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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Suleri's memoir of postcolonial Pakistan focuses on language as a means to personal and cultural self-definition. "In interpreting an intricate past so resourcefully, Suleri . . . expands the usual boundaries of autobiography to include philosophical, literary, historical and linguistic issues in an elegantly unified document," said PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This is an intriguing, yet unsatisfying book. Intriguing because the author weaves the private history of her family into the public and political history of her homeland, Pakistan. Unsatisfying, in that neither tale seems complete. The author's personal joys and losses play against the violence of a country as it fights for and wins its independence. That independence was central to the family seems both obvious and abstract. Though the family's existence was in many ways defined by events, it seems oddly disassociated from these events. Still, the book is engaging. It is mainly through family relationships, especially those of the women, that the two stories are joined. This is a very personal autobiography. It should be considered for purchase in that context.
- Frada L. Mozenter, Univ. of North Carolina at Charlotte Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Frada L. Mozenter, Univ. of North Carolina at Charlotte Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Too academic,
By A Customer
This review is from: Meatless Days (Paperback)
This has got to be one of the most difficult books to read. It was like swimming through a river of debris. Now and then there would be some clarity in her prose. Overall, it was way too obtuse for my taste.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complex, but very rewarding,
By Ken Lee (Singapore Singapore) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Meatless Days (Paperback)
I spent an entire week on Meatless Days, having picked it up after reading one of the book's chapters in an anthology of Indian writing. As a teenager, I'd just like to share my views about the book. Do note that it wasn't part of any required reading list, so I wasn't forced to complete it, nothing like that.Calling it her memoirs might not be completely accurate, because Ms Suleri has stated that not everything in the book actually happened, ie she did make up some of the events. However, she does insist that the language is a true reflection of the way in which she thinks, and speaks. If she is to believed, I think that makes her quite an extraordinary woman. Of all the Sub-Cont. writers whom I've read, no other writer quite matches up to the complexity of her language, and the intricacy with which she readily assembles metaphors for largely universal concepts such as 'the enigma of arrival' (to borrow a Naipaulian title) and gender in the Indian/Pakistani home. Her writing is a joy to 'decode', and it really amazed me how she often drops hints of a certain image early in a chapter only to develop it beautifully many paragraphs later. I found myself intrigued by her style. This is a book that requires, and deserves utmost concentration in the reading. Missing out on a single conceit might render whole sentences incomprehensible to the less-attentive reader. I actually plan to re-read Meatless Days, just to enjoy it from the perspective of someone who has already made initial acquaintance. I do recommend re-reading it to most who've have the opportunity to finish this book once. I also enjoyed Ms Suleri's fresh, and often satirical insights to such things as deaths, mourning, religion, and family. She certainly does put across her arguments very interestingly, and evocatively. There is a paragraph in which she cannot locate the graves of her mother and Ifat, and decides to leave the cemetery altogether, because she doesn't want to disrupt them from their restful peace. Not something that the reader might agree with, but the beauty of the book is that nothing is forced down the reader's throat. Ms Suleri certainly doesn't come across as someone who is philosophising at all. Very highly recommended!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Early!,
This review is from: Meatless Days (Paperback)
I received this book weeks in advance, which was perfect because I needed the time to read it. THANKS!
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