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bhurlbut's review against another edition
3.0
After reading the first story in this collection, I set the book aside, unsure of whether I would return to it. The story struck me as an undistinguished, quotidian tale with few redeeming qualities. Some some months later, I picked it up again and found the second story more engaging. It is a mixed collection. All the stories are set in Kathmandu, which I visited several times, so I was familiar with some of the landscape, though most of the stories were set against the unfamiliar background of the years of revolution and turmoil. Some stories were quite good: Beggar Boy, Freak Street, and Dreaming of Ghana were my favorite. Others seemed like filler. The title story, Mad Country, was interesting, but unfulfilling, a disappointment, since it was the story most clearly about the revolution.
beccamcostello's review against another edition
4.0
The first couple stories were hard to get into and I almost gave up on this book. I'm really glad I didn't! The last three or four were really, really good.
schreibratte's review against another edition
3.0
3,5 Sterne zu dieser Kurzgeschichtensammlung eines nepalesischen Autors (der jetzt in Amerika lebt). Mad country bringt dem Leser Nepal und das Leben dort näher und das in sehr realistischen, teilweise sehr deprimierenden Geschichten. Die Lebensrealität der Nepalesen atmet aus jeder Story, vermischt mit Amerika (als Hippie-/Touristen oder in der Story "America the great equalizer", in der ein nepalesischer Student in Amerika lebt) und manchmal Afrika.
Einige der Geschichten sind sehr eindrücklich. Besonders beeindruckt haben mich die über Rassismus in den USA (mit sehr kritischen Zügen den Southeast-Asians gegenüber, die obwohl sie selbst Rassismus erfahren, in der Story fleißig mitmachen gegenüber den Schwarzen) und die einer politisch Gefangenen im nepalesischen Bürgerkrieg. Mit ein paar anderen konnte ich dagegen nicht so viel anfangen, wobei sie alle geholfen haben, das Leben in Nepal besser zu verstehen. Entsprechend würde ich die Lektüre auf jeden Fall empfehlen. Es ist jedoch nicht die leichteste Lektüre emotional - sprachlich für jeden, der auf Englisch liest, kein Problem. Einzelne nepalesische Ausdrücke werden immer erklärt oder können aus dem Kontext verstanden werden.
Einige der Geschichten sind sehr eindrücklich. Besonders beeindruckt haben mich die über Rassismus in den USA (mit sehr kritischen Zügen den Southeast-Asians gegenüber, die obwohl sie selbst Rassismus erfahren, in der Story fleißig mitmachen gegenüber den Schwarzen) und die einer politisch Gefangenen im nepalesischen Bürgerkrieg. Mit ein paar anderen konnte ich dagegen nicht so viel anfangen, wobei sie alle geholfen haben, das Leben in Nepal besser zu verstehen. Entsprechend würde ich die Lektüre auf jeden Fall empfehlen. Es ist jedoch nicht die leichteste Lektüre emotional - sprachlich für jeden, der auf Englisch liest, kein Problem. Einzelne nepalesische Ausdrücke werden immer erklärt oder können aus dem Kontext verstanden werden.
easytocrash's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ari76's review against another edition
2.0
A solid 2 stars, maybe even 2.5. Mad Country contains eight short stories that center the experiences of Nepali individuals grappling with culture, intersection of identity, and ultimately, themselves. The stories take place within and outside of the borders of Nepal though the country as a thematic undercurrent to each one. I enjoyed this book because it exposed me to a place I know very little about from different perspectives. Freak Street, America the Great Equalizer and elements of Beggar Boy were among the most riveting in this collection. In Freak Street, Upadhyay skillfully addresses a situation in which a Caucasian girl comes to Nepal to find herself, her truth and most notably, a physical and spiritual home. He presents situations in which she asks to be renamed and wants to simply "blend in" while continuously coming into contact with resistance, skepticism, and unfortunately sexual violence because of her social identities. As a person interested in the complexities behind the "Eat. Pray. Love." narrative where (typically white) individuals leave their homes, visit another country and come back whole, it was an intriguing read with more nuance than I expected. While the author mentions colorism in nearly every story, its pairing with anti-Blackness in America the Great Equalizer was striking. I feel that story was the strongest in exemplifying inner turmoil, the internal strife of "people of color" narratives and how oppression can make the oppressed suspicious of one another rather than their oppressor. Compared to Dreaming of Ghana, a story I only appreciated for its commentary on anti-Blackness, America the Great Equalizer was steeped in truth and complexity. In comparison, Dreaming of Ghana was rooted in a confusing plot line, a non-agentic female character and a conclusion that gets lost in the pages. Beggar Boy has a similar flawed, detached protagonist of the other stories in the collection, but the nebulous commentary on queerness combined with the outcome kept me engaged to the end.
astrangewind's review against another edition
5.0
Although fictional, these stories are devastatingly real. Despite larger events occurring during the time periods of these stories, such as Ferguson, the characters are not defined by them; they have their own lives and worries that are influenced, sure, but not overwhelmed by such events. Being arrested as a political prisoner for advocating for another or a general air of racism - life and heartbreak and suffering still go on. These stories are just a peek into the character's lives, as though the reader can only ever witness a glimpse of who they are, get to know them for only a few pages, watch them fail and learn and hurt.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Racism, Confinement, and Abandonment
Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicide, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Police brutality, and Kidnapping
rachel_reece's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a cultural experience! As a tourist, my experience was that Nepal and its people are so beautiful. These stories offered a different perspective, of a glimpse into social issues in Nepal and affecting Nepalis abroad. The stories give more life to things I learned while in Nepal, and to things I've been told by friends from that part of the world.
manugummi's review against another edition
3.0
“.... she was not restricted to her body or her mind. Even laughter (and she laughed often) came from a different, liberated place”
lauren_endnotes's review against another edition
4.0
Upadhyay's story collection incorporates larger themes of political unrest, class and race struggles, and personal and institutional freedoms (freedom of speech, free press, etc.) Through seven stories and one longer self-described novella, we see these notions in both Upadhyay's native Nepal, and his now-home, the US.
Many of the stories have a amorphous dream-like quality that made me question whether the events were truly happening. The novella "Dreaming of Ghana" was most notable for this. A Nepali man begins having vivid dreams of (what he believes is) Ghana. He soon meets a woman who he believes to be from Ghana and almost instantly falls in love with her. As readers, we question whether this woman is real, and wonder if the narrator is reliable. No definitive answers, but still a unique and compelling story.
Upadhyay's political stories ("Fast Forward", the eponymous "Mad Country", and "America the Great Equalizer") introduce a strong narrator and the events that surround them, unrest, struggle, and suppression. In "Fast Forward", we see a plot to suppress a reporter and a magazine from reporting on the government, "Mad Country" carries the weight of political dissidence and and imprisonment, and "America the Great Equalizer" follows a Nepali man living in Missori during the riots of Ferguson, Missouri after the murder of Michael Brown in 2014.
Mad Country is a strong collection, and I'd recommend it for short story lovers, and anyone wanting to learn more about Nepal.
**I talk about this one on Ep 123 of Reading Envy: Godlets and Forests. Check it out!
Many of the stories have a amorphous dream-like quality that made me question whether the events were truly happening. The novella "Dreaming of Ghana" was most notable for this. A Nepali man begins having vivid dreams of (what he believes is) Ghana. He soon meets a woman who he believes to be from Ghana and almost instantly falls in love with her. As readers, we question whether this woman is real, and wonder if the narrator is reliable. No definitive answers, but still a unique and compelling story.
Upadhyay's political stories ("Fast Forward", the eponymous "Mad Country", and "America the Great Equalizer") introduce a strong narrator and the events that surround them, unrest, struggle, and suppression. In "Fast Forward", we see a plot to suppress a reporter and a magazine from reporting on the government, "Mad Country" carries the weight of political dissidence and and imprisonment, and "America the Great Equalizer" follows a Nepali man living in Missori during the riots of Ferguson, Missouri after the murder of Michael Brown in 2014.
Mad Country is a strong collection, and I'd recommend it for short story lovers, and anyone wanting to learn more about Nepal.
**I talk about this one on Ep 123 of Reading Envy: Godlets and Forests. Check it out!