Mehreen Ahmed's Blog, page 6
February 22, 2016
Charles Freedom Long
Charles's review Feb 22, 16
it was amazing
Read on February 22, 2016
Moirae
Stream of consciousness soup laced with lucid dreaming and spiced with magical realism—served with a side of almost, but not quite conventional, narrative: this story of “children of the lesser gods,” down and out in a world that cares not what happens to them as they hope against hope to find peace and fulfilment is not for the faint of heart.
Progressively, sometimes simultaneously, the river of thoughts, feelings and conscious reactions of Mehreen Ahmed’s vividly drawn characters to the events occurring in their lives lays bare the oppressive underbelly of the societies they find themselves in. On the surface, it’s a tale of a vicious world, a tale of flight from unjust oppression in a nation state that would crush the body and soul into another that doesn’t want you. It is a novel of struggle and hope against all odds, “where killing mugging bloody Spillage were now all a part of our normal life,” depicted mostly in a continuous stream of consciousness flow uninterrupted either by conventional description, dialogue, punctuation, spelling, or grammar.
It is a challenging read, though once you become accustomed to the unique style, it carries you like the river Murma that flows through the village of the characters' birth and spiritual home. Where Nalia, Pontu, Tahu, Pael and Mohammed each begin a journey in which their illusions and aspirations, sometimes literally their dreams, “hold life from falling apart, and propel them toward the fulfilment of a destiny.” Literary and historical references float like lotus pads among the flotsam and jetsam of the river their lives and the tale become, until each current of the river finds its source, its destiny, good or bad.
In the end, “the presence of the paradoxical absence of the ONE, and His selective random process as to who won and who didn’t was one of those many unresolved puzzles. However, His existence was as immutable as the law of gravity to the faithful.” In the end, you cannot help but be moved by this powerful, well-written, beautifully conceived tale.
Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
it was amazing
Read on February 22, 2016
Moirae
Stream of consciousness soup laced with lucid dreaming and spiced with magical realism—served with a side of almost, but not quite conventional, narrative: this story of “children of the lesser gods,” down and out in a world that cares not what happens to them as they hope against hope to find peace and fulfilment is not for the faint of heart.
Progressively, sometimes simultaneously, the river of thoughts, feelings and conscious reactions of Mehreen Ahmed’s vividly drawn characters to the events occurring in their lives lays bare the oppressive underbelly of the societies they find themselves in. On the surface, it’s a tale of a vicious world, a tale of flight from unjust oppression in a nation state that would crush the body and soul into another that doesn’t want you. It is a novel of struggle and hope against all odds, “where killing mugging bloody Spillage were now all a part of our normal life,” depicted mostly in a continuous stream of consciousness flow uninterrupted either by conventional description, dialogue, punctuation, spelling, or grammar.
It is a challenging read, though once you become accustomed to the unique style, it carries you like the river Murma that flows through the village of the characters' birth and spiritual home. Where Nalia, Pontu, Tahu, Pael and Mohammed each begin a journey in which their illusions and aspirations, sometimes literally their dreams, “hold life from falling apart, and propel them toward the fulfilment of a destiny.” Literary and historical references float like lotus pads among the flotsam and jetsam of the river their lives and the tale become, until each current of the river finds its source, its destiny, good or bad.
In the end, “the presence of the paradoxical absence of the ONE, and His selective random process as to who won and who didn’t was one of those many unresolved puzzles. However, His existence was as immutable as the law of gravity to the faithful.” In the end, you cannot help but be moved by this powerful, well-written, beautifully conceived tale.
Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
December 22, 2015
December 20, 2015
November 23, 2015
The Blotted Line by Mehreen Ahmed
Tony McMahon's Review
The Blotted Line Mehreen Ahmed
Story Institute
The Blotted Line is the new short story collection by Queensland writer Mehreen Ahmed. Boasting a deliberately cosmopolitan air, these tales weave their way skilfully through all parts of the globe, taking the reader to Spain, Brisbane, Paris and Bangladesh, just to name a few, and the overwhelming sense one gets on reading them is one of movement.
But Ahmed is more than just a chronicler of geographic place names. The psychological insights underpinning each of her characters are profound. While the reader is, quite literally, transported to a different place story to story, there is a thematic cohesion that links each of the seven tales and makes for an overall satisfaction factor not unlike that of a novel. The seven distinct stories here relate to each other in meaningful ways - no small feat - exploring issues of loss, trust, freedom and happiness.
If this were an album, the term `all killer, no filler' might be invoked, as it's difficult to pick a favourite. With a gun to his head, though, this writer would probably choose `Of Note', which closes the collection. Set in Canada, this is the story of a refugee that has significant resonance for this country and its own attitudes to those fleeing persecution. Political without appearing overtly so, this story is a good example of Ahmed's skill in bringing together disparate geographical narratives to bear on her singular vision of how the world should be, a noble pursuit if ever there was one.
Tony McMahon
Author of The Single Gentleman's Dining Club
The Blotted Line Mehreen Ahmed
Story Institute
The Blotted Line is the new short story collection by Queensland writer Mehreen Ahmed. Boasting a deliberately cosmopolitan air, these tales weave their way skilfully through all parts of the globe, taking the reader to Spain, Brisbane, Paris and Bangladesh, just to name a few, and the overwhelming sense one gets on reading them is one of movement.
But Ahmed is more than just a chronicler of geographic place names. The psychological insights underpinning each of her characters are profound. While the reader is, quite literally, transported to a different place story to story, there is a thematic cohesion that links each of the seven tales and makes for an overall satisfaction factor not unlike that of a novel. The seven distinct stories here relate to each other in meaningful ways - no small feat - exploring issues of loss, trust, freedom and happiness.
If this were an album, the term `all killer, no filler' might be invoked, as it's difficult to pick a favourite. With a gun to his head, though, this writer would probably choose `Of Note', which closes the collection. Set in Canada, this is the story of a refugee that has significant resonance for this country and its own attitudes to those fleeing persecution. Political without appearing overtly so, this story is a good example of Ahmed's skill in bringing together disparate geographical narratives to bear on her singular vision of how the world should be, a noble pursuit if ever there was one.
Tony McMahon
Author of The Single Gentleman's Dining Club
November 16, 2015
Reviewed byTony McMahon, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University
Tony McMahon's Review
Mehreen Ahmed is a wildly interesting writer. Moirae is not the first book from the Queensland scribe that I’ve read, but it is undoubtedly the best, most mature work. This is a nebulous yet - paradoxically perhaps – razor sharp text that speaks to the reader on a number of intellectual levels. Ahmed somehow manages to blend stream of consciousness type prose with a sure knack for story telling, and the results are no less than delightful. If you think about it, this kind of mixture is one that few writers have the ability – or the audacity – to attempt. Joyce is one exception that springs to mind, but he is probably an exception that only proves the rule. Jack Kerouac maybe. Either way, with this work, it is obvious that Ahmed joins a very select group indeed. Thoroughly recommended for both its technical beauty and, not inconsiderably, its bravery.
Tony McMahon, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University
Mehreen Ahmed is a wildly interesting writer. Moirae is not the first book from the Queensland scribe that I’ve read, but it is undoubtedly the best, most mature work. This is a nebulous yet - paradoxically perhaps – razor sharp text that speaks to the reader on a number of intellectual levels. Ahmed somehow manages to blend stream of consciousness type prose with a sure knack for story telling, and the results are no less than delightful. If you think about it, this kind of mixture is one that few writers have the ability – or the audacity – to attempt. Joyce is one exception that springs to mind, but he is probably an exception that only proves the rule. Jack Kerouac maybe. Either way, with this work, it is obvious that Ahmed joins a very select group indeed. Thoroughly recommended for both its technical beauty and, not inconsiderably, its bravery.
Tony McMahon, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University
November 15, 2015
Alok Mishra reviews Moirae: Journal of Indian literature
Moiraehttp://www.amazon.in/Moirae-Mehreen-A...
I am very happy and satisfied to announce that there are ‘many writers who do not simply produce cheap entertainment, but write with a motive to depict intellectual philosophy.’ At least, after reading Moirae by Mehreen Ahmed, one can say it. I have been keeping a close watch on the recent literary (at least some say it literary) trend, and I have found the writers simply provide instant entertainment and nothing in the terms of something that remains as a strong outcome, even after reading the last page of the book. To say it bare, as soon as you close the book, every short-lived ideology weaved by the writer ends; the ephemeral thrill of girlfriends, boyfriends and extra marital affairs, all are extinct! However, with Moirae, written by Mehreen Ahmed, this is not the case! She has created something that strongly follows you (by any means) throughout the book, as well as after you finish the book.
Moirae is a dark tale; a negative fable; an adventure tale, or may be a dystopia for someone. In short, it keeps you captivated and everyone is free to name his/her perception according to what they extract from the reading. In fact, from the beginning itself, the book pictures different landscapes for every reader. Written in an experimental narrative style – stream of consciousness, this book reminds me the narrative of To The Light House by Virginia Woof. The name of the chapters are symbolic, as they depict Red Tempest, Ash Woodlands, Black Stream, Orange Soils and many more like this. Not only that, the symbolic imagery can also be witnessed in the name of the places, in fact, allegorical names – Lost Winds! As the name suggests, the place suffers a real loss – the loss of moral and ethical values. One can best understand the allegorical significance on page 65:
“There wasn’t a single family in the Lost Winds, except for the influential, which enjoyed some peace here. Each had their own burden of woes, transpiring in their own way into classic tragedy. The graver a situation became, however, the more people hung in limbo, and the more astute they became.”
Mehreen has created a powerful ‘dream reality’ and tried to tell that what can happen in a world where there is no justice and corruption everywhere. In such a world, what can survive? The author says it very clearly on the page 95:
“What was left of this enchanting village was nothing more than a place of complete chaos, where crimes prevailed over justice and hatred over love.”
Yes, one can feel it. The world where justice and love enjoy no important place, only hatred and violence can rein supreme! Bring the Blue Moon, but the doom annunciated by two moons cannot be undone.
Yes, there is no more for the readers who wish to enjoy just a temporal respite in the letters. This book says something; this book talks to you; this book lets you ponder. People may announce it as an intellectual read. However, in the last of everything, the book is a pleasure and treasure as well. Kudos to the writer for a successful implementation of the stream of consciousness technique.
I am very happy and satisfied to announce that there are ‘many writers who do not simply produce cheap entertainment, but write with a motive to depict intellectual philosophy.’ At least, after reading Moirae by Mehreen Ahmed, one can say it. I have been keeping a close watch on the recent literary (at least some say it literary) trend, and I have found the writers simply provide instant entertainment and nothing in the terms of something that remains as a strong outcome, even after reading the last page of the book. To say it bare, as soon as you close the book, every short-lived ideology weaved by the writer ends; the ephemeral thrill of girlfriends, boyfriends and extra marital affairs, all are extinct! However, with Moirae, written by Mehreen Ahmed, this is not the case! She has created something that strongly follows you (by any means) throughout the book, as well as after you finish the book.
Moirae is a dark tale; a negative fable; an adventure tale, or may be a dystopia for someone. In short, it keeps you captivated and everyone is free to name his/her perception according to what they extract from the reading. In fact, from the beginning itself, the book pictures different landscapes for every reader. Written in an experimental narrative style – stream of consciousness, this book reminds me the narrative of To The Light House by Virginia Woof. The name of the chapters are symbolic, as they depict Red Tempest, Ash Woodlands, Black Stream, Orange Soils and many more like this. Not only that, the symbolic imagery can also be witnessed in the name of the places, in fact, allegorical names – Lost Winds! As the name suggests, the place suffers a real loss – the loss of moral and ethical values. One can best understand the allegorical significance on page 65:
“There wasn’t a single family in the Lost Winds, except for the influential, which enjoyed some peace here. Each had their own burden of woes, transpiring in their own way into classic tragedy. The graver a situation became, however, the more people hung in limbo, and the more astute they became.”
Mehreen has created a powerful ‘dream reality’ and tried to tell that what can happen in a world where there is no justice and corruption everywhere. In such a world, what can survive? The author says it very clearly on the page 95:
“What was left of this enchanting village was nothing more than a place of complete chaos, where crimes prevailed over justice and hatred over love.”
Yes, one can feel it. The world where justice and love enjoy no important place, only hatred and violence can rein supreme! Bring the Blue Moon, but the doom annunciated by two moons cannot be undone.
Yes, there is no more for the readers who wish to enjoy just a temporal respite in the letters. This book says something; this book talks to you; this book lets you ponder. People may announce it as an intellectual read. However, in the last of everything, the book is a pleasure and treasure as well. Kudos to the writer for a successful implementation of the stream of consciousness technique.
October 5, 2015
Author interview: Mehreen Ahmed
Interview with Sarah Jane
http://www.rukiapublishing.com/sarah-...
http://www.rukiapublishing.com/sarah-...
October 4, 2015
Old James by David Tanager
Besotted with the memory of 'Old James,' somewhat a reminder of 'Old man and the Sea', written in the same vein of a retrospective journey, it is a short story which alludes the reader. While Hemingway's old man made a decisive departure from a stalemated situation, Tanager's old James was raised from the ashes in an intangible tango towards a sense of an ending. In the soliloquies presented in the form of a dialogue between Junior and the old man - the proverbial Hamlet's ghost, junior gleans wisdom. Converging nevertheless on the idea of a struggle as a way to fulfillment is of the essence in both the 'old man' and 'old James'. The brilliant rhetoric engaged in the description of the storm is but a metaphorical pronouncement of physical strife, both short and sweet, as individuals teeter on the brink of life's crossroads between temporal and a metaphysical existence.
