InstaRead Summaries

Let me first preface this by stating that I am a very vocal libertarian who tends to lend more to the right side of politics. Obviously, as this book is the summary of another book, I can’t really find much fault with it since this book is not one based on their own opinions as opposed to the opinions of another. It gave a great breakdown on what the other book is about, which made me actually want to read said book. Though I did disagree with some of the key points, I will acknowledge that there were more than just a couple of points that I did agree with.… (más)

Yes, I Cheated
Review of the Instaread Summaries Kindle eBook (2016)

This is the first time that I've used one of the Instaread summaries in order to get an overview of a book that I'm reading. I am about halfway through The Pearl That Broke Its Shell (2015) [480 pages] but as I'm reading it for a bookclub in early November 2022 it is likely that I won't finish it in time for the discussion. So just in case, I took this cheater's route. The summary was actually quite excellent and the listing of characters & the discussion of themes were also well done.

Part of the reason for my slow progress through The Pearl... is that it is often grim reading about the treatment of women in Afghanistan. It toggles between two stories, that of Rahimi in 2007 who lives in a community under a warlord who is fighting the Taliban and that of her great-great-grandmother Shekiba who lived in the early 20th century during the time when Afghanistan was ruled by a King (or Emir). Both women do have times of relative freedom allowed them through custom. The young Rahimi is allowed to assume the character of a pasha boch, where a girl child is allowed to act as if she is a boy in a family which otherwise has no sons. This ends as she enters puberty though and is sold off as a child bride. The young Shekiba was disfigured in a childhood accident and lost her family in a cholera epidemic. She becomes a servant in the compound of her family but is gifted away in payment of a debt and then again gifted to the King. She then becomes a guard to the King's harem and is allowed to dress in masculine clothes for the role, as the King doesn't trust having male guards in that role. This relief is short-lived as both face various abuses and intrigues in their stories.

Knowing the ending of the book does at least let me know that both stories end on a relative note of hope. Admittedly the current situation in a newly Taliban run Afghanistan still makes for a depressing awareness that conditions have likely become even worse in the present day.… (más)