A Case of Exploding Mangoes

While it might help, you don't really need to know about Pakistan's history to really enjoy this book. Mohammed Hanif has the ability to make you care about varied characters, even the purported villains. Ali Shigri is the main character, but the book is written from the points of view of multiple characters, which removes it from a narrow tale about revenge, into a much broader story encompassing as many concerns as there are characters. I found that I was eager to get to each chapter to see what new layer would be revealed about the story. Additionally, Hanif's sardonic humor actually had me laughing out loud. I am generally not fond of political novels, but if more were as well written as this, I'd probably change my mind.

Wickedly funny, acerbic wit, well narrated plot, reasonably fast pacing, though it does drag somewhat in the middle. The mention of a mysterious character named OBL will appeal to the conspiratorial bent of many in the west, while the foibles of those in power will be more than familiar to people in the sub-continent. The book is a work of fiction, written by a Pakistani author, about real characters. By way of a short historical background, General Zia Ul Haq was dictator and President of Pakistan from 1977 to his death in a plane crash (or explosion) in 1988. He took over power by overthrowing the democratically elected government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he then got arrested, tried on a murder charge, and hanged. Zia also introduced the Shariat in Pakistan, set the Pakistani army down the path of religious indoctrination, actively encouraged and financed not-so-nice activities in India, helped the US effort in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, and backed Pakistan's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons technology. This book is a sort of a reimagining, a fictional take on what could have been - based on the popular opinion that Zia did not die in an accident, but was done in by one of his own men in the army, or the CIA, or the ISI, or some other unknown unknowns, who could not sit around waiting for the good General to be done in by someone else. " Before morning payers on 15 June 1988, General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq's index finger hesitated on verse 21:87 while reading the Quran, and he spent the rest of his short life dreaming about the innards of a whale. The verse also triggered a security alert that confined General Zia to his official residence, the Army house. Two months and two days later, he left the Army House and was killed in an aeroplane crash. " There are two plots that proceed in parallel, one that follows Zia and his daily grind, and one that is in the past, narrated in the first tense by Ali Shigri, a soon-to-be commissioned officer and Air Force pilot, who along with his friend Obaid plots manically to do in the General. Shigri also strives to find out what happened to his father, Colonel Shigri, who had allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself, and to avenge his death. As the chapters proceed, the two plots converge - to the day that Zia is killed in a plane crash. Thrown into the plot are dozens of cases of mangoes, a famished crow who doubles up as a messenger carrying a gory curse uttered, nay, spat out by a blind woman condemned to be stoned to death and who blames Zia for her plight, Zia's wife who is just about fed up with her oh-so-pious husband, Major Kiyani of the ISI, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, and one anonymous esteemed guest in the construction business and who also happens to be involved with Afghanistan at the time and is introduced in the book only by his initials - OBL - surprise surprise, an imprisoned secretary general of the sweeper's union, and what have you. " On General Zia's lef

This whirlwind of a book follows Junior Officer Ali Shigri of the Pakistan Air Force as he entangles himself in the complicated world of national politics. A host of colorful characters all seem to be working against each other, seeking revenge, glory, power, and sometimes even love. Throughout the mayhem, Mohammed Hanif sprinkles a generous amount of satire. Military medals are "fruit salad" on a uniform shirt and the Quran becomes a fortune-telling tool, for example. Although the action unfolds far from the U.S., many of this book's themes will resonate with U.S. readers. This is a political thriller told on a very personal level. I connected with many of the characters, and this connection is what kept me quickly turning the pages even though I don't typically enjoy political books. Despite the complicated, interwoven plot lines and the many characters, this is not a messy, sprawling book but rather a tightly controlled performance. I had no difficulty following the action, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Highly recommended.

Absolutely hilarious book that had me laughing out loud. A very fast and very fun read. Highly recommended.

This debut novel by Mohammed Hanif is witty, humorous and entertaining. What is astonishing about this novel is that many of its characters are real; a few of its important characters were alive until a decade ago, but have since departed. Also, many of the incidents and events narrated in this novel actually happened, and so those are based on fact; but the author has chosen to interpret these actions and events with humor, and painted them with unabashed sarcasm, and colored them with prodigious wit, and thereby he has transformed the grave incidents into very funny vignettes. At the center of the novel is the death of Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, who was president of Pakistan from 1978 to 1988. On August 17, 1988, a C-130 Hercules plane carrying Zia ul-Haq crashes. On board were several Pakistani army generals, Arnold Raphel, the US Ambassador to Pakistan and the head of the US military aid mission to Pakistan, and all of them perish. They were returning to Islamabad from Punjab, where they had been to witness a tank demonstration. A few crates of ripe mangoes were loaded onto the plane before take off. Did one of the crates contain a canister of poison gas? The author wonders. The main narrator of the novel is Ali Shigri, an Air Force Junior Officer, in the Pakistani Military. Ali Shigri's father, Col. Quili Shigri, has committed suicide, but Ali is convinced that his father did not commit suicide, and that he was actually murdered by General Zia. And so quite determined to kill the general, Ali hatches an elaborate plan to carry it. In a very funny vignette, a lanky, bearded young man named OBL from Saudi Arabia attends a Fourth of July party given by Arnold Raphel in Islamabad. (He was invited to the party by the Americans!) OBL works for "Laden and Co. Constructions." Among the invited guests is the local C.I.A. chief, who tells Osama, "Nice meeting you, OBL. Good work, keep it up." There is also an astonishing vignette about Zainab, a blind woman who is convicted of the crime of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning, even though the adultery occurred when she was gang-raped. (I have read a similar incident in another Islamic country. There was international protest when the woman who was raped was sentenced to death by stoning.) Mohammed Hanif's prose is spare but lucid. Even though it lacks the grandeur and splendor of Yann Martel's or Salman Rushdie's prose, it is spontaneous and highly readable: "Anybody who breaks down at the sheer volume of this should stay in his little village and tend his father's goats or should study biology and become a doctor, and then they can have all the bloody peace and quiet they want. Because as a soldier, noise is the first thing you learn to defend yourself against, and as an officer, noise is the first weapon of attack you learn to use." Because the author worked for the Pakistani Air Force for several years, his descriptions of army life and how Pakistan's army officers behave sound real