Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir [Hardcover]

I approached this book with both interest (I am a Pakistani and from Karachi, and attended the same high school as Ms. Bhutto) and an open mind. I have heard that Fatima Bhutto is a smart, outspoken, and young Pakistani woman. For this reason, I was curious about the content of this book. Neverthless, coming from a family as cursed and controversial as the Bhuttos, I had reservations initially, about whether she would indeed provide truth, clarity, and candor into the crazy world of the Bhutto clan. As I had expected, the book is a huge and utter disappointment.

It is impossible for a Bhutto to be balanced and objective regarding all that the Bhutto ruling clan have contributed to Pakistan both positively and (overwhelmingly) negatively. Despite a Western liberal education, formative years outside of the larger Bhutto yoke, and slights received by various members of the Bhuttocracy, Ms. Bhutto has not been able to shed her Bhutto-ness, especially when approaching the subject of her grandfather, and her father. Her views regarding her aunt Benazir were already well known to me, thru her various comments in the media in the past. That Benazir and her husband have left our country in tatters is apparent to anyone who lives in the real world (not the PPP stalwarts who are deluded beyond comprehension). This book did not provide any analysis or information that any realistic and interested party into the world of Paksitani politics, would have known anyway. Her comments about the Benazir-Zaradari Axis was not enlightening in the least, except for her personal remarks about them, which makes for interesting tabloid-esque material.

The real problem with this book is the lack of adequate critical analysis of her grandfather and her father. It is understandable on a personal level, that the author would hero-worship her father and grandfather. Those are natural instincts, especially among women in our part of the world, with respect to paternal figures in their lives. But if she was setting out to write an honest book about the controversial Bhutto clan, then her father and grandfather, who are the main players in the 'Songs of Blood and Sword', deserved and merited to be analyzed very critically and very thoroughly.

Although she tries hard to claim otherwise ('I'm not my grandfather's keeper' in one quote from the book), the analysis of her grandfather was pitiful. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a nefarious, vindictive and megalomaniacal leader. Undoubtedly gifted with a brilliant mind, mesmerizing presence, and an orator par excellence, he was nonetheless, the archetypal Third World megalomaniac. Coming myself from a strata of society, in which family members and family friends were involved either personally with Mr. Bhutto or in a governmental capacity, I have never heard one kind word about this man. None of these people I allude to, had anything to gain from or lose, by commenting negatively on Mr. Bhutto as a man and as a leader. Yet their remarks about him are vitriolic to say the least.

That Ms. Bhutto only briefly mentions this vindictiveness and any of his other shortcomings, is ample proof of the lack of objectivity and honesty in the assessment of her grandfather. His horrendous role in the splitting of Pakistan, his declaring Ahmedi's non-Muslims for his political gain, his paranoia leading him to kill countless political foes, are not given any discussion or analysis. I agree with the analysis of his early years as a Foreign Minister, but what the hell happened to the analysis once he became leader? Utter garbage. Cursory mention of his controversies (nationalization of industries, declaring Ahmedi's non-Muslims, his role in cleaving Pakistan, his ordering the murder of Ahmed Raza Kasuri). The same can be said regarding her father. Very nice to read tender comments and statements of Murtaza Bhutto the father, but nothing of his infamous temper, his arrogance and sense of entitlement, and his vindictiveness.

Overall, my feeling after reading this book was that it was an interesting read, with some interesting insights into the twisted Bhutto clan. But it really lacked any semblance of balance and objectivity. It's is hard for one to be critical of one's own family. It is also hard to be an apologist for their shortcomings. But my feeling is that this book shouldn't have been written in the first place, if there was no true objective analysis given. It is basically a subjective account into the world of Pakistan's curse, the Bhuttos. And an attempt to angelicize (word?) her father and grandfather.

Fatima Bhutto is a young , beautiful and opinionated pakistani columnist who also happens to be the niece of Benazir Bhutto , twice the prime minister of Pakistan and eventually assaninated during a campaign rally back in 2007 . She has just released a very uneven book about her father , Murtaza Bhutto who was gunned down under mysterious circumanstances back in 1996 outside his home in Karachi.
The book itself is indeed " a love letter " to her father , as the writter herself has said in an interview and a hateful letter to her late aunt for whom she finds flaws to point out even while Benazir was still a teenager .
Fatima's world seems to be strictly split between the good guys ( her father , his friends and allies , her grandfather and strangely enough the chinese and Hafez al Assad's Syria ) and the bad guys ( mainly Benazir Bhutto and the americans ) . Murtaza Bhutto is presented here as the perfect man , the perfect politician , the perfect father , the perfect husband and even the perfect boyfriend in the case of Della Garoufalis , a woman married to a jailed general of the failed greek junta. " I had to understand why he went to Kabul . It was a decision which changed our lifes " writes Fatima but never is she willing to question anything about her father's actions , even his decision to take up arms .
I have not lived in Pakistan so i don't know which Bhutto had more influence to the pakistani people or was more righteous or honest but having read many interviews of all of them on the web and seen speeches of theirs on youtube , i can say all three public figures of the family ( Benazir , Murtaza and their father Zulfiqar ) seemed to excel in a typical populist rhetoric which promises much more than can be delivered .
The best parts of the book is when Fatima talks about her own thoughts and feelings and comments on the present .The final two chapters of her book are haunting , the epilogue just beautiful . As a political analysis of her country's past though , it feels too one-sided .
The last few years , Pakistan is constantly making the news for all the wrong reasons and i feel it needs people exactly like her , bright and brave , to speak out and introduce to the world the pakistani point of view of things . A great book by her is only a matter of time .

Ms Bhutto has written a highly powerful book that does not disappoint. She speaks the truth and sometimes the truth is difficult to read. But, if we want to understand the world, we have to be able to tolerate the truth. I very much enjoyed this book and I learned a lot about Pakistan and America.

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