A review by theredheded_bibliomaniac
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.5

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 Raw Writing is commendable no doubt
 But there are many triggers
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 Trigger warning : Description of sexual assaults are repeated
 And many curse words
 And definitely sad and emotional
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 Third star for the climax..
 👆This I wrote in my Goodreads review yesterday and today I realised while discussing the book with mom (mom has also read it long ago) that it was kind off filmy.
 Like the guy is totally useless in the whole book and in the end Bam ...(won't say the spoiler)
 The book was ok.
 But I can't bear the 4 page description of Rain..
 Also it's total fiction
 I think many things are over exaggerated
 (Like specially to make people feel it)
 Along with rain there is too much  description of nature and surroundings.
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 Why do the editors and publishers don't want people to feel the Indianness
 Why can't they used local words
 For example Ghee, why to change it some English name to attract foreigners.
 Infact when more Indian words will be used it will feel More Indian and it will be like knowing Indian culture why can't they do it that way and then add glossary and there write that Ghee means Purified butter.
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 When a book is based in a particular country they should have the Indianness which will make foreigners read it and to know the culture more deeply.
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 Now have you ever seen anyone translate the meaning of "Tiramisu" so that everyone in world will understand it ...?
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 One more example is "Charsobees" and here the charsobees doesn't mean 420 the number, it means a cunning person...but They wrote 420 in the book..
 Now tell me will someone who is not Indian and is reading it then will he get the meaning by reading 420...infact he won't even get the meaning by googling 420 ..
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 I mean why ...?
 Please use Indian words for Indian slangs & local words and explain it in Glossary ..
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 Explaining what happend after independence in 1947 in a particular village where news were news reached rarely and how police did not act and how the minds of villagers changed with slight provocation was a good thing in the book 
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And yeah I was scared like what will happen in end 
I was relieved that I didnt happen but actually that thing happend in reality and 
 It was shameful to read that part of History. 
 It was also one massacre in those times of partition that lost most lives..
 There are things which are over exaggerated and there are things which were important to be shown and were totally ignored.
 And that book is Indian classic...
 What more I can say
 I know it's a fiction but when it's historical fiction let's not show half history 
 (Few things which Indians did were excluded from the book, maybe he might have faced criticisms for it, I don't know his reasons but then it seems half baked story) 
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 What I think is this book is pretty famous for its bold language ..
 And even after being Bold it doesn't speak much about the reality 
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 You can read the book as fiction don't consider the it for real facts ..


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