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Cargando... The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan (2015)por Rafia Zakaria
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. Esta reseña ha sido escrita por los Primeros Reseñadores de LibraryThing. This book was at once educational as well as heart-rending. As an American, it is hard to fathom certain customs practiced cultures much older than our own. That said, these are customs and mores that have been in place far longer than the United States has been a country. It is one thing to read about other cultures in a broad way- it gives us the luxury of looking at things dispassionately at times, as one would view a lion at a zoo. Rafia Zakaria offers the reader a look at a single family, and just how these age-old customs impact individuals, from the wife who is supplanted by a younger, newer wife, to the children down to the aunts and uncles who see things differently than the younger generation. Above it all, this wonderful book is a chronicle of Pakistan's history from a woman's point of view, which has not been done enough in my opinion. I recommend the Upstairs Wife for anyone who is interested in Asian and Middle-Eastern Cultures, Women's Rights, History and global Justice. It is written with authority, weaving in History, personal anecdotes, and a good measure of passion. I thoroughly enjoyed the read, and never once lost interest. Esta reseña ha sido escrita por los Primeros Reseñadores de LibraryThing. Zakaria, a journalist/lawyer/activist, weaves the history of her childhood/aunt/grandmother with that of Pakistan's. Super appreciative of the crash course in Pakistan history&politics since its founding in 1947 - highlighting Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a muslim nation. The narrative centers around her aunt's drama - her husband takes a second wife without her blessing. Everything is interesting and informative. This is the way to write a ... can't figure out how to classify it, which is delightful. Esta reseña ha sido escrita por los Primeros Reseñadores de LibraryThing. In The Upstairs Wife, I was expecting more about Zakaria's family than an in-depth account of Pakistan's birth to its current day Islamic state. Despite the history the narrative came across as truth-based rather than fact-based in most parts. That could've been because of the switching between timelines and POVs. At any rate, being completely new to Pakistan, I was intrigued, shocked, appalled. The parts of the story dealing with Zakaria's Aunt Amina - the intimacy mentioned in the book's title - demonstrated the devastating, de-humanizing effects of polygamy. I don't know how those women do it...Highly recommended to anyone wanting a closer look at Pakistan written by someone who witnessed (some of the) events firsthand. 3.5 stars Side note: I watched the 2010 documentary Bhutto prior to reading this book, which added historical context from a source other than Zakaria. Esta reseña ha sido escrita por los Primeros Reseñadores de LibraryThing. Zakaria gives us a history of Pakistan, and especially of Karachi, tied in with her family's history there and especially her aunt Amina's life after her husband took a second wife. The choice to layer and organize the book in that way was particularly successful, I think.The book is more history than biography/memoir, so if you're looking for a straight memoir of this period in Pakistan I would look for something else. The balance of the book worked very well for me, and through her own and her family's experiences Zakaria is able to keep the focus largely on how individuals are affected, and how individuals in the government have acted and reacted. The result is deeply human history, and an important read right now especially. Certainly recommended. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
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"A memoir of Karachi through the eyes of its women. Rafia Zakaria's Muslim-Indian family immigrated to Pakistan from Bombay in 1962, feeling the situation for Muslims in India was precarious and that Pakistan represented enormous promise. And for some time it did. Her family prospered, and the city prospered. But in the 1980s, Pakistan's military dictators began an Islamization campaign designed to legitimate their rule--a campaign that particularly affected women. The political became personal for Zakaria's family when her Aunt Amina's husband did the unthinkable and took a second wife, a betrayal of kin and custom that shook the foundation of her family. The Upstairs Wife dissects the complex strands of Pakistani history, from the problematic legacies of colonialism to the beginnings of terrorist violence to increasing misogyny, interweaving them with the arc of Amina's life to reveal the personal costs behind ever-more restrictive religious edicts and cultural conventions. As Amina struggles to reconcile with a marriage and a life that had fallen below her expectations, we come to know the dreams and aspirations of the people of Karachi and the challenges of loving it not as an imagined city of Muslim fulfillment but as a real city of contradictions and challenges"-- No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)954.91History and Geography Asia India and South Asia Other South Asia PakistanClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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My Review: I read this book in a dazed state, slightly revolted that a man *can* take a second wife without ridding himself of the first one; utterly stunned that the first wife, unconsulted and apparently not considered in this decision, has no recourse; and appalled at religion's foul, slimy fingers choking yet another country's people into darkness and despair.
What I thought I would read was a memoir tied explicitly to historical developments in Pakistan's life as a country. Instead the author's family's turmoils were centered, and the times in which they occurred...a war in 1962 was the impetus for her family to up sticks from their Bombay home, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination signaled darker political days but her aunt's betrayal bit deeper...were the depressingly appropriate backdrop for the erosion of their collective happiness.
What this read lacked in propulsive plotting it more than made up for in food for fruitful mulling and turning and examining in one's mind. Most definitely a pleasure to have encountered this unique angle on the Rights of Woman honored in the breach not the observance. ( )