The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad

Blurb (from the jacket):

Winner of the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize

Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and the Man Asian Literary Prize 

‘Superb. The work of a gifted storyteller who has lived in the world of his fiction, and who offers his readers rare insight, wisdom and—above all—pleasure’ - Mohsin Hamid

The Wandering Falcon is the unforgettable story of a boy known as Tor Baz—the black falcon—who wanders between tribes in the remote tribal areas where Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet, defying his fate and surviving against all odds. The world he inhabits is fragile, and unforgiving, one that is fast changing as it confronts modernity. In Jamil Ahmed’s award-winning debut, this highly traditional, honour-bound culture is revealed from the inside for the first time with vivid colour and imagination.

My take on the book:

Another addition to our collection of Shaki Bhatt First Book Prize Winners.

The book was in my wishlist for quite some time now, for its blurb. A year or maybe two. But I never ventured to actually buy it. Until recently, when I came to learn of the Shakti Bhatt prize that is given to awarded to debut authors, and learnt that this book has been a winner! Well, I bought the book right away and when I received it, felt that it was rather thin. Must be a quick read.

It hardly took two sitting to complete reading this book. I am pretty dazed by it. Seriously, the book  had a very strong effect on me. It was as if a Fantasy novel. A story of some other dimension and world, where nothing is like we all know. The lives of the remote tribes on the border of Afghanistan - or Pakistan - is far from sufficient. Their strive would make you introspect on your own worries and problems; in comparison to their's your struggle would start to appeal as puny and childish.

The blurb is a bit misleading. Of course, Tor Baz appears in almost all the stories, but there is littler part of him in the entire big. The book is rather a collection of short stories. Different tribal stories in each chapter, with very little similarities - for instance, the similarities could be like, they are all tribal stories and Tor Baz makes his appearance every now and then in almost all the stories and that's all. The similarities end there. 

Their struggle, their way of life, everything is so soothingly narrated you can't let go off it unless you complete reading the book. Maybe, you will re-read it.

Never ever I had contemplated that struggles and so miserable a life could be so pleasantly delivered. Seriously, I can't help but salute the author for this masterpiece of a work.

A milestone in the literary circle...

                 

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Title: The Wandering Falcon

Author: Jamil Ahmad

ISBN (edition I've read): 9780143419129

Rating:

Read between: 07-05-2014 to 08-05-2014

Publishers: Penguin Publishers

Pages: 181

MRP: ₹ 299

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