In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

This is a masterfully written book telling a series of beautiful, interwoven stories about everyday life in Pakistan. The writing is simply fantastic. While reading this book, I truly felt like I had been transported to Pakistan and was right there along with all the characters. The author does a great job of giving you a real feel for Pakistan without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. The stories move along at a measured, enjoyable pace while readers feel like they have a good grasp of what its like to walk in the shoes of the various characters. I can't say enough good things about the writing. I have found that nowadays it is very difficult to find such beautifully written books, but this certainly is one of them.The stories are a series of loosely connected ones revolving around a wealthy landowners in Pakistan. There is a story about the landowner, one about one of his servants, another about a nephew and so on and so forth. The stories don't really follow each other and have no connection other than the fact that all the characters have some connection to the landowner. The stories tackle issues of wealth and the grand and ostentatious lives that the wealthy in Pakistan lead, issues of poverty and how the servant class struggles with daily life and is entirely dependent on the wealthy class for their livelihood, women and their daily struggles with life and motherhood and much, much more.This is a fascinating glimpse into Pakistani society, the extreme divide between the classes, the rampant corruption in the system and lives of women and their dependence on men for livelihood and respectability.Because these are short stories, you are left wondering what happens to many of the characters, yet this book is truly worth reading.

A beautiful collection of short stories by a Pakistani writer, stories that don't flinch from showing the corruption and perils of living in that country for all but the very rich and lucky. The chasms--between rich and poor, native Pakistanis and foreigners, women and men, even between virtue and vice--seem to be at the heart of the stories, which are loosely linked around a wealthy landowner named Harouni. Some of the stories are told from the point of view of women, usually unlucky ones, who know what they have to do to live above the poverty line--it invariably involves becoming the mistress of a wealthy older man--but whose support systems are never more than fragile and transitory. The class system is everywhere evident, though it is not mentioned directly. People know their place in the hierarchy and do their best.The depiction of life in the shantytowns, or, a cut above, at the servants' level--there are many levels within the servant class alone--are vivid and fascinating to read; without cliché, they ring true and contain surprises. There are no purely bad or good characters; the delight is in the nuances. A poor man builds a transient home for himself which is too small to stand up in, but he's clever, and the tiny dwelling has some charm.In my favorite story, Nawabdin Electrician, the protagonist is the local electrician, who knows everything there is to know about bootleg wiring and is therefore extremely valuable to his village. The scene in which he talks his boss into buying him a motorbike is a work of art; and we are treated to many other examples of the clever manipulations of the serving class. The bosses aren't fooled, and the whole system of favors is as well established as any set of written law. But people can fall through the cracks so easily, and you come away with a picture of a huge underclass of people whose lives and welfare, no matter how sharp their wits, hang by a thread.

This is a very well-written, entertaining, and enjoyable set of eightinterlocking stories of varying lengths. It's slim, easy to read, andyet evokes characters and settings richly and well. All of thestories are connected in some way to the wealthy Harouni family, wherethey owned land for a century that is now being sold off to supportthem. Not only the wealthy family members come to life -- we also seetheir servants, spouses, and other connections. The author seems toput us inside their relationships, especially romantic ones. Theclass differences between the wealthy dilettantes and the strivingpoor are clear, but all are prone to corruption and taking whateverthey can. The area around the lovely city of Lahore where most of thestories take place comes to life. The stories are mostly set in the80s, before life there became subject to corruption. So real arethese people to me that I can't help wondering where they've ended upnow that so much has changed. My favorite story was the longest one,"Lily", where we experience a relationship begin, result in marriage,and then experience the couple's disappointment with each other.Both men and women are deeply described. The author turns phrasesbeautifully, and made me wish that one could return to Lahore. I lookforward to reading his work in the future, and recommend this book highlyto anyone interested in Pakistan, or just in great stories of life there.

Mueenuddin’s skilful story-telling is richly grounded in a Pakistan in the throes of modernization. Memorable evocations of place and person issue in a loosely linked series of stories, with the longest, “Lily”, affording dark comment on the rest.

Wonderful depiction of the class system in Pakistan and how each survives Highly recommend it to readers interested in that society or any society in which there is an acute imbalance of power and wealth

A very descriptive and well written book. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Gets more interesting half way through. Would enjoy reading more from the author.

This collection of short stories, set in and around modern day Lahore, captures the very different experiences of rich land-owning Pakistanis and poor, impoverished indentured servants. Each story traces events particular to one individual. Several end unexpectedly, leaving the reader to ponder on the - mostly unhappy - life experiences and behaviours of the main characters. The book evokes the inner thoughts and lives of the characters and presents an intriguing set of insights into the choices and life chances of the better off, and haphazardness of the lot of those born into the lower echelons of Pakistani society. The stories are linked by a common thread, but each stands alone. It was an interesting book, worth reading but as other reviewers have said, hard to say you enjoyed it due to the sad or pitiful twists and turns that befell so many of the characters.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders is a great collection of short stories. Each story stands alone but they are all linked as they are about the relatives and servants of wealthy Pakistani landowner Mr K K Harouni whose estates are near Lahore. The writing is crisp and unsentimental, the characters are authentic if not always sympathetic and you will find yourself still thinking about them long after the book is finished. If you only want to read stories with happy endings then this is not for you but if you want a very real insight into life in Pakistan across all the class divisions then this is a must-read of a book. Although the stories are sometimes tragic, there are touches of humour throughout. I wish I could write like Daniyal Mueenduddin. Reviewed by Mary Smith author of  No More MulberriesNo More Mulberries