in other rooms, other wonders review

I was looking forward to something original - hey a book by a Pakistani author, about Pakistan! For the aging paterfamilias, Husna is a distraction whose unrefined speech and manners offer a temporary escape from the infinite politesse of his own class. Unbelievable book, this. Select Your Cookie Preferences. In many ways this could have been 18th century England with the land owning classes and their heirarchy of servants, the cook that always gets to sleep with the new maid, the mistress installed in a 'flat' on the estate, the letters of introduction required. Amazon.in - Buy In Other Rooms, Other Wonders book online at best prices in India on Amazon.in. It is full of poetic detail and Mueenuddin's characters are complex, fully realised and sympathetic, but the overall picture is of a divided society in which very few stories have happy ending. Daniyal has indeed got a keen sense to empathise with the plight of the poor and the destitute. Start by marking “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” as Want to Read: Error rating book. I find that the strength of the book, however; it avoids the easy answers of much fiction, accepting with a sense of wonder that in our efforts to find security, those very efforts can result in our undoing. It's also cool to see a male author write stories from a female POV. Mueenuddin has given us 8 linked short stories about modern Pakistan as experienced by the landowner K. K. Harouni, members of his family, and others within his orbit, so that every stratum of that contemporary society seems to be touched. 3.5 stars. In Daniyal Mueenuddin's story "Provide, Provide," Jaglani, the savvy, powerful manager of K.K. "Nawabdin Electrician" is a story of Harouni's electrician, Nawab, who confronts a violent assailant in order to protect his most valuable asset - a motorbike - the only thing which helps him support his huge family. But the women are not alone in their scheming. Skip to main content.ca. The way a situation was handled, the manner in which family members treated one another would put me off-balance. 3.5 stars. Daniyal Mueenuddin, a Pakistani American with the best of credentials, including a Yale Law degree, published works in the New Yorker and Granta, and extensive life experience among Midwestern Americans and rural Pakistanis, provides a compendium of stories loosely tied to the patriarchal figure of K. K. Harouni, a wealthy fictional figure of acclaim, authority, and artful corruption. By Daniyal Mueenuddin Bloomsbury, 237 pages. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, his stories have appeared in, Pulitzer Prize Nominee for Fiction (2010), O. Henry Award for 'A Spoiled Man' (2010), The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize Nominee (2010), Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book in South Asia and Europe (2010), National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (2009), DSC Prize Nominee for South Asian Literature for Longlist (2011). See 1 question about In Other Rooms, Other Wonders…, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders - Whole Book Discussion, Spoilers Allowed (September 2016), In Other Rooms, Other Wonders - General Discussion, No Spoilers (September 2016), 32 Highly Anticipated Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reads for Summer. Understandably, strong characterizations need to be rooted in a work of such fertile scope, and Mueenuddin has succeeded with richly rounded people who are hopefully fatalistic, caring, and pragma. Two stories are set amongst the upper class members of the Harouni family and the rest are about lowly-paid employees in the extended household of the Harouni family. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin and An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah: review . Reviewing Daniyal Mueenuddin's 'In Other Rooms, Other Wonders.' Harouni - a rich Pakistani landowner - and a network of his servants, employees, relatives and opportunists. Daniyal Mueenuddin was brought up in Lahore, Pakistan and Elroy, Wisconsin. Cart All. On the one hand, this probably happens and the stories are well constructed enough. Finally. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (Audible Audio Edition): Daniyal Mueenuddin, Firdous Bamji, Recorded Books: Amazon.ca Most of these stories are not stories. In "Saleema" a young maid seeks patronage in Harouni's household in the beds of older, more influential servants, until she falls in love and is later discarded by the man who must honor his first family. It seems, to me, that many authors from the far east are feeding off of each others literary techniques... What is it about brown authors using the same style of writing? There is a plethora of literature from some Asian countries, particularly India, Japan, and China. The same extended metaphor that goes on for pages. His book has won The Story Prize, the … Daniyal Mueenuddin . I was impressed with the writing and the author's control, his ability to elicit sympathy for the unsympathetic and his insight into disguised self interest, family bonds and the class system of the corner of Pakistan he writes about. Harouni, and each of the stories describes Pakistan's complicated feudal system from the perspective of the characters-- Harouni's friends and acquaintances, his subordinates, and his relatives. Thwarted again...another highly praised volume of stories, named National Book Award finalist for 2009, defies my great expectations by crashing with the dullest of thuds. Another virtuoso book I want to recommend is In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, a collection of stories by the Pakistani-American writer Daniyal Mueenuddin. The flowery language that's used to describe every tiny detail. And for a while she is right. To add to my troubles, as someone who has the conceit to post reviews of books I've read I also have the conceit to expect myself to say something original. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders. I can't praise Mueenuddin's work too much: He has the gifts of insight into human behavior of Alice Munro, the gift for detail we find in Updike and William Trevor, and the ability to make sentences and paragraphs that pack the punch of … In Other Rooms, Other Wonders - Story 6 Summary & Analysis. Save this story for later. While In Other Rooms, Other Wonders can be read as a study in contrasts, from the socialite wedding in "Lily" to the marriage between a groundskeeper and a villager in "A Spoiled Man", they reveal more similarities than differences. Daniyal Mueenuddin . So what can I say? In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, his debut collection of short stories, is a glimpse into this world where the trajectories of the old and the new, urban and rural, rich and the poor, landowner and tenant, intersect. When Husna, a distant relative whose branch of the family “had not so much fallen into poverty as failed to rise,” shows up at his door, Harouni takes her in, first as a servant, then as his mistress. These eight marvelous short stories give the reader an idea of Pakistan's society at all levels. There is a plethora of literature from some Asian countries, particularly India, Japan, and China. “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders is a collection full of pleasures…on every page there are wonderful, surprising observations and details.” - Washington Post “The eight short stories of Daniyal Mueenuddin’s enchanting debut are dreamlike, illuminating contemporary Pakistan’s societal contradictions in prose as clear and serene as the contradictions themselves are subtle and tumultuous.” Nawabdin the electrician cheats the electric company; Chaudrey Jaglani sells Harouni’s vast lands at half price, keeping the best parcels for himself. Thwarted again...another highly praised volume of stories, named National Book Award finalist for 2009, defies my great expectations by crashing with the dullest of thuds. I am surprised at the amount of positive reviews this short story collection seems to be receiving, with some over-enthusiastic reviewers comparing Mueenuddin's prose to that of, The eight loosely interconnected stories revolve around K.K. The stories are engaging. Hello Select your address Books Hello, Sign in. I am not usually a huge fan of short stories; I find they many times lack the emotional connection that a good novel will have. Harouni, and each of the stories describes Pakistan's complicated feudal system from the perspective of the characters-- Harouni's friends and acquaintances, his subordinates, and his relatives. Sadly, women and the poor suffer in this tiered society regardless of their class, and many have a sense of resignation that their circumstance and tragedies are their due. Whether Mueenuddin’s debut, like those volumes, will stand the test of decades remains to be seen, but its vitality and subtlety make it an exciting, essential work for the here and now. In many ways this could have been 18th century England with the land owning classes and their heirarchy of servants, the cook that always gets to sleep with the new maid, the mistress installed in a 'flat' on the estate, the letters of introduction required. Feb. 6, 2009 Reading Daniyal Mueenuddin’s mesmerizing first collection, “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders,” is like watching a game of blackjack, the … ( and early-21st ) century Pakistan is startlingly blemished find helpful customer reviews and ratings! Stay with me for a country whose name means “ land of,... In an seemingly endless loop of feudalism and class struggle book of stories... Follow, and very well written Punjab called K.K.Harouni class struggle Pakistani writer a book by a Pakistani.! Is Nawabdin electrician '' is a Pakistani-American rather than a native Pakistani Paris, seem to have in common courage. And by turns luminous and bleak ignorance causes grief to themselves and others post-partition Pakistan me. 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