Mini-Book Review: A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Yikes! This is waaay overdue (sorry about that) The Mini-Book Expo concept is simple, yet I managed to blow Rule # 4:

Blog it.

* Post something about the book within a month of getting it

So, without further ado, here’s my mini review!

Title: A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Author: Mohammed Hanif
Publisher: Random House (Canada)

Quick Takes

Pre-read thoughts: This might be interesting. A newsy event (death of Pakistan’s leader) related as a mystery. And other reviews seem to think it mildly amusing. Who knows, I may learn something.

Part-way through: This is one weird-ass book.  There’s not enough of a distinction, so maybe the humour is subtle. Yeah, that’s it. Or ironic satire…hmm, but wait, it’s based on reality so maybe there’s something here. I mean, our main character (the son of a disgraced (or not) famous general) is variably infatuated with a military academy room-mate who’s gone AWOL.

Then there’s this crow. A cursed crow. A crow carrying a curse against the dictator of the country!

Basically, there’s a lot of motivation in a lot of characters built up by this point. But the pace of the plot development was slow! I could have ridden a Pakistani Pachyderm faster than this book developed. Or maybe that was deliberate — an invisible homage to the slower pace of life in Pakistan.

But I’m still engaged, that’s a good thing.

The End: Ok. It’s over. Not a bad read. I learned a bit more about Pakistan. I learned more about the events surrounding the death of General Zia. I learned that I could read a book that wasn’t a fast-paced Tom Clancey action adventure, and still pull some enjoyment from it.

My Take: Frankly, not my cup of tea. It was an interesting read, especially over the summer, but not my normal fare. I found myself wanting to skip ahead as the plot unfolded; yet hesitant to do so as there was the promise of brilliance here. Meh, it didn’t happen.