Sera also reflects back on Feroz's last days. Sera is shocked when Viraf calls Feroz a "king" immediately after his death and realizes that as soon as someone dies we begin to forget their faults.

My Thoughts
It was so difficult to watch Bhima's life crumble around her. Umrigar touches on the issues of business versus workers, illiteracy, and classism. When Gopal is injured at work, he is taken to the government hospital and develops an infection. The hospital is not really treating the infection until Bhima asks for Feroz and Sera to step in and help. Bhima, who is by now acutely aware of how much she suffers because of her illiteracy, at first believes that Feroz is able to wield power because of his education. But when she sees a doctor cowered by him, she is forced to confront the fact that it may have happened because Feroz is Parsi, since the doctor is also educated. I couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for her to realize that there was a chance that even with an education, her son might never be able to rise to the top, something she had pinned her hopes for the future on.

Next week: the final chapters. I'm so grateful that so many of you encouraged me to read this book--it is every bit as good as you said it was! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you do.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
288 pages
Published April 2008 by Simon and Schuster

Balram Halwai, the white tiger, of the title, is writing a confession of sorts in a series of seven letters to the Chinese premier. The premier is heading to Bangalore India on a fact finding mission and Balram takes it upon himself to tell the premier all about Bangalore and his own success.

Balram was born in poverty, the son of a rickshaw driver. Because the government is not paying the school teachers, the teacher absconds with all of the funds intended for the students and does very little teacher. So Balram spends only a few years in school before he heads off to earn a living. Eventually he works his way up to being a driver for a family of businessmen. In his letters to the premier, Balram writes about life growing up, life as a driver, the politics of India and the class structure. And a crime he has committed that has allowed him to become the entrepreneur he is at the time of the letters.

The picture Adiga paints of India is vivid--the reader can easily imagine the stench of the air pollution in the cities, the filth of the slums, the sounds of the traffic. Nothing is safe from Adiga's barbs--democracy is corrupt, business is hand-in-hand with politicians, employers and servants alike treat servants with contempt. At times this book is almost comical, at other times it is nothing short of a tragedy. Ethics are entirely missing in every character. You will not like Balram but I felt that he had done the best that he could under the circumstances of his life.

I listened to this on CD and the gentleman who narrated it is Indian which really enhanced the experience for me. This book is not for everyone. It is not light, it is not fun. But I enjoyed it a lot.