Reviews

• おすすめです。

  とても良かったです。読んで良かったなーと思える本です。内容は他の方のレビューを参照にしていただければと。長崎の原爆から9/11までの時間と出来事をパキスタンのバックグラウンドのこの作家が書く話です。政治的な話しは別にして登場人物たちが皆さん素敵な人たちです。キャラは癖がある人々だが悪人ではない登場人物に引かれます。その回りは悪人ばかりですが。文章も素晴らしく読んで良かったなー。ラストは好き嫌いが別れるかと。ぜひ読んでみてください。

• イノセントに無知を決めこむ英米社会への重い問いかけ

  １945年、長崎に住むHiroko Tanakaは、東西の文化の調和ある共存を夢見るドイツ人Konradと結婚の約束をするが、原爆でKonradは岩に残った影となり、Hirokoの背中にはそのときに羽織っていた着物の鶴が火傷として残る。日本で被爆者として扱われることに耐えられなくなったHirokoはインドのDelhiに渡り、Konradの異母姉Elizabeth(Ilse) Burtonを訪ねる。IlseはHirokoに深い親しみを覚えてずっと手元におきたいと思うが、弁護士の夫Jamesの元で働くムスリムの現地人Sajjad Ashrafに競争心と嫉妬を覚える。一連の出来事の結果、SajjadはBurton一家と決別し、Hirokoとともに1947年に新たに誕生したパキスタンに住み着くことになる。 長崎の原爆投下を起点に、パキスタン誕生、旧ソビエト連邦のアフガニスタン侵攻、2001年同時テロ、といった人類の争いと死の歴史を、Burton家が代表する西洋文化に対して、Tanaka/ Ashraf家が代表する東洋文化の立場から小説の形で鋭く問いかける。 着物の鳥の色や結末でのHirokoの話の辻褄など疑問や欠陥はあり、小説としては決して成功した作品とはいえないが、英米人にsoul searchingを求める野心的な試みに対して星５つを与えたい。 作者は米国在住のパキスタン人作家で、本作品はサルマン・ラシュディが” a powerful emotional and intellectual response.”と寄稿し、英国Orange Prizeの2009年のファイナリストになった。

• very interesting

• It wasn't my favorite book but it came in good shape and I love the price.

• Burnt Shadows is one of those books that grew on me slowly. I wasn't that fussed at the beginning and then I suddenly realised that it had stuck it's claws in me and I was absolutely compelled to continue reading. It's a sweeping saga that begins with the bombing of Nagasaki, takes you through the Partition of India and the removal of the British from the country, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the arrival on the nuclear scene of India and Pakistan, and finally the attacks on 9/11, the lingering after effects and the USA's invasion of Afghanistan. There's no doubt at all that Shamsie is hitting on some hard hitting and far reaching topics here, and yet she does so without ever losing track of the individuals even as she follows them down through the generations. Where you start is with Hiroko, just before her world explodes in nuclear flames. Through her flight you meet Henry and Elizabeth, Brits living in India pre-partition, and Sajjad, an Indian working for them. Yet at the story continues through the years, the focus shifts back and forth between parents and children and even grandchildren. Throughout the novel, those individuals are always front and centre; they aren't just there as the backdrop for events. It never ceases to feel intrinsically personal and touching. It's also a novel that is hard to categorise. Of course it's historical, but it's a complete blend of lots of other genres. It's partly a love story, and the romance angles weave well through the novel, crossing and changing and occasionally breaking. It's partly a cross-generational family tale, of finding home where you make it, of love and forgiveness, of grief and loss, of loyalty and betrayal. There's an element of coming of age, as we see youngsters grow into men as the world changes around them. It's partly a political thriller, a spy novel even, as individuals links with Secret Services, terrorist organisations and just ordinary people trying to do the best they can spiral out of control. It's definitely a war story, of losing your home and having to scratch out a new place in the world as a refugee, of living in the backlash of nuclear war, of guerrilla warfare, terrorism and rising racial tensions. In many ways it's very much a novel of race and yet whilst that is a keystone theme, it isn't something that outright defines the novel. What defines the novel is the humanity and the exploration of some of the greatest tragedies and outrages of modern history. It's the individual stories of home, hope, love and sorrow that wind through the defining moments in history. And within that, it's the cultural soup that saturates the novel; Japanese, German, British, American, Indian, Pakistani. The sense of your heritage and how you define yourself, even when you don't feel you squarely fit into any one culture alone anymore. This isn't my usual style of novel, yet it's a haunting and phenomenal read that I would whole-heartedly recommend regardless of your usual reading preferences. It's heart-felt, personal and character driven, even through some of the most horrific crimes humanity has ever committed against itself. It's a stunning read and whilst it's the first of Kamila Shamsie that I have read, it certainly won't be the last.

• the book arrived on time and in the condition prescribed at the point of sale.

• A marvellously bewitching entanglement of lives across continents, religions, politics and personalities. I was engrossed, enlightened and entertained each time I picked it up.

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