The Map and the Scissors

by Amit Majmudar

Two intense, inflexible personalities duel over a question that will decide the fate of millions: one nation-or two?

Jinnah, the consummate, ruthlessly analytical gentleman in a tailored suit, starts out sceptical of those who come to his door proposing a 'Land of the Pure', but ends up founding exactly such a country. Gandhi, the religious visionary in homespun khadi, experiments with Truth in his quest for one India-only to witness, in anguish, the bloody birth of two nations.

The Map and the Scissors is a novel about the epic origin story of modern South Asia, brought to life by two London-educated lawyers, mirror-image rivals who dreamt the same.

Genres: Fiction

357 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 30, 2022

About the author

Amit Majmudar is the author of The Abundance, Partitions, chosen by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best debut novels of 2011 and by Booklist as one of the year’s ten best works of historical fiction. His poetry has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Best American Poetry 2011. A radiologist, he lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Reviews

[Aarti Arora · Rating 5 out of 5]

A historical fiction, The Map and the Scissors by Amit Majmudar depict the life of Gandhi & Jinnah, two very prominent people during the British era in India. This book accounts the conflicting dreams of both of them regarding the country.

The readers are not only presented with the contradicting features but rather the similitude of both these Gujarat-based lawyers are presented in this book, aligning it with the events happening during that time. The story is not restricted to political events only but touches on their personal life as well.

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[Manvendra Shekhawat · Rating 3 out of 5]

While writing or reading about the partition one has to be really careful. A thin line has to be walked and to be fair, if you try to favor one side too much, the reader would just shut the book.

Most of the opinions have already been shaped, facts have been already established, and who lost what has been identified so why even bother with the torment of writing about it?

In all honesty I wanted to attack this book from the get go, initially felt like this is another lost voice in this echo chamber of emotionally charged opinions.

The best way to rinse off your responsibility of writing a book such as this is hiding behind the veil of fiction. I had to constantly remind this reality to myself while reading this book. Sometimes teeth clenched, sometimes eyes stared wide in amazement and shock, and most of the times pity absolute pity ran through me while I read this book.


I may have overreacted about this book and the above lines might have displayed immense negativity about it but overall the author did a great job. It is not an easy path to traverse and as difficult a topic partition is he wanted to sketch out the figures of the 2 monumental figures of Gandhi and Jinnah (although I wouldn’t honestly cast Jinnah as monumental but underestimating his significance is the mistake congress and especially Nehru & Gandhi committed so I wouldn’t want to repeat the same sin again) and compare them side by side.

Their education, family life, marriage, political growth, friendships, decline, and death. Is it fair to compare Jinnah and Gandhi you may ask? The Gandhian fanatic residing in me was overcome with anger at once but the more realist spirit in me would gladly compare the two, not to show the faults of the other party but of Gandhi too. He himself readily agreed to be corrected whenever he erred.
Sorry to have digressed a bit. When a book deals with Gandhi and Jinnah it is impossible to emit the likes of Jawaharlal, Patel, Mountbatten, Kallenbach, Liaquat, and Edwina. More noticeable was the presence of Fatima, Ruttie Petit and Dina. The likes of C. Rajaji were omitted however.

I like history as it is. However bloody or painful it is. Enough time and energy has been spent on toning it down, trying to make it sound ambiguous and deflect the blame or responsibility off the shoulders of perpetrators. This hiding behind the words of history to me looks to be a crime.

With all of that being said I cannot lay any such accusations on this book. But such books start to toy with history and with the psyche of its readers, they are the ones who are subtly and not so subtly forming opinions and choosing to let go of certain facts and omit others at the author’s whim. Nothing can be done about it really.
It is beyond me to treat such fiction as fiction. If you can then you’ll love it. You’ll love it otherwise too.

Just try to be careful.

[Omar Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amit Majmudar, a Gujrati from Ohio (he is the poet laureate of Ohio and if you have not read his poetry, do look it up, he is good) already wrote one novel about partition (called, appropriately enough, partition) but as he says in the epilogue, his views continue to evolve and another book was needed. And what a book it is; a riveting page-turner that tells the story of partition through the parallel lives of Jinnah and Gandhi, all wrapped up in very tight and carefully thought out writing, with quotes from Plutarch, the Gita and other works used as needed.
Amit has done his research and the novel is rich in historic detail and apt anecdotes. Some dialog has obviously been imagined, but wherever possible the words they speak are the words various histories and memoirs have already recorded. What emerges is a very striking portrait of two very different Gujratis who, for better AND for worse, determined the fate of British India and of the largest population group in the world (Indians in united India would exceed the population of China by hundreds of millions). Jinnah is the hugely talented and ambitious anglicized lawyer who became the most successful barrister in India before entering politics. An upper crust “brown Englishman”, he has great success politicking within the new Indian elite, but is sidelined by the rise of Gandhi and his popular politics (deftly captured in a scene where the newly arrived Gandhi is invited to a meeting of the Gujrati association which Jinnah chairs; after Jinnah has finished his perfectly modulated English speech, Gandhi opts to speak in Gujrati and the crowd goes wild. A taste of things to come. Jinnah gradually sours on the idea of united India and is reborn as the messenger of Muslim separatism and father of Pakistan. Gandhi has a slower start as a lawyer, but in South Africa he has found a new vocation: mahatma or great soul. Unlike Jinnah, he has world historical and prophet-level ambitions, and his impact is huge, yet he also fails at the most important task he set himself (winning independence for a united and spiritually elevated India), while Jinnah gets his moth-eaten Pakistan, but then he also gets to say "My God, what have I done?" when he sees the carnage unleashed by his campaign. Gandhi heads towards his meeting with Godse, while Jinnah’s tuberculosis finally finishes him while he lies in a hot ambulance that has broken down on the main road in Karachi. Amit is a poet and he brings a poetic touch to these events; the description may be brief, but it covers a LOT of ground.
The book also does a fine job of bringing Fatima Jinnah out of the shadows. She is the "white wolf" by Jinnah’s side, Pakistan’s virgin mother. There are many excellent books about partition, but almost none pay enough attention to Fati. Amit rectifies that error. Short but telling descriptions introduce all the other main characters of this tragedy, from Nehru and Patel to Liaqat and Suharwardy and Mountbatten and Edwina. And while it is not a very thick book, it manages to fit in almost every important event that happened along the way. Jallianwala bagh, the salt march, the Pakistan resolution, Direct Action, partition riots, it is all there, and while the coverage is not very detailed, a lot of thought has been put into every vignette, so they convey a lot more than you might expect at first glance. Unfortunately this tight pacing and compact descriptions also mean that the reader is expected to have a general idea of what went on and some of the clever literary maneuvers are best appreciated when you already know something about the events in question. Still, even those without prior knowledge will get most of it, while knowing more already will help you appreciate it more. Well worth a read.

[Shubham Gupta · Rating 1 out of 5]

A strange book that I cannot finish. There's something off about the narratorial voice and how it presents history as drama. No wonder the story moves so theatrically, moving rapidly from set piece to set piece with hardly any stasis. We know too much about the two men the book is about, which presents the writer with a wide selection to cherry-pick from, which is exactly what he does. This is a Netflix adaptation of history.

[Kashish Mehta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never judge a book by its cover. Such a disappointment. Have to credit the verbal dialect used, style of writing the command over the language is superb but the history is turned so badly into fiction the characters are portrayed so wrong that the real history is totally lost in this plot.

[V. Sowmyanarayanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

AN extra ordinary efforts of an writer and his courage and guts to use the familiar and great personalities of the two nations of the world, one being the world’s largest democracy, is a task that definitely commands a huge appreciation.

Amit Majmudar, the first Poet Laureate of Ohio, and a challenging nuclear radiologist apart from award-winning poet, is the author of this book which is critically acclaimed with the historical facts of the two nations.

This book has been published by Harper Collins Publishers India, in this year 2022. The book has six parts totally making up to 330 pages. Each part has an individual title along with the quotes from Plutarch’s Parallel lives which render the easy under-standing about the forthcoming chapters.

The theme or the plot of the novel only is a true thing or a factual evidence which made a remarkable turn in the life of the two nations and its people.

How all these happened or might have happened? The answers we all search in our history, political science or more precisely in our civics books dealing with the politics or the Indian political issues.

An idea to develop a plot basing on a true incident has already finds place in the world of Literature.

With particular reference to Sanskrit Literature, there are many poets who have taken a part from a mythology, an Epics or Upanishads and have spun it around with developing various themes, morals, and other different dimensions to a particular theme or a concept.

This is termed as AITHIHASIKAM in Sanskrit. More of it is a value added or adding option to a vast composition with a twist or viewing or dealing it with another angle.

This concept is actually adopted in the south Indian film Industry where the films viz., Rama-Anjaneya Yuddham and Krishna-Arjuna Yuddham picturise the characters from Epics with a fictional anecdotes. Reading the book of THE MAP AND THE SCISSORS brings back and revives the old concept of Aithihaasikam.

This book makes a refreshing read with a political and historical issues dealt in a refining fashion.The novel throws light on the language, accent, and its pronunciations with regard to English, Hindustani, Gujarathi, and Urdu.

The impact of language, religion and caste on those times and how they managed to tackle issues like untouchability and superstition are delicately handled

Studying abroad, learning a foreign language and having a command of on it and its effects and side effects in addressing gatherings and meetings during the freedom struggle is put forth in an elegant way.

The programs like Satyagraha, Dandi March, Non- cooperation movement and the sudden decision to have a separate nation and how the germination of the word “partition” stems ups is thoroughly brought out in a professional way.

The novel takes the readers to on travel to places like Paris, London, South Africa along with many parts of India. The communities and cultures of different people and its blend with the lives of the people of India makes a point to ponder.

The naming of the new nation as PAKISTAN and a reason behind its name and the meaning is finely coded by the author in more justifying method.

The book deals with the bygone era of the two nations and the way they formed or split into two. The reasons behind it and the way the people managed to adjust to the changes and the role of characters like Gandhi, Jinnah, Fatima, Patel, Nehru and Iqbal are successful in keeping the readers hooked in.

[Anshula Nema · Rating 5 out of 5]

'𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙈𝙧 𝙅𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙝 𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚.'
'𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙨.'
'𝙈𝙮 𝙂𝙤𝙙', 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨, '𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚?'

The Map and The Scissors by Amit Majmudar is a historical fiction novel having two parallels competing against each other, chasing the same dream of FREEDOM. It revolves around the lives and relations these people had with each other - Gandhi and his wife and their children, Jinnah and his siter Fatmina, Jinnah and his wives and his daughter, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Lord Mountbatten, Ghodse, Liaquat Ali.

While it talks about the very topic of partition - the making of Pakistan, it certainly has a sense of sarcasm, wit and humor attached to it.

Gandhi and Jinnah were like a mirror image. Both were London-educated lawyers and now had a dream that somehow coincides but is incompatible in ways. They define freedom in ways which are poles apart. And while it was clear that Jinnah was the one who advocated for the Hindu-Muslim unity, he was also the only one who had voiced for a seperate nation - PAKISTAN.

'61 𝙃𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨 𝙎𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙍𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙡����𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙. '𝘼 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙𝙮,' 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙡𝙮.
'𝘿𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.'
𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨. '𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚.' 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚.
'𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝘿𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩.'
'𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙞𝙝𝙖𝙧?'
'𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.'
'𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙈𝙧 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡.'
'𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙈𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙅𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙝.'

Though Jinnah was the spark that started the talk about a seperate nation, his sister, Fatima, was the fuel he received from time to time so that the spark not fades away. She has been the cushion J would fall on before every decisions - which led to the final outcome of divide and rule.

'𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙢 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮. 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 , 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣𝙚. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙬𝙤. 𝙃𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙋𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣.'
'𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖,' 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙅𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙝'𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙.

You will fall in love with the author's narration and the fullency of the subject. It has instances of prose and narration that will leave you at awe of what just happened. A complete page turner for sure.

There are a few other instances and relations which I have adored in this book - the love between Gandhi and Kasturba, the bond of Jinnah and Fatima, the child like love of Ruttie for Jinnah, Fatima and her empowered character, Lord Mountbatten and his attempts to get Gandhi and Jinnah talking.

[Sudeshna Panigrahi · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Word spreads. Blood spreads on the pavement, ink spreads in the newspapers. Black smudges on the fingers of the reading public, red smudges on the fingers of the blooded mobs. Fear is a stain that gets bigger the more thought rubs at it, a rash that gets angrier with scratching.”
Two prominent personalities from Gujarat, one dhoti-clad and the other dresses up in suits. One speaks Gujarati and the other boasts of English. Gandhi and Jinnah. One side of the coin shows us the idea of a nation brewing in the minds of the anglicized lawyer and Muslim League member, wrapped in cigarette smoke and ideas of separation. And the other side show the Gita chanting, bony looking Mahatma, still trying to join the broken fragments.
The Map and the Scissors is a display of contradicting ideas and ideals of the (most) influential people, sought power, made people listen to them, through means they thought wise, gained power and made two divisions of a nation. Made people suffer, burnt down places, brewed hatred, brought about a war of a kind, just for power and politics. Books on partition are difficult to read, and if it is a historical fiction like this, one needs to keep at the back of the head to treat it as fiction. The author has done a commendable job in keeping it a fiction along with splashes of so many details, apt anecdotes and carefully crafted ways of representation of the both groups involved during the partition.
Jinnah plants the seed of Muslim separatism and successfully grows it into Pakistan. The narrative is lucid, flawless but it is slow. At least for me, it dragged unnecessarily at many places. At numerous places it felt as if history was happening right in front of me, the language is spot on and the effort to balance a book like this without categorizing a good team or a bad team is what I liked about this book.
Things that did not work for me in the book was first of the all the pace, I struggled mid-way to continue. And the other is over dramatization of certain sequences. Apart from these, this book serves its purpose of highlighting partition, the two eminent figures and along with them, others like Fatima Jinnah, Nehru, Patel, Mountbatten, Edwina and many others through the course of their lives, friendships, and death. It will be a great read if you are a historical fiction enthusiast.

[Shiv Majmudar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of Partitions and Abundance returns with a dazzling new novel about the intense, unforgettable personalities behind one of history's most tragic events. Amit Majmudar does not disappoint with his new book, which is his second (wait, third) attempt at a novel about the partition of India. If you've read Partitions, Majmudar's first novel, you're probably already familiar with Majmudar's piercing, poetic prose and ability to create sympathetic characters. But before you pick up The Map and the Scissors, be aware that everything you loved about Partitions is about to be put to shame by the author's latest masterpiece. It may be possible that you love this one more, but to help you decide, here's my take.
Personally, I think that Map and the Scissors is Majmudar's best novel. The book reads as if written with white-hot heat. Once you meet the novel's main characters - Jinnah and Gandhi - you won't be able to put this one down. The evolution of the characters is beautifully done, which is remarkable considering that everyone knows what happens to them. We know that Partition will happen, but even so, you find yourself hoping that the characters won't turn out the way they will. Majmudar puts you inside Jinnah and Gandhi's head, and it is delightfully excruciating to experience their characters changing. The scenes with Jinnah and Gandhi are especially tense and suspenseful, and it's almost as if you don't know who to root for. Majmudar gives you a total understanding of each personality. When you open this book, you are immersed in history.
The Map and the Scissors is a dramatic, heart-breaking, and brilliant book that is Majmudar at his best. The writer displays a clear mastery over language, a mature understanding of human character, and the remarkable ability to make history come to life. From Jinnah's descent into hate to Gandhi's efforts at non-violence, this book covers everything. It's one of the best novels I've read this summer, period. Majmudar's latest novel has it all - vivid characters, politics, religion, history, conflict, violence, and prose with the beauty and force of poetry. Like history itself, it cannot be erased from the memory. It stays, preserved and as vivid as a nightmare, and though it grows old, it does not weaken.

[Rehana · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the love of historical fiction, this is my first ever book on partition!! I have read a lot about it in school but nothing out of syllabus. I am glad that this is my first ever book to the start of this genre.

I honestly thought that it would be a sour, prejudiced take on the partition with two groups distinctly labelled as good and bad. But for the first time ever, it felt so good to be wrong.

The book is about two resolute leaders, Gandhi and Jinnah who are strikingly similar in personalities but also are polar opposites.
The book presents as a banter between Gandhi, the persistent, resilient and self reliant leader and the charismatic, confident and persuasive Jinnah. The former wants a peaceful undivided India free of British’s rule and the latter dreams of a divided nation with autonomous powers in the hope of having a ‘pure land’. But little did they realise that leaders can only take decisions, while the consequences rely entirely on its people and the middlemen.

Pros: The book was such a delight in terms of literary creativity. I could not classify or hate any persona completely and that is solely because of the writing.
It was so fascinating to read about the personal lives of Jinnah and Gandhi who were both great law makers turned political influencers.
The book was such a fine balance between everything - Gandhi’s wits, Jinnah’s charm, Fathima Jinnah’s confidence, Ruttie’s innocence, Patel and Nehru’s bravery, Sarojini and Manu Gandhi’s sacrifice and also the love and hatred of millions of their followers.
There was a clear line of distinction between the fictional and original elements. The inclusion of fictional writing involving humour, power and screenplay was beautiful.
It was the author’s knowledge on all religious preachings and practices that took me by surprise.

Cons: I might have found a few, but couldn’t remember them by the time I finished it.!

Simply, this is the best ever book on partition that could be.

[readers creators · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect Historical Fiction about India’s Partition. A perfect drama filled with lively descriptions of Gandhi and Jinnah. A book that kept me hooked. A book I will recommend again and again. A book with a writing style that will remain with me always.

This book brings together Jinnah and Gandhi, which is something strange and one of a kind. The roles of both the politicians in Independence and Partition of India came like a river initially, that is, demanding an India free from British Raj, but then drifted apart into two river basins, one still advocating for One India and another obstinate about creating Pakistan.

The map and the scissors talk about the lives of Jinnah and Gandhi successively from a dramatic fictional point of view. They both are similar in some ways but different in many. Gandhi on the one hand is a political and religious icon, who is using his position to his advantage in bringing India together, but he has his share of kinks which even divides his followers in two. Jinnah on the other hand is a political icon who finds himself pushed away or shadowed behind the idealistic principles of Gandhi by the crowd, he soon finds himself defending that and yielding to the idea of Pakistan, which in time will become his largest goal and desperate passion.

There are works of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and some other political figures of that time, but it’s hard to find factual or autobiographical work of Jinnah, which places us in a position to create our perspectives about him. Nevertheless, the person who is majorly responsible for the partition of India. Why did that happen? Was that his stubbornness? Was that just his reluctance for Gandhi and Congress? Whatever the reason was, today after 75 years of Independence, can we confidently say that Partition was a bad decision? Can we believe that India would not have divided if Jinnah hadn't been that persistent?

Read this book. It’s a masterpiece. Best book about Partition. Writing is exquisite, exceptional, and indulging.

[Yesha- Books Teacup and Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review -https://booksteacupreviews.com/2022/0...

The Map and the Scissors is fantastic and epic historical fiction that portrays Gandhi and Jinnah, two London-educated lawyers who played an important part in the freedom and partition of India. The story is about a freedom struggle, a united dream divided by clashing personalities, a power struggle, civil war, and partition.

Writing is beautiful, poetic, vivid, and touching, perfectly reflecting the life of Gandhi and Jinnah keeping very close to true historical accounts. Even though I knew the end result of these two men’s lives, it was super interesting to see how a similar dream of a united free India was divided into partition, who exactly came up with that idea, why Jinnah insisted on Pakistan, and why Gandhi was against it when whole India was burning with civil war.

Let’s just start with, I didn’t like either Gandhi or Jinnah from the beginning and I agree with the author, both were very similar in nature- headstrong, stubborn, inflexible, charming, influential, egoistic, and their first love was politics, I didn’t like how they treated their wives, and they both didn’t put aside their judgments and prejudice. It amazing to read about other historical figures and the roles they play in Gandhi and Jinnah’s life.

Overall, this is extraordinary, thought-provoking, and beautifully written historical fiction that brought back this painful nightmarish historical time period to life with its accurate details, facts, and representation.

[Vinayak Bhardwaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sum of the parts is perhaps greater than the whole with this one. Majumdar is in difficult territory (in more ways than one) trying to do what so many - notably Salman Rushdie - have done with extreme self-assuredness. Yet his writing appears unaffected by these resonances, and indeed echoes them freely, as he charts the course of the "great talaq" that birthed India and Pakistan.

I found myself reveling in his imagined historical scenarios - especially those involving Jinnah. He never attempts to unsettle too much the 'Mahatma' image of Gandhi and, if I am any judge, betrays his own admiration of Gandhi.

In the final analysis, though, the criticism of this history, which appears to assume only an Attenborough-level understanding of 1947, is that, like so many others, it relies on one or two characters, almost archetypally written. The absence of anyone else germane to the narrative, other than caricaturesque portrayals by Lelyveld et al, flattens the history somewhat.

Don't avoid reading this book, though - it is not meant to be a history book. As a work of historical fiction (albeit a very lopsided history out of which this fictive web is spun), it does land well.

[Tashu Panwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean this when I day this is the best book i have read on partition !
"The League feels far more secure with the British in charge. A democratic India will mean majority rule. Tens of millions of Muslims can't outvote hundreds of millions of Hindus."
'The Maps and the Scissors' by Amit Majmudar is a historical fiction which has portrayed the life stories of two strong pillars of Indian history: Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah. The author has amazingly shown their characters, their ideologies and their contribution. This is the only book that I would re read again!

[Aditya Sathe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does partition of India intrigues you? If yes, then you are in for a great story here. Amit Majumdar has done a great job of a storyteller narrating the story about main actors in that time of partition. To know why I am saying this, read more about the book in my this article.

Complete review : https://adisjournal.com/partition/

[Ajeemsha S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narration of history as a drama