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A review by mohsints
Karachi, You're Killing Me! by Saba Imtiaz
4.0
This isn't a "serious" book, and it's not meant to be, which makes it so charming to read. Imtiaz has written a fun, fast-paced novel that while not exactly "literature", is an enjoyable piece of fiction, rooted in a healthy helping of fact. Many of the "reviews" here seem to be curiously obsessed with the idea that by writing about alcohol (apparently, too much), sex (apparently too little) and other things that "don't happen" in Pakistan, Imtiaz's novel is somehow not good.
The thing though is, that it is rather good. It's greatly entertaining, despite a reasonably predictable plot line, and not because it's a rom-com, but because it does a great job of depicting a very real side of life in Karachi, whether that's boozing it up at restaurants on Zamzama, somehow confusing the length of a hemline with an act of political rebellion, or being forced to fight through hordes of socialites at a clothing exhibition.
If you're not from Karachi (alternatively, if you've never actually left your house and live under the illusion that somehow certain things just don't happen in the Land of the Pure), you may not necessarily be as amused by this book as I was. But the lack of pretence and artifice is what makes this novel so easy to enjoy. It doesn't pretend to be satire (if you've ever worked as a journalist in Karachi, you may have flashbacks); nor does it aspire to cultural criticism. It's just a light-hearted good book...and frankly, those are in short supply.
The thing though is, that it is rather good. It's greatly entertaining, despite a reasonably predictable plot line, and not because it's a rom-com, but because it does a great job of depicting a very real side of life in Karachi, whether that's boozing it up at restaurants on Zamzama, somehow confusing the length of a hemline with an act of political rebellion, or being forced to fight through hordes of socialites at a clothing exhibition.
If you're not from Karachi (alternatively, if you've never actually left your house and live under the illusion that somehow certain things just don't happen in the Land of the Pure), you may not necessarily be as amused by this book as I was. But the lack of pretence and artifice is what makes this novel so easy to enjoy. It doesn't pretend to be satire (if you've ever worked as a journalist in Karachi, you may have flashbacks); nor does it aspire to cultural criticism. It's just a light-hearted good book...and frankly, those are in short supply.