L'œuvre de Mirza Waheed explore l'interaction complexe de l'identité et de l'appartenance au milieu des troubles politiques et des conflits. Il possède une capacité remarquable à saisir les subtilités de la psychologie humaine et à dépeindre avec une profonde empathie des personnages aux prises avec des pressions externes. Par sa prose magistrale et son talent narratif, Waheed explore des thèmes tels que la perte, la mémoire et la recherche de sens en des temps troublés. Ses romans offrent un examen profondément émouvant de la résilience et de la vulnérabilité humaines.
The story revolves around a retired surgeon in London, Dr. K, who is anticipating a visit from his estranged daughter. As he prepares for this meeting, he contemplates his past decisions and the sacrifices he made in pursuit of his lifelong ambitions. The narrative delves into themes of family, regret, and the emotional toll of professional dedication, highlighting the complexities of father-daughter relationships and the weight of unspoken truths.
*Shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016* Mirza Waheed's extraordinary new novel The Book of Gold Leaves is a heartbreaking love story set in war-torn Kashmir. In an ancient house in the city of Srinagar, Faiz paints exquisite Papier Mache pencil boxes for tourists. Evening is beginning to slip into night when he sets off for the shrine. There he finds the woman with the long black hair. Roohi is prostrate before her God. She begs for the boy of her dreams to come and take her away. Roohi wants a love story. An age-old tale of love, war, temptation, duty and choice, The Book of Gold Leaves is a heartbreaking tale of a what might have been, what could have been, if only. 'I loved it. The voice is lyrical, to match the beauty of Kashmir, and yet it is tinged with melancholy and grief, as is the story it tells' Nadeem Aslam (on The Collaborator) 'Waheed's prose burns with the fever of anger and despair; the scenes in the valley are exceptional, conveying, a hallucinatory living nightmare that has become an everyday reality for Kashmiris' Metro (on The Collaborator).
Four teenagers disappear from their calm lives of playing cricket and singing Bollywood songs by the riverside and find themselves on the opposite side of the border, in Pakistan. There, they become a part of the movement against the Indian army, disillusioned with the Indian Army s attempts to secure peace. The harsh reality of war and the toll it takes on the people drive them to join the separatist movement, to find a better peace for the valley. Truly evocative and artistic in its ability to stir readers emotions, this is a coming-of-age story rooted in the stark insensitivity of humanity s desire for war and conflict.
