The Crow Eaters: A Novel

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Both Freddy Jungewalla and his nemesis Jerbanoo are hardly likable characters, nor does anything astounding happen in the story, yet Sidhwa kept me enthralled from start to finish with her skillful way of presenting her characters without blame or praise. Digger becomes enmeshed in Chilman’s obsession with a cold case, the disappearance of a young man. But Digger has a murder to pursue too: that of his mother, killed by a renegade police squad when he was a boy. I have a beef with South-East Asian authors. It seems that (the ones i have read; jhumpa lahiri, the god of small things)deliberately have underlying depressing themes to their novels. I mean it makes sense, misery is easier to do than satire or comedy. But it always makes me feel like my emotions are being exploited. As if I am being told how to feel something, and I dislike that immensely.

The crow eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa | Open Library The crow eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa | Open Library

The novel attracted a hostile reception in Pakistan upon publication in 1982 due to its depiction of Parsis. [1] In a 2012 interview Sidhwa recalled that The Crow Eaters received a warmer reception in Pakistan after the novel was well received by British reviewers. [1] Sidhwa recalled that "A lot of Parsis were offended ... It was the first novel ever written about the Parsis, and the community was not accustomed to seeing themselves fictionalised or made fun of. They certainly accept and love the book now". [1]One of my absolute favourite genres is the Indian family saga. I don’t know if it’s because I grew up in a very small nuclear family and all celebrations were therefore a fairly small affair that I love these stories of large families and their fortunes through the generations but whatever the reason, I love reading them. Did the style and the language of this novel pose any particular problems for you as a translator? Was it more or less challenging than some of the other books you have translated?

The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa | Goodreads

Give ear to the Great Truths. Look within with enlightened mind (lit: flaming mind) at the faith of your own selection, man by man, each one for himself. It is 1948, and England is recovering from a war. But at 21 Nevern Street, London, the conflict has only just begun.I’ve never really read a book which makes me laugh out loud but this one did: on multiple occasions. This was surprisingly funny. As in a lot of family stories, the joys, annoyances, and tragedies as well as the emotional responses to such events are tightly woven all through “The Crow Eaters”. The book lays bare the fact that most families from all over the planet have the same fundamental existence. The only differences lay in the details of the lives of the people. Trouble with one’s mother-in-law, worrying about money and so on will seem familiar to the reader. On the other hand, other problems are unique to the Jungle walla's time and place. For example, worrying about arranged marriages, or Parsi death rituals will not be familiar to most modern readers, but will still be compelling. I don’t think I will ever move ahead of The Crow Eaters. It will stay in its proper place and subsequent writings will maintain theirs. After standing witness to a murder on the streets of the Caribbean island of Camaho, young Michael ‘Digger’ Digson is recruited into a unique plain clothes homicide squad, an eclectic group of semi-official police officers, led by the enigmatic DS Chilman. New York, 2007. After two long years apart, Jende Jonga has brought his wife Neni from Cameroon to join him in the land of opportunity. Drawn by the promise of America they are seeking the chance of a better life for them and their son.

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Seeking fortune and opportunity, Faredoon ‘Freddy’ Junglewalla and his family – his pregnant wife, infant daughter, and burdensome mother-in-law – move from their ancestral village in rural India to the bustling metropolis of Lahore. Welcomed by the small but tight-knit Parsi community, Freddy soon establishes a booming business and his family becomes revered and respected. But when tragedy forces Freddy to rethink his legacy, intimations of historic change loom on the country’s horizon. Protagonista del libro è Faredoon Junglewalla, un giovane Parsi agli inizi del Novecento: appena sposato decide di abbandonare il suo villaggio e trasferirsi a Lahore con moglie e suocera al seguito. Partono su un carretto, all'avventura, in cerca di fortuna. All'epoca il Pakistan non esisteva ancora e Lahore era in India, a sua volta parte dell'Impero britannico. Bapsi Sidhwa was born in Karachi in 1938 to Parsi parents, and raised in Lahore. She is the author of several novels including An American Brat, Ice-Candy Man, and Water. In 1991 she received the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest honour in the arts. Still, magic and superstition has as much influence on their characters, right from the cradle, after all they are descended from the Magi; yet all the multi-varied gods of the more dominant Indian religions are also given a token of reverence.Bapsi Sidhwa is Pakistan's leading diasporic writer. She has produced four novels in English that reflect her personal experience of the Indian subcontinent's Partition, abuse against women, immigration to the US, and membership in the Parsi/Zoroastrian community. Born on August 11, 1938 in Karachi, in what is now Pakistan, and migrating shortly thereafter to Lahore, Bapsi Sidhwa witnessed the bloody Partition of the Indian Subcontinent as a young child in 1947. Growing up with polio, she was educated at home until age 15, reading extensively. She then went on to receive a BA from Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore. At nineteen, Sidhwa had married and soon after gave birth to the first of her three children. The responsibilities of a family led her to conceal her literary prowess. She says, "Whenever there was a bridge game, I'd sneak off and write. But now that I've been published, a whole world has opened up for me." (Graeber) For many years, though, she says, "I was told that Pakistan was too remote in time and place for Americans or the British to identify with"(Hower 299). During this time she was an active women's rights spokesperson, representing Pakistan in the Asian Women's Congress of 1975. The Jungewallas revere the English, from copying their mannerisms to the seal of authority invested in their appropriated proverbs. 'Had someone suggested to them that Englishmen, too, defecate, they might have said, "Of course ... they have to, I suppose"'. This book is an entertaining account of their way of life,in early 20th century Lahore.They worship fire,and leave their dead in the "towers of silence" where wild animals and vultures can tear off pieces of their flesh. Seeking fortune and opportunity, Faredoon 'Freddy' Junglewalla and his family – his pregnant wife, infant daughter, and burdensome mother-in-law – move from their ancestral village in rural India to the bustling metropolis of Lahore. Welcomed by the small but tight-knit Parsi community, Freddy soon establishes a booming business and his family becomes revered and respected. But when tragedy forces Freddy to rethink his legacy, intimations of historic change loom on the country's horizon.

The Crow Eaters - Wikipedia

Early 20th century, Lahore. A Parsee family treks to Lahore and in their small community become wealthy traders. The book ends with Freddy, the patriarch, on his deathbed forecasting the blood letting of the Indian/Pakistan partition and the risks to the small minorities like the Parsis.

Ji Lin, an apprentice dressmaker, moonlights as a dancehall girl to pay her mother’s debts. One night, Ji Lin’s dance partner leaves her with a gruesome souvenir that leads her on a crooked, dark trail. Memon Sahib kept complaining that it was a very difficult book to translate. It probably was, but he has done the writing justice and I’m sure people are going to admire and appreciate his language and skill enormously. I certainly do. Crow Eaters, unlike old ladies, are not wives or steady girlfriends of any one particular member of the club. The Crow Eaters are basically SAMCRO groupies, available to club members for sex or companionship. When Jende lands a dream job as chauffeur to a Lehman Brothers executive, Neni finds herself taken into the confidence of his glamorous wife Cindy. The Edwards are powerful and privileged: dazzling examples of what America can offer to those who are prepared to strive for it.