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آج : خصوصی شمارہ ١٠٨ [ Aaj : Khusoosi Shumara 108]
'صدیق عالم کے دو مکمل ناول ' چینی کوٹھی ' اور 'صالحہ صالحہ
This special edition of the Urdu journal Aaj features two complete novels by Siddique Alam : 'Cheeni Kothi' and 'Saleha Saleha'
This special edition of the Urdu journal Aaj features two complete novels by Siddique Alam : 'Cheeni Kothi' and 'Saleha Saleha'
308 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 26, 2026
Sualeha Sualeha... found it very Murakami-ish. Cats. Eerie houses. Psychological trauma. If you're into all—must-read.
September 14, 2022
صدیق عالم کے یہ دونوں ناول بہت ہی کمال کے ہیں، "چینی کوٹھی" وکالت اور فرد کی تنہائی کی خوبصورتی تصویر ہے اور جب کہ "صالحہ صالحہ" فنی اعتبار سے بہت انوکھا اور ازدواجی زندگی اور خاص طور پر عورت کی درد کتھا ہے۔
اس کے علاوہ مینے صدیق عالم کا ناول "مرزبوم" بھی پڑہا ہے، اور مجھے افسوس ہے کہ مجھے ان کی طرح یاد نہیں رہے گا۔
اس کے علاوہ مینے صدیق عالم کا ناول "مرزبوم" بھی پڑہا ہے، اور مجھے افسوس ہے کہ مجھے ان کی طرح یاد نہیں رہے گا۔
May 23, 2026
What in the inception!!!
First Urdu novel I’ve read in at-least last 5 years and every word of it has been worth it. I learnt about it through an insta reel and the premise intrigued me greatly. I’ve been trying to read more this year but I’m also trying to read more Urdu books but most Urdu books that I knew of (especially fictional) were love stories. Love stories are overdone, redundant, and boring. But Saleha Saleha is a breath of fresh air.
The book transports you into an extremely eerie universe. I loved Saleha as a protagonist. She is strong minded, independent, and sassy despite her circumstances. Having had very humble and traumatic beginnings as an orphan, the author uses her arc to identify various themes like sexual exploitation of kids in orphanages, life of orphans even after being adopted, the idea that urbanization impacted freedom of women as it reached rural areas, and how Saleha carried that sexual trauma into her adulthood and her marriage.
At no point did I sympathize with her and that is such a feat from a writing perspective, I felt empathy for her but at no point did Saleha become someone you would pity. The universe that Alam creates is fantastical but in a very never wrecking way. A novel that (without context) feels like a woman’s story slowly turns into a thriller with alternate realities and parallel universes which is hard to wrap your head around.
I finished it a while ago and I am still struggling to understand what I just read. I will have to go read a Saleha Reddit if there is one to make sense of it all.
Overall, despite all the confusion, 5/5, will definitely recommend. An absolute treat for someone who loves Urdu as a language and horror/thriller as a genre.
First Urdu novel I’ve read in at-least last 5 years and every word of it has been worth it. I learnt about it through an insta reel and the premise intrigued me greatly. I’ve been trying to read more this year but I’m also trying to read more Urdu books but most Urdu books that I knew of (especially fictional) were love stories. Love stories are overdone, redundant, and boring. But Saleha Saleha is a breath of fresh air.
The book transports you into an extremely eerie universe. I loved Saleha as a protagonist. She is strong minded, independent, and sassy despite her circumstances. Having had very humble and traumatic beginnings as an orphan, the author uses her arc to identify various themes like sexual exploitation of kids in orphanages, life of orphans even after being adopted, the idea that urbanization impacted freedom of women as it reached rural areas, and how Saleha carried that sexual trauma into her adulthood and her marriage.
At no point did I sympathize with her and that is such a feat from a writing perspective, I felt empathy for her but at no point did Saleha become someone you would pity. The universe that Alam creates is fantastical but in a very never wrecking way. A novel that (without context) feels like a woman’s story slowly turns into a thriller with alternate realities and parallel universes which is hard to wrap your head around.
I finished it a while ago and I am still struggling to understand what I just read. I will have to go read a Saleha Reddit if there is one to make sense of it all.
Overall, despite all the confusion, 5/5, will definitely recommend. An absolute treat for someone who loves Urdu as a language and horror/thriller as a genre.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews