I am Malala - Recommend similar books

[Freudian Monkey]

I've been reading this book with great interest lately. It's very well written and explains Pakistan's history and culture from a perspective of ordinary people in a way that is very informative and entertaining.

I haven't really read that many non fictitious books about people living in distant cultures (I'm European). Could anyone recommend me some similar books? I'm mainly interested in books that take place in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh or Nepal, but similar books that take place in any Southeast Asian countries are appreciated. :)

[Marbles]

I'm a little skeptical about the effectiveness of learning about other people's cultures and histories thorough memoirs of someone shot to fame [literally in Malala's case] out of an extraordinary and sad circumstance. These books can be useful in understanding a restricted and patricular point of reference in the context of the life of the writer, and the events and personalities and current affairs surrounding it, but, in my opinion, for a broader and richer perspective one needs to consult other material to get a proportionate and comprehensive view.

From the perspective of ordinary people who have interesting, sometimes, horrifying things to tell:

Phoolan Devi - I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen

She was a normal poor village girl who was driven to a life of crime and banditry and who later headed a notorious group of bandits, that kept India in its grips for decades. There is a film made on her life Bandit Queen (1994)

Muhammad Yonus - Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

A man who changed the lives of many poor with his innovative schemes to help the poor with micro fianance and to get them on to their feet. I think he was also given Nobel prize for his efforts.

Sarah Sulehri Goodyear - [I]Meatless Days [Pakistan]

Considered a fine example of post-colonial Pakistan's cultural, literary and political reference. The author is the daughter of famous Pakistani journalist and activist Z.A. Sulehri.

Mukhtaran Mai -[B] In the Name of Honor: A Memoir [Pakistan]

A poor, functionally illiterate woman was gang raped to settle a dispute between two tribes. She sought justice and took up a campaign to raise consciousness to this horrendous of crimes. Like Malala's, her story became a symbolic rallying point for such victims all over the Indian subcontinent and beyond. It is worth noting, however, that in the final judgement the supreme court acquitted most of the accused. That wasn't so much due to a slip of justice as it was due to the contradictions in the victim and her witnesses' statements and corresponding lack of evidence. Gang rape took place no doubt, but not in the same way the victim had related and not by everyone she had accused, declared the court. Therefore, not everything related in the memoir should be believed in completely.

Also, if Western journalists count, there is a string of books by Mark Tully, the long time BBC correspondent resident in India, which is a good way to learn about all the things which are good and bad about India.

I will come up with more if I can think of something. But I don't know nothing about Nepal.

[108 fountains]

Freedom at Midnight is a classic and will teach you a lot about India/Pakistan history, focusing in great detail on the partition. It is not written from the perspective of ordinary people, but from a political perspective. That said, one of the reasons I enjoyed the book is its portrayal of the extraordinary political leaders of the time as ordinary people, which in the final analysis, they were.

[Freudian Monkey]

Thanks for the recommendations, I will take a look at all of them. :) I really will.

I'm mainly looking for books that are entertaining - I want to enjoy the reading experience, and if I learn a thing or two about history or culture in the process, even better. :) I've had my fair share of post-colonial studies and frankly don't even want to touch anything like One Hundred Years of Solitude or Beloved with a 5 ft pole, not at the moment at least. I am Malala is a nice read just for the small details, the portrayal of everyday life: people's dreams, jealousy among families, cultural restrictions etc. I was however rather surprised at how detailed the book's account of Pakistan's recent history was - I enjoyed reading about it, but at the same time I was wondering whether the views presented were universally accepted facts or (for instance) a one-sided Western account of the aforementioned events.

[mal4mac]

Thanks for the recommendations, I will take a look at all of them. :) I really will.

I'm mainly looking for books that are entertaining - I want to enjoy the reading experience, and if I learn a thing or two about history or culture in the process, even better. :) I've had my fair share of post-colonial studies and frankly don't even want to touch anything like One Hundred Years of Solitude...

Avoid Rushdie,then Midnight's Children is very much in the same magic realism band wagon. For entertainment Kipling (Kim, Indian Tales...) is difficult to beat, as is Conrad (Lord Jim...) From a less western viewpoint:

A House for Mr Biswas - Naipul
A Thousand Splendid Suns Paperback – Khaled Hosseini

[Marbles]

Freedom at Midnight is a classic and will teach you a lot about India/Pakistan history, focusing in great detail on the partition. It is not written from the perspective of ordinary people, but from a political perspective. That said, one of the reasons I enjoyed the book is its portrayal of the extraordinary political leaders of the time as ordinary people, which in the final analysis, they were.

Freedom at Midnight is a good read for its innovative style of writing. I like the way it avoids strictly chronological, dry matter-of-fact telling of political history and makes it interesting by characterising major players along with major events to create a story of the Indian independence and partition. However, I have serious reservations about its sources and therefore, some of the conclusion the book draws.

It heavily relies on Mountbatten archives and the direct interviews conducted with Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy. Not surprisingly, book's conclusions find uncanny agreement with how Mountbatten himself interpreted the events of the partition, in particular the death and destruction in which millions lost their lives, and his personal likes and dislikes of major independence leaders. Most importantly, just as Mountbatten would have it, the policies and badly timed decisions which led to riots and deaths and the unpreparedness of the British to deal with them go without critique. Not very rigorous on the part of the authors is it? The book might as well have been written by Mountbatten himself!

For a different perspective on the role Lord Mountbatten played in the saga of partition and the chaos that the independence unleashed, see Stanley Wolpert's Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India, which fixes the lacunae in sources, and instead of singing paeans to the services rendered by Lord Mountbatten, puts the latter under the spotlight.


Thanks for the recommendations, I will take a look at all of them. :) I really will.

I've had my fair share of post-colonial studies and frankly don't even want to touch anything like One Hundred Years of Solitude or Beloved with a 5 ft pole, not at the moment at least.

You're welcome :)

Since you said you're looking for non-fiction books, I did not mention any novels, else there are many to recommend. One Hundred Years of Marquez is fiction and so are the books and authors mal4mac suggested.

[Freudian Monkey]

You're welcome :)

Since you said you're looking for non-fiction books, I did not mention any novels, else there are many to recommend. One Hundred Years of Marquez is fiction and so are the books and authors mal4mac suggested.

As you said I'm mainly looking for non-fiction, stories of real people's lives. I'm also interested to read more detailed accounts of the partition later (I love Richard Attenborough's Gandhi movie), but at the moment I just want to relax with some nice novels instead of digging into some more academic stuff. By "nice" I don't mean naive or euphemized accounts, but narratives that focus on people instead of politics.


Freedom at Midnight is a classic and will teach you a lot about India/Pakistan history, focusing in great detail on the partition. It is not written from the perspective of ordinary people, but from a political perspective. That said, one of the reasons I enjoyed the book is its portrayal of the extraordinary political leaders of the time as ordinary people, which in the final analysis, they were.

Looks like a book I would like to read. :) Even though at the moment I'm more excited to read about people's everyday life, I'm also very interested in the political history of India and Pakistan.

[Marbles]

As you said I'm mainly looking for non-fiction, stories of real people's lives. I'm also interested to read more detailed accounts of the partition later (I love Richard Attenborough's Gandhi movie), but at the moment I just want to relax with some nice novels instead of digging into some more academic stuff. By "nice" I don't mean naive or euphemized accounts, but narratives that focus on people instead of politics.

To read about partition from a perspective of ordinary people and their lives, and in novel form, I recommend Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan (1956). This novel has achieved classic status in partition literature. The good thing: it's not academic and doesn't bogs one down with unknown historical/political references; it's lightly written with focus on how people in a multi-religiouis and peaceful village in Punjab coped with the news of the partition and the violence it engendered. There is also a movie of the same name based on this novel but I have not watched it.

I also recommend Saadat Hassan Manto's magnum opus, a short story titled originally in Urdu as Toba Tek Singh [a town in Pakistan], variously translated as Exchange of Lunatics or The Insane Asylum. It's in Urdu but has various translations available in print and online. In fact, here is Frances S. Pritchett's translation from her own website: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/tobateksingh/translation.html

It's a scathing indictment on the madness of moving populations to the either country due to their religion.

Partition literature is a whole genre in the literary landscape of the Indian subcontinent, a point of reference like WWII is for the West around which innumerable books have been written, fiction and non-fiction. New writers are still exploring, more in Pakistan than in India, the enigma of partition and what it meant for the people and the region.

[qimissung]

I know you said you are looking for non-fiction books, but still, you might consider The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott, which is about India separating from England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raj_Quartet

[Snowqueen]

I've recently bought Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence by Jaswant Singh. I haven’t finished it yet, but it's great.






I also recommend Saadat Hassan Manto's magnum opus, a short story titled originally in Urdu as Toba Tek Singh [a town in Pakistan], variously translated as Exchange of Lunatics or The Insane Asylum. It's in Urdu but has various translations available in print and online. In fact, here is Frances S. Pritchett's translation from her own website: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/tobateksingh/translation.html

.


That's my favourite short story, Marbles. Thanks for sharing the link. I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Marbles]

That's my favourite short story, Marbles. Thanks for sharing the link. I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Glad you enjoyed it. That's also my favourite, and all other stories that showcase the lives of downcast people whom pre-Manto pristine and cultured writers thought it below them to write about.

[kev67]

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick sounds interesting. I know North Korea is a little distant from Pakistan, but still counts as south east Asia.

I noticed Malala had written a book. Glad to hear it is well written and interesting.

[Helga]

There was a book I got a few years ago, I think it was called 'I am Nujood- 10 and divorced'. it came out in 2010 I think and it's about a girl who was forced into marriage and demands a divorce at the age of, yes, 10.