Mitchell Zuckoff's "Lost in Shangri-La"

Mitchell Zuckoff's adventure non-fiction "Lost in Shangri-La" is an unputdownable book that chronicles the true survival story of American soldiers during WWII. Those soldiers got lost in the dense forest of New Guinea while going for an aerial visit to the beautiful and forbidding "lost land" dubbed "Shangri-La". Their plane crashed and all but three soldiers - one female and two male soldiers - survived the crash. How these three people manage to live off scanty resources, weather the conditions, make do with horrible wounds, befriend the natives, wait for the rescue mission and ultimately get rescued builds up to a compelling narrative from start to end. The cultural encounter with the natives has been presented in a wonderful manner. American soldiers had heard that these natives were cannibalistic savages but they turn out to be helpful and peaceful people who try their best in easing the survivors' ordeal. Thinking that the white people were spirits who came down from the sky, the natives treat them with fear at the beginning but later begin accepting them. With the wit and endurance of Lieutenant McCollom, the survivors manage to ultimately get safe passage to home. Zuckoff has shown that he has conducted a painstaking research into the subject matter and has presented his research findings dexterously in words that evoke vivid images of the land. This story is a pleasant diversion from the violent narrative of the World War. A good read.   

Mohsin Hamid's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist"

Mohsin Hamid's explosive novel "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" features the story of a brilliant  Pakistani  student of Finance in the prestigious Princeton University who excels in education as well as in his job but some higher calling towards his native roots dominates his existence after the cataclysmic event of 9/11 attacks. Changez is an affable and polite man, able to win the heart of any person who comes across him. His boss is very happy with his performance and assigns him challenging duties with handsome salary. His beloved, Erica, introduces him to her family and the New York elite. Changez seems have got everything in life. But out of the blue two planes crash into World Trade Tower and the event changes everything. Changez has to sustain hostile stares from Americans and Erica starts having neurotic problems. The post 9/11 America harks back to jingoism and xenophobia and Erica starts living in the past when she was in love with her former boyfriend Chris who died of blood cancer long ago. She goes far away from Changez but he still nurtures love for her. Changez is angry with the American government when it starts bombing innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq. He grows beard, performs badly in his job and irritates everyone. Eventually he returns to Pakistan and becomes a fundamentalist but not a core fanatic.

The novel is told in dramatic monologue style in the tradition of Robert Browning. Changez is in conversation with an American in a Lahore cafe throughtout the narrative and he is recalling his time in America to that American. The interlocutor makes his presence felt to the reader when Changez reports his uneasiness time and again during the conversation. This style is brilliant as the unknown individual American represents the whole America and Changez has many things to tell the Americans. There are sharp satirical observations against Americans in pithy sentences. The identity crisis of an immigrant is captured adroitly by the writer in lines like, "I belong neither to New York, nor to Lahore". Hamid has a commendable command over the language and the novel is a smooth read. It is short and engaging. There are many books retelling post 9/11 experiences but this one stands above the rest. Recommended!

Khaled Hosseini's "And the Mountains Echoed"

In his new novel "And the Mountains Echoed", Khaled Hosseini continues with his skill of telling simple stories of ordinary humans in a heart-touching manner. Rarely comes a book which touches both the heart and the mind of the reader and Hosseini's book does the same.

It is very difficult to summarize the novel because it covers a vast territory with many stories and characters. The separate stories of diverse characters in Afghanistan, France, Greece and the US are beautiful mosaics of a brilliant plot. The story revolves around separated siblings and the whole life journey that they traverse in Afghanistan and beyond. Saboor is a man gifted with the power of story-telling. His two children Abdullah and Pari listen to his stories before retiring to the bed every night. These two siblings are strongly attached to each other but fate ordains them to be separated only to meet after a long long time. There are many other stories of other characters interconnected with one another. Nabi, Parwana, Nila Wahdati, Markos, Thalia, Timur, Idris, and others have their own stories and Hosseini warmly tells all their tales. Each character is clearly defined.

The love for Hosseini's birth nation, Afghanistan, comes across wonderfully in the narrative. He is traumatized by the pillage perpetrated by petty politicians on his beloved country.  

The relation between parents and children, the status of immigrants, the plight of females in patriarchal societies and many other issues have been dealt with in the course of the narrative with commendable dexterity.

However, I felt that some parts could have been shortened in the novel, especially the story of Markos and Thalia. At times the novel becomes too saccharine. But apart from these minor pitfalls, this is a must read novel. Recommended!