Burnt Shadows
Books | Fiction / Literary
4.1
Kamila Shamsie
Kamila Shamsie's Burnt Shadows is a story for our time by "a writer of immense ambition and strength. . . . This is an absorbing novel that commands in the reader a powerful emotional and intellectual response" -Salman Rushdie. Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book AwardAn Orange Prize FinalistNagasaki, August 9, 1945. Hiroko Tanaka watches her lover from the veranda as he leaves. Sunlight streams across Urakami Valley, and then the world goes white.In the devastating aftermath of the atomic bomb, Hiroko leaves Japan in search of new beginnings. From Delhi, amid India's cry for independence from British colonial rule, to New York City in the immediate wake of 9/11, to the novel's astonishing climax in Afghanistan, a violent history casts its shadow the entire world over. Sweeping in its scope and mesmerizing in its evocation of time and place, this is a tale of love and war, of three generations, and three world-changing historic events.
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Author
Kamila Shamsie
Pages
386
Publisher
Macmillan + ORM
Published Date
2009-04-27
ISBN
1429920785 9781429920780
Ratings
Google: 5
Community ReviewsSee all
"I loved this book. The characters were complex and memorable. The author was able to incorporate experiences from multiple continents affected by different wars across multiple decades with both ease and gravity. Addresses deeply imbedded racism and it’s consequences. A story that stays with you. "
A
Alex
"I still haven’t decided at all whether it’s a 3 or 4 stars so I’m giving it a 3 for now, neutral. <br/><br/>This book was a recommendation by a co-worker in our office bookclub. She said this is her favourite book. I don’t see why but hopefully she’ll shed some light when we do the review next week. I was not familiar with the author and this has been the first book I read from her work so I’m giving first impression only. I’ve also ready so much books recently that were set during and after a war (doesn’t matter which one, books that involve war are heavy for me). I was not very thrilled with the ending as well.<br/><br/>I loved how the book was written. Kamila Shamshie has a way with words, metaphors and poetry - a style I love. Her characters were also well built, shows their culture and perspective. For this book, I got overly attached with Hiroko and even with just one chapter of appearance, to Konrad and to how much he has influenced the series of events that lead to the main story. <br/><br/>The best part of the book for me was Raza’s journey from Afghanistan to Montreal. That part evoked emotions even with the short chapters. I’ve always watched and heard of smuggling immigrants but I always thought that reading is more intimate. This, I believe is the first book where I’ve read about it. And if there’s one reason I won’t forget this book, this would be it."
Danica Sarmiento
