A Case of Exploding Mangoes in Around the World

Nov 14, 2010 Nazmi Yaakub rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sastera, novel, satira, pakistan

BARANGKALI inilah antara novel yang awal-awal lagi sudah memberikan spoiler tetapi spoilernya tidak mengganggu pembacanya, bahkan memberikan lebih elemen suspens. Ini kerana kita sudah tahu kesudahan A Case of Exploding Mangoes, -Jeneral Zia-ul-Haq mati, kapal terbangnya terhempas- tetapi kita tetap berasa suspens untuk menghabiskannya. Di sinilah letaknya kelebihan Mohammed Hanif kerana judulnya saja sudah bikin kita tertanya-tanya tentang apa kejadahnya buah mempelam yang meletup!

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Aug 26, 2012 Rusalka rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: around-the-world, asia, own, original-52-books-around-the-world, ylto-alphabet, military-fiction, lgbti

I need to start reading the backs of books.I was convinced that this book was about a Pakistani family and their hilarious drama. So I spent the first 30 pages reading waiting for this to start, then read the back of the book. My thought straight away was, "You've bloody done it again". You would have thought that I had learnt from my Iran read. But hellz no! Learning from experience is for losers. Or something. /sigh

Ah well, on with the show. What the book is really about, is the sudden firey, I need to start reading the backs of books.I was convinced that this book was about a Pakistani family and their hilarious drama. So I spent the first 30 pages reading waiting for this to start, then read the back of the book. My thought straight away was, "You've bloody done it again". You would have thought that I had learnt from my Iran read. But hellz no! Learning from experience is for losers. Or something. /sigh

Ah well, on with the show. What the book is really about, is the sudden firey, airplaney death of the Pakistani President/Dictator in 1988 and the circumstances, imagined and real, surrounding it. This is not a spoiler by the way. You're told this happens on the first page. And the back of the book, which is why I frequently don't read them.

We are following the story of a Pakistani officer and his arrest as his roommate goes AWOL. Ali Shigri, tells us what happens to him during his interrogations and imprisonment. But we also flick between him, and none other than Mr President himself, and the people and events that surround him.

It was again a very well written book. I can definitely see why it made it on the mixed blessing Booker Longlist in 2008. It just wasn't a subject matter that interests me. Actually, that isn't entirely true. The political, societal and religious themes very much interest me. Shigri is a drill commander though, and drill bores me. Military things bore me. I'm the daughter of a short time Naval Officer (I got in the way of that) and a career Submariner in two different Navys, but military things, especially things like drill and parade and chest puffing and displays of tanks... *snore*

I'm actually striking it pretty lucky this year. While the subject matter has not always been up my alley, the vast majority of my books this year are really, incredibly well written. I feel like I should like them out of respect for the authors. And it is what has made me persevere with them. I want to know where the story goes as I am lead there by the writing, not because I am entirely riveted by the story itself.

But the benefit to that is I have no hesitation recommending this on to people who are into that kinda thing. If you like military mysteries or historical fiction, read it. If you like people in stupid uniforms calling each other Sir and obeying their commands with no hesitation because of a small bit of cloth or metal makes them better apparently, then go for it! Even if you are not, like me obviously, then still feel free to give it a go, as there is enough to pull you through. Especially if you like mangoes, as that bothers you right until the end. What on earth is with the mangoes?

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Apr 26, 2016 Nick rated it liked it

Mohammed Hanif's "A Case of Exploding Mangoes" is a novelistic exploration of the still-unexplained death of General Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, in a 1988 airplane crash The story is told from the perspective of several characters, most notably, especially at the beginning, between that of Ali Shigri, a young officer bent on avenging the "suicide", which he blames on the President, and that of General Zia ul-Haq himself. In Hanif's retelling of the events leading up to the accident, there Mohammed Hanif's "A Case of Exploding Mangoes" is a novelistic exploration of the still-unexplained death of General Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, in a 1988 airplane crash The story is told from the perspective of several characters, most notably, especially at the beginning, between that of Ali Shigri, a young officer bent on avenging the "suicide", which he blames on the President, and that of General Zia ul-Haq himself. In Hanif's retelling of the events leading up to the accident, there is no shortage of people, some but not all fictional, who wished to remove the General from the scene. The overwhelming atmosphere of corruption and conspiracy is understandable, given the times: General Zia ul-Haq was busy using the Americans to fund and arm a war against the Soviets in Afghanistan (he appears in the movie "Charlie Wilson's War", coolly citing his Islamic beliefs when Tom Hanks' Wilson asks him for a drink). The Pakistani intelligence service was deeply involved in Afghanistan, where it would eventually have a strong hand in the facilitation, if not creation, of the Taliban, which seemed to arise out of nowhere but quickly gained access to arms and transport. Zia ul-Haq staged a coup against the sitting President, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Benazir's father), then had him tried for murder and executed. So it was an era of even greater conspiracy than usual. That said, not all of the plots are convincing. That probably does not matter to Hanif. The novel's goals seem to be an atmosphere of venality, scheming and betrayal, moved along by vigorous prose in the Shigri chapters, and a cast of indelible characters, including military types, a blind woman sentenced to death for being raped, an imprisoned labor organizer, and even Zia ul-Haq's wife (who is very lively, but, like the rest of the characters who are real, including the American ambassador and several generals, raise credibility issues). The American characters seem lifeless; perhaps Western diplomatic types in Islamic societies are. But the real glaring difficulty with the book is the character of President Zia-ul-Haq himself, indecisive and remote, not at all what one expects of a man who balanced Washington and Afghan tribesmen, who seized the government, arranged for his predecessor to be hanged, and held onto power for more than a decade and longer than anyone else in Pakistani history. Perhaps Zia-ul-Haq was tired by the end of his life and despairing of finding a way out, as sometimes happens to long-term dictators, but the book does not really sell that vision very well. On the other hand, the book is not really about Zia-ul-Haq; it is about the country where he succeeded but died. ...more

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