Ship of Sorrows

by Qurratulain Hyder, Saleem Kidwai (Translator)

At the heart of the Ship of Sorrows is a group of young friends, men and women, Hindu and Muslim, living in Lukhnow at the cusp of Indian Independence. Like the rest of the country, their lives are in turmoil. As the certainties of the old order begin fraying and the prospect of division becomes inevitable, they are confronted with having to make the kind of decisions that their hitherto carefree, privileged lives had not required.

Qurratulain Hyder places the six friends in situations that reflect this changing context and reveal their complex relationship with each other and with their altered reality. As the partition of the country looms, and their separation from each other and from their known worlds becomes imminent, their cargo of sorrows gets heavier.

Yet, the ship of sorrows is not a doomed ship—through a tangle of sounds, images and emotions, Hyder navigates it to a harbour that promises hope and renewal.

Genres: India

284 pages, Paperback

Published January 10, 2019

About the author

Qurratulain Hyder was an influential Indian Urdu novelist and short story writer, an academic, and a journalist. One of the most outstanding literary names in Urdu literature, she is best known for her magnum opus, Aag Ka Darya (River of Fire), a novel first published in Urdu in 1959 from Lahore, Pakistan, that stretches from the 4th century BC to post partition of India. Popularly known as "Ainee Apa" among her friends and admirers, she was the daughter of writer and a pioneer of Urdu short story writing Sajjad Haidar Yildarim (1880–1943). Her mother, Nazar Zahra, who wrote at first as Bint-i-Nazrul Baqar and later as Nazar Sajjad Hyder (1894–1967), was also a novelist and protegee of Muhammadi Begam and her husband Syed Mumtaz Ali, who published her first novel.

She received the 1967 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for Patjhar Ki Awaz (Short stories), 1989 Jnanpith Award for Akhir-e-Shab Ke Humsafar, and the highest award of the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1994. She also received the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India in 2005.

Reviews

[Divya Pal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping narrative of the bureaucrat-feudal Doon School, Oxbridge educated upper class young elite of pre-independent India. The chronicle of these privileged Picasso, Cezanne, Wagner and Beethoven aficionados later segues into the mental and spiritual trauma they undergo during the cruel partition of India. The style is cryptic, disjointed and ‘stream of consciousness’ type. The flavour may have been lost in translation from the original Urdu. The theatrical type of autobiographical story of Anne is not easy to follow due to the temporal leaps and disembodied dialogue that has echoes of Gravity's Rainbow and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Very engaging and enjoyable, nonetheless.

[Gazala · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ship of Sorrows" is a novel that leaves its readers pondering over 'life- its complexities and choices'. Its intriguing and gripping plot narrates an intertwined stories of young friends at the time of Independence of India.
It's a food for thought.

[Jasun Chelat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than Chandni Begum but that's it. If Q Hyder didn't translate something to English, let us respect her decision in the future.

Still v funny though. Love you pompom darling. You'll always be my favourite.

[Meenal Manolika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revolving around a group of elite friends in pre-partition Lucknow, the book is highly recommended for those with a propensity to indulge in rose-tinted nostalgia for days they haven't seen and places they haven't really known. Also for those aching with futile desires for a country that could have been. There's not much by the way of plot except for the partition of the subcontinent that comes as a wound not just to the sensitive souls of the privileged group but to the collective psyche (a particular character would really appreciate that comparison). It is not for those who get frustrated with dream like prose with monologues that stretch for pages without clearly indicating whose voice it is. It is apparently the least known of Qurratulain Hyder's works which makes sense. It is part fiction, part autobiography with several famous names popping up- most enjoyed the reference to another writer from Lucknow, Attia Hossain. Will be reading her other works soon.