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Chef
India is passing through the night. Night, just like rain, hides the ugliness of a place so well. We are running behind the backs of houses. Thousands of tiny lights have been turned on inside them. Towns pass by, and villages. I remember my first journey to Kashmir on this train. It was a very hot day, and despite that, passengers were drinking tea, garam chai, and the whole compartment smelled of a wedding. Girls in beautiful saris and salwar-kameezes sat not far from me; some of them spoke hardly any English. Their skins had the shine of ripe fruits. How shy I was then.
– from Chef by Jaspreet Singh
The year is 2006, and Kirpal Singh is returning to Kashmir fourteen years after abruptly quitting his military post as a chef to Kashmir’s Governor, an army general. He has been summoned back to cook for the wedding of the General’s daughter Rubiya, who is scandalously engaged to a Muslim man. As his train speeds past the ever-changing Indian landscape, Chef Kirpal contemplates the twists and turns of his life. In his brain, a recently diagnosed tumor grows.
Kirpal made this journey for the first time many years ago, as a naïve nineteen-year-old craving a glimpse of Kashmir’s Siachen Glacier, where his war hero father had perished in a plane crash. Joining the military despite his mother’s protests, the inexperienced Kirpal apprenticed to Chef Kishen in the General’s kitchen. A muscled former infantryman whose beefy exterior masked the passionate soul of a culinary poet, Kishen had known Kirpal’s father, as had the glamorous wife of a local colonel. The boy hungrily devoured their stories of his father’s bravery.
The young Kirpal’s confidence grew as the kind Kishen taught him to tease the taste of pent-up desire from fruits and spices, and advised him on the seduction of women. Then a careless remark caused Kishen to be abruptly demoted, dispatched to an icy post atop Siachen Glacier. Kirpal was suddenly alone in the kitchen, promoted to chef.
After a particularly violent period of war, hearing that Kishen was in the local hospital, young Kirpal stole Kishen’s confiscated journal from the General’s study. Searching through the pages to understand more about his mentor, Kirpal began to consider the world anew. A trusted member of the General’s household, his faith in the rightness of India’s position faltered as he witnessed some grim secrets. Later, when accompanying the General on a brief mission to the glacier, Kirpal once again encountered Kishen and became a covert, yet unwilling, accomplice in his former mentor’s final act of rebellion.
Kirpal was also disillusioned in his youth by an encounter with a beautiful Muslim woman, Irem, imprisoned at the local hospital as a suspected terrorist. Helped by the nurse, a smitten Kirpal had cooked for Irem, under the pretence of conducting interrogation for the General. After she was abruptly taken away for further interrogation, Kirpal was prevented from seeing her again until years later, in terrible circumstances.
Today, speeding back to the Kashmir that he both loves and dreads, Kirpal’s slowing brain is choked in sad memories. Yet he still finds room for hope. “For a long time now I have stayed away from certain people,” he thinks. What will his actions be, when he encounters them again?
Set against the devastatingly beautiful, war-scarred backdrop of army-occupied Kashmir, Jaspreet Singh’s brilliant first novel, Chef , is a lushly poetic and immensely compassionate portrayal of an unforgettable flawed hero, at the time of his life’s reckoning.
– from Chef by Jaspreet Singh
The year is 2006, and Kirpal Singh is returning to Kashmir fourteen years after abruptly quitting his military post as a chef to Kashmir’s Governor, an army general. He has been summoned back to cook for the wedding of the General’s daughter Rubiya, who is scandalously engaged to a Muslim man. As his train speeds past the ever-changing Indian landscape, Chef Kirpal contemplates the twists and turns of his life. In his brain, a recently diagnosed tumor grows.
Kirpal made this journey for the first time many years ago, as a naïve nineteen-year-old craving a glimpse of Kashmir’s Siachen Glacier, where his war hero father had perished in a plane crash. Joining the military despite his mother’s protests, the inexperienced Kirpal apprenticed to Chef Kishen in the General’s kitchen. A muscled former infantryman whose beefy exterior masked the passionate soul of a culinary poet, Kishen had known Kirpal’s father, as had the glamorous wife of a local colonel. The boy hungrily devoured their stories of his father’s bravery.
The young Kirpal’s confidence grew as the kind Kishen taught him to tease the taste of pent-up desire from fruits and spices, and advised him on the seduction of women. Then a careless remark caused Kishen to be abruptly demoted, dispatched to an icy post atop Siachen Glacier. Kirpal was suddenly alone in the kitchen, promoted to chef.
After a particularly violent period of war, hearing that Kishen was in the local hospital, young Kirpal stole Kishen’s confiscated journal from the General’s study. Searching through the pages to understand more about his mentor, Kirpal began to consider the world anew. A trusted member of the General’s household, his faith in the rightness of India’s position faltered as he witnessed some grim secrets. Later, when accompanying the General on a brief mission to the glacier, Kirpal once again encountered Kishen and became a covert, yet unwilling, accomplice in his former mentor’s final act of rebellion.
Kirpal was also disillusioned in his youth by an encounter with a beautiful Muslim woman, Irem, imprisoned at the local hospital as a suspected terrorist. Helped by the nurse, a smitten Kirpal had cooked for Irem, under the pretence of conducting interrogation for the General. After she was abruptly taken away for further interrogation, Kirpal was prevented from seeing her again until years later, in terrible circumstances.
Today, speeding back to the Kashmir that he both loves and dreads, Kirpal’s slowing brain is choked in sad memories. Yet he still finds room for hope. “For a long time now I have stayed away from certain people,” he thinks. What will his actions be, when he encounters them again?
Set against the devastatingly beautiful, war-scarred backdrop of army-occupied Kashmir, Jaspreet Singh’s brilliant first novel, Chef , is a lushly poetic and immensely compassionate portrayal of an unforgettable flawed hero, at the time of his life’s reckoning.
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2008
42 people are currently reading
923 people want to read
About the author
Jaspreet Singh
80 books20 followersJaspreet Singh (born 1969) is a Canadian writer.
He grew up in India and moved to Canada in 1990.
(wikipedia)
He grew up in India and moved to Canada in 1990.
(wikipedia)
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June 20, 2022
في قطار يتجه لكشمير يستعيد الطباخ الهندي كربال سنج الذكريات
ينتقل بين الحاضر والماضي ويُعيد النظر في الحياة والناس والمشاعر
وما بين أصناف التوابل والطعام يحكي الكاتب عن حال الهند وقضية كشمير
المعتقدات الدينية والحياتية .. الفساد والفقر والبؤس .. الثراء والرفاهية
الصراع الذي لا ينتهي بين الهند وباكستان على إقليم كشمير
والحروب العبثية بينهم والخسارة الانسانية لكلا الطرفين
أول رواية للكاتب الهندي جاسبرت سينج .. لغة بسيطة وسرد سلس
ينتقل بين الحاضر والماضي ويُعيد النظر في الحياة والناس والمشاعر
وما بين أصناف التوابل والطعام يحكي الكاتب عن حال الهند وقضية كشمير
المعتقدات الدينية والحياتية .. الفساد والفقر والبؤس .. الثراء والرفاهية
الصراع الذي لا ينتهي بين الهند وباكستان على إقليم كشمير
والحروب العبثية بينهم والخسارة الانسانية لكلا الطرفين
أول رواية للكاتب الهندي جاسبرت سينج .. لغة بسيطة وسرد سلس
May 4, 2010
This is the reason we readers read, for books such as this. There seems to be a trend for inward books recently and this falls into that category. There is plot but mostly to hang thoughts and feelings on. Kip, is a Sikh working in Srinagar as an Army Chef attached to a powerful General’s house. The world outside their house is at war. He’s a quiet, contemplative man and the attention he receives is second hand, mostly associated with the heroic deeds of his soldier father. When people meet Kip they seem to not see him. They talk at him about his dad’s exploits. By the way if you’re a foody this is only peripherally about cooking and food though the sights, sounds, smells of Indian cuisine are interwoven throughout the book as you follow Kip around the kitchen their there as metaphor or as a description of place and mood.
Mostly this book is about political issues that plague India, Pakistan and the pivot is Kashmir. Kashmir is where the best and the worst play out. Another theme is unrequited love both on a personal level and the unrequited love for one’s country and countrymen. Both these loves almost break Kip and it does break some of the other characters. I don’t want to give the impression this is a philosophy book though that’s here. Jaspreet shows the human rights offenses with a deft touch. Bombs don’t go off in your face; the prose builds up layer upon layer until there’s a slow implosion. I kept thinking, “he doesn’t mean that, surely not”, and then, with dread, “he does mean that”. It makes the horror more real but without having to wipe blood off your face. The relationships have a push pull that read frighteningly close to real life especially the story of a woman, Irem, who is Muslim and living in Pakistan with her husband. She’s so desperately unhappy she throws herself into the Ganges and winds up on the Hindu side. She’s taken prisoner for being an illegal alien and a possible terrorist. She’s under the general’s care which is how Kip meets her and falls in love. He’s never sure if his love is returned or not. This is a sad book. And so well written it could break your heart.
Mostly this book is about political issues that plague India, Pakistan and the pivot is Kashmir. Kashmir is where the best and the worst play out. Another theme is unrequited love both on a personal level and the unrequited love for one’s country and countrymen. Both these loves almost break Kip and it does break some of the other characters. I don’t want to give the impression this is a philosophy book though that’s here. Jaspreet shows the human rights offenses with a deft touch. Bombs don’t go off in your face; the prose builds up layer upon layer until there’s a slow implosion. I kept thinking, “he doesn’t mean that, surely not”, and then, with dread, “he does mean that”. It makes the horror more real but without having to wipe blood off your face. The relationships have a push pull that read frighteningly close to real life especially the story of a woman, Irem, who is Muslim and living in Pakistan with her husband. She’s so desperately unhappy she throws herself into the Ganges and winds up on the Hindu side. She’s taken prisoner for being an illegal alien and a possible terrorist. She’s under the general’s care which is how Kip meets her and falls in love. He’s never sure if his love is returned or not. This is a sad book. And so well written it could break your heart.
August 25, 2020
I have had this book on my shelf since I started collecting books to read around the world in 2012. Chef is about a military cook from India who is returning to the Siachen Glacier, technically in Kashmir, where he had served as a younger man. His father died in that same area while in the military. Kip, the main character, comes from a Sikh background while most of the soldiers are Hindu. There is a lot of negative talk about Muslims in this novel from the soldiers.
I found the prose difficult. Dialogue was not indicated and sometimes it was confusing as to who was speaking. The scenes are also two different time periods and not always clearly delineated.
I enjoyed the discussion of the food, what makes dishes specifically Kashmiri in particular. I went on a deep internet dive and watched hours of videos of people making food in this region, none of it in English, but all of it by Muslim men (interesting since in the book, the Muslims are pushed so far to the sides.) I even watched a few travel videos where the man is accompanied by a "Tourist Policeman" at all times.
The Siachen Glacier is the line between the Asian and Indian continents, and Pakistan and China. India spends a lot of money and lives keeping a military presence there so they don't lose control of that access; the temperatures are insanely low and soldiers suffer frequently from frostbite, hallucinations, and more. (Just do an internet search for Siachen and you will find videos featuring the army there.)
All to say I think I enjoyed the experience of learning about this region and following small details in the book than I did the book itself. But it did get me there, I guess.
The author lived in Kashmir as a child, and now lives in Canada. I decided to finally read this for the readtheworld21 challenge since this month was focused on the Indian subcontinent. The Kashmir region is on the northern tip and is a high conflict area between India and Pakistan.
I found the prose difficult. Dialogue was not indicated and sometimes it was confusing as to who was speaking. The scenes are also two different time periods and not always clearly delineated.
I enjoyed the discussion of the food, what makes dishes specifically Kashmiri in particular. I went on a deep internet dive and watched hours of videos of people making food in this region, none of it in English, but all of it by Muslim men (interesting since in the book, the Muslims are pushed so far to the sides.) I even watched a few travel videos where the man is accompanied by a "Tourist Policeman" at all times.
The Siachen Glacier is the line between the Asian and Indian continents, and Pakistan and China. India spends a lot of money and lives keeping a military presence there so they don't lose control of that access; the temperatures are insanely low and soldiers suffer frequently from frostbite, hallucinations, and more. (Just do an internet search for Siachen and you will find videos featuring the army there.)
All to say I think I enjoyed the experience of learning about this region and following small details in the book than I did the book itself. But it did get me there, I guess.
The author lived in Kashmir as a child, and now lives in Canada. I decided to finally read this for the readtheworld21 challenge since this month was focused on the Indian subcontinent. The Kashmir region is on the northern tip and is a high conflict area between India and Pakistan.
May 11, 2025
الكتاب رقم ( ١١٩ )
عام ٢٠٢٥
الكتاب : الشيف
المؤلف :جاسبريت سينغ
التصنيف : رواية
.
.
📕تدور أحداث الرواية حول شاب في العشرين من عمره يعمل كمساعد طاهٍ داخل معسكر عسكري هندي في كشمير .
.
.
هل يمكن أن يكون الاختلاف هو جذر كل المشكلات ؟
.
.
✋بين المعتقدات الدينية والدنيوية، والفساد والفقر، والبؤس والثراء، والرفاهية والصراع المستمر بين الهند وباكستان، والحروب التي لا تنتهي، يجد نفسه محاصرًا بالمرض والحب وفن الطهي، وسط دوي القنابل .
✋ قد يتبادر إلى ذهنك سؤال بعد قراءة الكتاب:
متى يكون الطاهي في أفضل حالاته: عندما يعيش لحظات الحزن أم في أوج السعادة؟ .
📕رواية شيقة تعبق برائحة التوابل والبهارات الهندية، تأخذك إلى أجواء الهند الساحرة. استمتعت بها كثيرًا، خاصة أن بطلها طاهٍ، ولامستني في العديد من المواقف .
عام ٢٠٢٥
الكتاب : الشيف
المؤلف :جاسبريت سينغ
التصنيف : رواية
.
.
📕تدور أحداث الرواية حول شاب في العشرين من عمره يعمل كمساعد طاهٍ داخل معسكر عسكري هندي في كشمير .
.
.
هل يمكن أن يكون الاختلاف هو جذر كل المشكلات ؟
.
.
✋بين المعتقدات الدينية والدنيوية، والفساد والفقر، والبؤس والثراء، والرفاهية والصراع المستمر بين الهند وباكستان، والحروب التي لا تنتهي، يجد نفسه محاصرًا بالمرض والحب وفن الطهي، وسط دوي القنابل .
✋ قد يتبادر إلى ذهنك سؤال بعد قراءة الكتاب:
متى يكون الطاهي في أفضل حالاته: عندما يعيش لحظات الحزن أم في أوج السعادة؟ .
📕رواية شيقة تعبق برائحة التوابل والبهارات الهندية، تأخذك إلى أجواء الهند الساحرة. استمتعت بها كثيرًا، خاصة أن بطلها طاهٍ، ولامستني في العديد من المواقف .
June 19, 2010
NO SPOILERS:
Finished: This book is good all the way through. One should read it to experience this author's writing style. It is original, very moving, sometimes disjointed, but always more is said than the simple words. The quote given below is not harsh, other portions of this book are. Don't think you will be served a syrupy treat. Much is said about countries in conflict and how the people of the conflicting sides react towards ach other. It wasn't until the very end that I realised how well personal conflicts mirrored the the India / Pakistan conflict over Kashmir.
Through page 49: Oh yes, I like this! The most important thing for me is is HOW a writer writes, which words he chooses, are the messages blatant or subtle? I am happy! I will give yo a taste:
"Autumn is not a season in India. In Kashmir autumn arrives in the month of October. Through the soot-coated kitchen window I could watch the chenar trees dance. They moved liked dervishes in the wind. I had never seen autumn before. Both sides of the street were lined by plane trees. The whole valley would burst into Technicolor. The leaves turned as they fell on the roofs and the streets, turning any surface into a red and yellow and orange carpet. The wind carried them, swirled them and then abandoned the leaves one by one. Contemplating their sadness I would forget my own, and I would forget too the Siachen Glacier. Even if blindfolded, I will still be able to detect the chenar leaves. I can't forget the smell of cut grass and the smell of plane trees. How sad the trees look when shedding leaves, and yet how happy as if trying to kiss the whole world. Autumn is not the end of happiness. It is the beginning."
Some people don't like descriptive writing. For me good descriptive writing creates an atmosphere that depicts particular emotions. I like that questions arise in my mind - what has happened in the past, what exactly does he mean by that? I like the ambiguity. But that is me! Rather than just being about food and recipes, it is more about all the senses and how they move us as human beings. Food is important in how it affects our emotions.
I guess when I am very silent about a book that I am reading it is because I am fighting to LIKE the book. I don't want to criticize until I am sure I don't like it. I WANT to like it. I am searching for the good qualities but am having a hard time finding them.... I think maybe I am mistaken! Or sometimes my computer is down!
BEFORE READING: Too much talk about food? I am hoping I will get a good story bringing to life the Pakistani / Indian conflict in Kashmir.
Finished: This book is good all the way through. One should read it to experience this author's writing style. It is original, very moving, sometimes disjointed, but always more is said than the simple words. The quote given below is not harsh, other portions of this book are. Don't think you will be served a syrupy treat. Much is said about countries in conflict and how the people of the conflicting sides react towards ach other. It wasn't until the very end that I realised how well personal conflicts mirrored the the India / Pakistan conflict over Kashmir.
Through page 49: Oh yes, I like this! The most important thing for me is is HOW a writer writes, which words he chooses, are the messages blatant or subtle? I am happy! I will give yo a taste:
"Autumn is not a season in India. In Kashmir autumn arrives in the month of October. Through the soot-coated kitchen window I could watch the chenar trees dance. They moved liked dervishes in the wind. I had never seen autumn before. Both sides of the street were lined by plane trees. The whole valley would burst into Technicolor. The leaves turned as they fell on the roofs and the streets, turning any surface into a red and yellow and orange carpet. The wind carried them, swirled them and then abandoned the leaves one by one. Contemplating their sadness I would forget my own, and I would forget too the Siachen Glacier. Even if blindfolded, I will still be able to detect the chenar leaves. I can't forget the smell of cut grass and the smell of plane trees. How sad the trees look when shedding leaves, and yet how happy as if trying to kiss the whole world. Autumn is not the end of happiness. It is the beginning."
Some people don't like descriptive writing. For me good descriptive writing creates an atmosphere that depicts particular emotions. I like that questions arise in my mind - what has happened in the past, what exactly does he mean by that? I like the ambiguity. But that is me! Rather than just being about food and recipes, it is more about all the senses and how they move us as human beings. Food is important in how it affects our emotions.
I guess when I am very silent about a book that I am reading it is because I am fighting to LIKE the book. I don't want to criticize until I am sure I don't like it. I WANT to like it. I am searching for the good qualities but am having a hard time finding them.... I think maybe I am mistaken! Or sometimes my computer is down!
BEFORE READING: Too much talk about food? I am hoping I will get a good story bringing to life the Pakistani / Indian conflict in Kashmir.
September 15, 2023
.
.
"لا توجد مأساة أكبر من أرضٍ تطرد أهلها وتجعلهم ينتقلون من مكان إلى مكان تاركة إياهم محطمين وفي داخلهم شوق للعودة إلى بيوتهم”.
الكاتب الهندي جاسبريت سنغ يكتب في روايته الشيف قصة الصراع السياسي الممتد بين الهند وباكستان حول كشمير، هذا الصراع القديم والجديد والذي يكرس فيه الأطراف العداء لبعضهم البعض دون وجود أدني محاولات لتصحيح الاعتقادات والمفاهيم- ونهاية الرواية تعكس النظرة التشائمية الراسخة حول هذه المعضلة.
رواية خطها سنغ وعطرها بتوابل المطبخ الهندي المختلف ليوضح ان اختلاف الأعراق والأديان جزء لا يتجزأ من التاريخ الهندي.
ماذا بعد القراءة ؟
مالذي يجعل الاختلاف دوماً هو أصل المشكلة ؟
#أبجدية_فرح 3/5
#رواية_الشيف #جاسبريت_سنغ
#candleflame23bookreviews
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"لا توجد مأساة أكبر من أرضٍ تطرد أهلها وتجعلهم ينتقلون من مكان إلى مكان تاركة إياهم محطمين وفي داخلهم شوق للعودة إلى بيوتهم”.
الكاتب الهندي جاسبريت سنغ يكتب في روايته الشيف قصة الصراع السياسي الممتد بين الهند وباكستان حول كشمير، هذا الصراع القديم والجديد والذي يكرس فيه الأطراف العداء لبعضهم البعض دون وجود أدني محاولات لتصحيح الاعتقادات والمفاهيم- ونهاية الرواية تعكس النظرة التشائمية الراسخة حول هذه المعضلة.
رواية خطها سنغ وعطرها بتوابل المطبخ الهندي المختلف ليوضح ان اختلاف الأعراق والأديان جزء لا يتجزأ من التاريخ الهندي.
ماذا بعد القراءة ؟
مالذي يجعل الاختلاف دوماً هو أصل المشكلة ؟
#أبجدية_فرح 3/5
#رواية_الشيف #جاسبريت_سنغ
#candleflame23bookreviews
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August 11, 2018
A beautiful book.
January 19, 2012
*Sigh* Even though I wanted to like this book, I just didn't.
It started off well, weaving me into the story, wanting to know what had happened in the chef's past. But as the book progressed, it went downhill. I felt like there was so much need to take the book to a higher, cognitive version of itself that it ceased to make any sense, to me.
The story is of a Sikh army chef and his reminiscing about his past experience in Kashmir - the war troubled zone. The life there, the food (of course) and the politics involved.
Good points about the book:
Everything related to food was yum! Beautifully talked about.
The picture presented of politics and war is hopeless but true and revealing to quite some extent.
Some people and incidents tug at the heart.
Not so good:
Either I am not abstract minded to make sense of the abstract or there was senseless abstract in the book. To some level abstractness and randomness add interest and appeal to a book but in this one, the pages were filled with abstract that went beyond my understanding.
In all, if you want to read it, read for the description of food. Nothing else would make me recommend this book to anyone.
It started off well, weaving me into the story, wanting to know what had happened in the chef's past. But as the book progressed, it went downhill. I felt like there was so much need to take the book to a higher, cognitive version of itself that it ceased to make any sense, to me.
The story is of a Sikh army chef and his reminiscing about his past experience in Kashmir - the war troubled zone. The life there, the food (of course) and the politics involved.
Good points about the book:
Everything related to food was yum! Beautifully talked about.
The picture presented of politics and war is hopeless but true and revealing to quite some extent.
Some people and incidents tug at the heart.
Not so good:
Either I am not abstract minded to make sense of the abstract or there was senseless abstract in the book. To some level abstractness and randomness add interest and appeal to a book but in this one, the pages were filled with abstract that went beyond my understanding.
In all, if you want to read it, read for the description of food. Nothing else would make me recommend this book to anyone.
August 11, 2010
I thought this book, told in a spare style with that subtly rhythmic langauge one finds in books by Indian writers, to be quite good. There is a distance between the reader and the characters, as others have noted, but I thought the effect was deliberate: Kip as the narrator was himself distanced from everyone else, and we see them through his eyes.
Chef is about the devastation left by war and its effects on people and on the environment. It's a sad commentary on all those trumpenting "war aims" that we always hear about. You'll read it and weep.
Chef is about the devastation left by war and its effects on people and on the environment. It's a sad commentary on all those trumpenting "war aims" that we always hear about. You'll read it and weep.
August 21, 2010
While the themes and ideas behind this novel are quite important, it ended up just being an okay read for me. Perhaps I'm missing something (and I say that sincerely) but I didn't find the writing poetical or lyrical (as it was 'advertised') for the most part. And while the style is purposely informal and conversational, to me, much of it was either underwritten or overwritten, with the metaphors feeling forced. I do give lots of credit, though, to a passage about 'movies' being made in hotels that was very well done.
By the middle of the book, I started getting rather annoyed by the much-used one-word sentence "But." that was used maybe effectively at first, but ended up being just repetitive. By the end of the book, I was wishing perhaps someone like Rohinton Mistry (one of my favorite writers) had written this story, that, for me, had much potential, but ended up falling short.
Here are a couple quotes I did like:
"I knew what was outside: my cycle leaning against the plane tree, and next to it was the nurse's cycle. The nurse and I had failed to connect, but our cycles had met and they were making love to each other."
"... I realize there is no bigger tragedy for a land that forces its own people out and makes them wander from place to place, and leaves them damaged with an intense longing to return home."
By the middle of the book, I started getting rather annoyed by the much-used one-word sentence "But." that was used maybe effectively at first, but ended up being just repetitive. By the end of the book, I was wishing perhaps someone like Rohinton Mistry (one of my favorite writers) had written this story, that, for me, had much potential, but ended up falling short.
Here are a couple quotes I did like:
"I knew what was outside: my cycle leaning against the plane tree, and next to it was the nurse's cycle. The nurse and I had failed to connect, but our cycles had met and they were making love to each other."
"... I realize there is no bigger tragedy for a land that forces its own people out and makes them wander from place to place, and leaves them damaged with an intense longing to return home."
March 21, 2010
Singh's first novel is told by the protagonist Kirpal in flash-backs on a train trip back to Kashmir. Kirpal has agreed to prepare the wedding feast for his former General's daughter. This is a story India; of the conflict between India and Pakistan. Listen to Singh description of Beethoven's 9th:"...but I have heard the music. My fear, my fury, my joy, my melancholy-everything is embedded in this piece. The Ninth is real. It penetrates my body like smells, like food. And yet: is is solid and massive like a glacier. Shifting. Sliding, Melting. Then becoming air...."
July 12, 2018
رواية دافئة جدًا رغم مضمونها الذي تحدث عن الصراع الدائم والظروف السياسية والاجتماعية في منطقة التخوم بين الهند والباكستان،هناك في كشمير، "ظل الجنة".
تفوح من الرواية رائحة التوابل والبهارات الهندية.الشوارع ، الحافلات، القطار،وكذلك الديانات المختلفة.
بطل الرواية "كربال" أو كما تناديه ابنة الجنرال "كب" في طريق عودته لكشمير بعد سنوات غياب، عاد ليكون رئيس الطباخين في حفل زفافها.تحدث الكاتب عن معاناته مع المرض والحب والخيانات...
حضرت فيلم chef الهندي وكذلك النسخة الهوليودية، من وجهة نظري فإن المخرج ابدع في كلا النسختين واتمنى مشاهدة الفلم مرة اُخرى.
تفوح من الرواية رائحة التوابل والبهارات الهندية.الشوارع ، الحافلات، القطار،وكذلك الديانات المختلفة.
بطل الرواية "كربال" أو كما تناديه ابنة الجنرال "كب" في طريق عودته لكشمير بعد سنوات غياب، عاد ليكون رئيس الطباخين في حفل زفافها.تحدث الكاتب عن معاناته مع المرض والحب والخيانات...
حضرت فيلم chef الهندي وكذلك النسخة الهوليودية، من وجهة نظري فإن المخرج ابدع في كلا النسختين واتمنى مشاهدة الفلم مرة اُخرى.
September 10, 2010
Starting with the cover, this book is wonderful! The cover is breathtakingly beautiful and just transports you to northern India. The story, told by Kip, is simple in its telling, but at the same time shows the complexity of human relationships.
I loved this book and highly recommend it. If you liked "Buddha's Orphans" by S. Upadhyay or "A Fine Balance" by R. Mistry, then this book is for you!
I loved this book and highly recommend it. If you liked "Buddha's Orphans" by S. Upadhyay or "A Fine Balance" by R. Mistry, then this book is for you!
set-aside
May 27, 2025The GR description has this sounding a lot better than it seems to me. DNF at 50 pages.
September 15, 2014
Through food, we learn the stories of two military cooks. The first Chef is proud Kishen, Kip's mentor, whose strength lies in international haute cuisine. His unorthodox way of asking vegetables and fruit what they wish to become, results in extraordinary dishes. But when he makes a careless mistake, even his wonderful cooking cannot save him from reassignment to the Siachen icefields. Chef's misfortune results in a promotion for Kip. Although he has learned his kitchen skills and recipes from his predecessor, there is a difference in his cooking style: Kip tries to unite Muslim and Hindu Kashmiri flavors, creating more authenticity, and one could even say unity, in his dishes.
Kip is a man whose life is shaped by others. He joins the army and obtains a posting in Kashmir, in order to feel closer to (and perhaps to better understand) his late father Major Iqbal Singh. The much respected Major died in a plane crash and his body is still somewhere in the Siachen glacier. After his arrival, it is Chef Kishen who makes him a cook. In Kashmir, Kip learns of the injustice that is done to the native Kashmiri, Hindu and Muslim alike. People just like him, people who do not matter to the high command of the military nor to the rest of the world, die every day. They sacrifice themselves, and are sacrificed by others, but their cries are silenced. He is angry at Kishen, and angry for his sake as well. Kip suffers from his inability to intervene on poor Irem's behalf, a simple Muslim woman who is treated like dirt under the Indian military's feet. Even those who are indirectly connected to Muslim threats are disposed of, their value reduced to nothing. And at the center of his anger lies General Kumar himself.
I believe Kip, who is of Sikh origin, cut off his hair and discarded his turban as a method of protest against all the injustice done to Kashmir. He is not just Sikh, or Indian, but also a man, a brother to the oppressed Kashmiri.
The strong sense of nostalgia, pervading every page of this book, appealed to me the most. I enjoy stories in which strong emotions are connected to the past, precious memories that make clear how displaced the protagonist is in the here and now, and how he or she can only exist peacefully in the past for which so much longing is felt. I also liked the importance of food in the novel, of how food was used to convey messages and feelings.
As for the weaker parts of the book: I could not help wondering what had happened to Kip during his years away from Kashmir. Did he put his life on hold, waiting for the General to reach out to him? Or is there no ulterior reason for the way he wasted away his life? Kip's long waiting made his return all the more ominous, but I have to admit I felt slightly let down by the ending of the book.
Kip is a man whose life is shaped by others. He joins the army and obtains a posting in Kashmir, in order to feel closer to (and perhaps to better understand) his late father Major Iqbal Singh. The much respected Major died in a plane crash and his body is still somewhere in the Siachen glacier. After his arrival, it is Chef Kishen who makes him a cook. In Kashmir, Kip learns of the injustice that is done to the native Kashmiri, Hindu and Muslim alike. People just like him, people who do not matter to the high command of the military nor to the rest of the world, die every day. They sacrifice themselves, and are sacrificed by others, but their cries are silenced. He is angry at Kishen, and angry for his sake as well. Kip suffers from his inability to intervene on poor Irem's behalf, a simple Muslim woman who is treated like dirt under the Indian military's feet. Even those who are indirectly connected to Muslim threats are disposed of, their value reduced to nothing. And at the center of his anger lies General Kumar himself.
I believe Kip, who is of Sikh origin, cut off his hair and discarded his turban as a method of protest against all the injustice done to Kashmir. He is not just Sikh, or Indian, but also a man, a brother to the oppressed Kashmiri.
The strong sense of nostalgia, pervading every page of this book, appealed to me the most. I enjoy stories in which strong emotions are connected to the past, precious memories that make clear how displaced the protagonist is in the here and now, and how he or she can only exist peacefully in the past for which so much longing is felt. I also liked the importance of food in the novel, of how food was used to convey messages and feelings.
As for the weaker parts of the book: I could not help wondering what had happened to Kip during his years away from Kashmir. Did he put his life on hold, waiting for the General to reach out to him? Or is there no ulterior reason for the way he wasted away his life? Kip's long waiting made his return all the more ominous, but I have to admit I felt slightly let down by the ending of the book.
June 6, 2010
Full disclosure for purposes of this review: I won this on the Goodreads giveaways, which was very cool because I really wanted to read this after hearing an interview with Jaspreet Singh on BBC's The Strand.
I have never been to India. I've watched Michael Wood's series about it, but never actually set foot there. I also know nothing about Indian literature (outside of legends), so I have no idea how this book compares with current Indian literary product.
It is an affecting and moving book. The kind of book that sticks with you after you have read it. The book is a travel to Kashmir, a travel into memory and the pain/effects of the past as well as a ode to food and the act of cooking.
Kip travels back to Kashmir years after leaving. He travels back so he can cook the wedding feast for the daughter of the General, whom Kip served under during Kip's time in the army. As he travels to Kashmir and deals with the news of his impending death due to cancer, Kip takes the reader on a journay into his memory by telling a story about his service in Kashmir (the section of India that India and Pakistan fight over). Over the course of the story, the reader gets a sense of the conflict, the price of the conflict, and an idea of modern India (in particular with the characters on the train. If you pay attention to the news, at least two of the couples will be currently revelent). What also occurs is a slight sense of hope mingled with bittersweatness and sorrow. Singh doesn't care about which country is in the right; he simply focuses on how the battle effects those who live a generation removed from parition.
Singh's prose is at times poetic: "She is so beautiful. I can't point at a concrete detail of her face and say that is why she is beautiful. I just turn away my eyes" (140). More importantly, Singh has mastered the way of showing the reading without saying more than should be said. His silences speak just as loudly as his words. His recipes speak as loudly as the thoughts, and the description speaks the loudest of all.
I have never been to India. I've watched Michael Wood's series about it, but never actually set foot there. I also know nothing about Indian literature (outside of legends), so I have no idea how this book compares with current Indian literary product.
It is an affecting and moving book. The kind of book that sticks with you after you have read it. The book is a travel to Kashmir, a travel into memory and the pain/effects of the past as well as a ode to food and the act of cooking.
Kip travels back to Kashmir years after leaving. He travels back so he can cook the wedding feast for the daughter of the General, whom Kip served under during Kip's time in the army. As he travels to Kashmir and deals with the news of his impending death due to cancer, Kip takes the reader on a journay into his memory by telling a story about his service in Kashmir (the section of India that India and Pakistan fight over). Over the course of the story, the reader gets a sense of the conflict, the price of the conflict, and an idea of modern India (in particular with the characters on the train. If you pay attention to the news, at least two of the couples will be currently revelent). What also occurs is a slight sense of hope mingled with bittersweatness and sorrow. Singh doesn't care about which country is in the right; he simply focuses on how the battle effects those who live a generation removed from parition.
Singh's prose is at times poetic: "She is so beautiful. I can't point at a concrete detail of her face and say that is why she is beautiful. I just turn away my eyes" (140). More importantly, Singh has mastered the way of showing the reading without saying more than should be said. His silences speak just as loudly as his words. His recipes speak as loudly as the thoughts, and the description speaks the loudest of all.
March 16, 2010
I could barely get through this book. It's written in a style that some would call lyrical, but for me it's too slow-paced and convoluted.
I just couldn't plod my way through and it felt like a chore to read through 250 pages.
I never got a good feel for the narrator's personality as we skipped through perspective and time. He doesn't engage me and I can't relate to him in any way. In the end, I didn't care about him, his dying, his relationships, his food, nothing at all.
At the end of the book I understand Kashmir and its occupation no better, I understand Kip's personality and his relationships with women no better, and the relationship between food and life seemed shallow and ill-formed connection.
I just couldn't plod my way through and it felt like a chore to read through 250 pages.
I never got a good feel for the narrator's personality as we skipped through perspective and time. He doesn't engage me and I can't relate to him in any way. In the end, I didn't care about him, his dying, his relationships, his food, nothing at all.
At the end of the book I understand Kashmir and its occupation no better, I understand Kip's personality and his relationships with women no better, and the relationship between food and life seemed shallow and ill-formed connection.
May 23, 2018
كتاب رائع وجميل جداً ..
يتكلم عن الهند والباكستان وكيفية انقسامهما وكلا يقول بأن لنا الحق في هذه الأرض
الرئيس كابال كبير الطهاة ، شيف الجنرال يتحدث عن حياته التي قضاها في المعسكرات طيلة عمره..
وكيفية وقوعه في الحب..
وكشفه للحقيقة
تأخذك هذه الرواية هناك لجبال السياشين تجعلك تشعر ببردها وصقيع ثلجها حتى تتجمد أطرافك..
كما يجعلك الشيف كب تستمع معه الى الموسيقى الالمانية
والتي ستكشف في النهاية انها رائعة بتهوفن التاسعة
أستمتعوا بالأدب الهندي الجميل والشيق💜
يتكلم عن الهند والباكستان وكيفية انقسامهما وكلا يقول بأن لنا الحق في هذه الأرض
الرئيس كابال كبير الطهاة ، شيف الجنرال يتحدث عن حياته التي قضاها في المعسكرات طيلة عمره..
وكيفية وقوعه في الحب..
وكشفه للحقيقة
تأخذك هذه الرواية هناك لجبال السياشين تجعلك تشعر ببردها وصقيع ثلجها حتى تتجمد أطرافك..
كما يجعلك الشيف كب تستمع معه الى الموسيقى الالمانية
والتي ستكشف في النهاية انها رائعة بتهوفن التاسعة
أستمتعوا بالأدب الهندي الجميل والشيق💜
May 5, 2019
مشاعر متدفقة من طباخ بسيط كان شاهداً على حروب ضارية بين دول .. أنفس .. شخصيات .. وحقائق، يكتبها سنغ بأسلوب شفاف ليشير الى المسألة الأهم؛ ما الفرق؟ وهل هذا يستحق؟
مونولوج إنساني رقيق..
مونولوج إنساني رقيق..
October 6, 2019
نبذة الناشر "منقولة بتصرف":
أخذت أحداث الرواية مجراها في منطقة (كشمير) والتي ظلت مضطربة منذ تأسيس باكستان بانفصالها عن الهند، فقد كان الخلاف بينهما دائم خلّفَ من وراءه حروب وصراعات.. وقد قدم سنغ في روايته الشيف على لسان أبطاله مونولوجياً داخلياً مؤثراً عن الذكرى والآمال المحطمة، عن صراع السلطة وخديعة الحكام، الخيبات والحب والحياة من أجل الآخر.
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عمل جميل وتجربة موفقة لي، أخذت أجول في كشمير وتفاصيلها، بين مطابخ الحكام سمعت تلك الأصداء والصراعات "رغم ظني بأن الرواية ستركز على هذا الجانب لكنها كانت سياسية بشكل ما صدمني"
أخذني البطل (كب) – كربال – لأعيش لوهلة بين شخوص الرواية وأتذوق القلق، مرارة الحياة، والحب الغريب الذي وجدته بين السطور.. رواية عميقة جداً استطعت إنهاءها في جلسات متقطعة..
وقد كنت متعطشة لمعرفة النهاية بين روبيا وكربال، بعد حزني على آرم المسكينة.. لكنني شعرت بالانقطاع المفاجئ مع رحيل الحافلة الأخيرة وعلى متنها روبيا..
فالنهاية لم تكن متوقعة مما أشعرني بالانقطاع والغرابة
الرواية مليئة بالتفاصيل والسرد العميق لذا لا أرشحه لكل قارئ
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Insta: metaqtr #تقييمات_الميم
أخذت أحداث الرواية مجراها في منطقة (كشمير) والتي ظلت مضطربة منذ تأسيس باكستان بانفصالها عن الهند، فقد كان الخلاف بينهما دائم خلّفَ من وراءه حروب وصراعات.. وقد قدم سنغ في روايته الشيف على لسان أبطاله مونولوجياً داخلياً مؤثراً عن الذكرى والآمال المحطمة، عن صراع السلطة وخديعة الحكام، الخيبات والحب والحياة من أجل الآخر.
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عمل جميل وتجربة موفقة لي، أخذت أجول في كشمير وتفاصيلها، بين مطابخ الحكام سمعت تلك الأصداء والصراعات "رغم ظني بأن الرواية ستركز على هذا الجانب لكنها كانت سياسية بشكل ما صدمني"
أخذني البطل (كب) – كربال – لأعيش لوهلة بين شخوص الرواية وأتذوق القلق، مرارة الحياة، والحب الغريب الذي وجدته بين السطور.. رواية عميقة جداً استطعت إنهاءها في جلسات متقطعة..
وقد كنت متعطشة لمعرفة النهاية بين روبيا وكربال، بعد حزني على آرم المسكينة.. لكنني شعرت بالانقطاع المفاجئ مع رحيل الحافلة الأخيرة وعلى متنها روبيا..
فالنهاية لم تكن متوقعة مما أشعرني بالانقطاع والغرابة
الرواية مليئة بالتفاصيل والسرد العميق لذا لا أرشحه لكل قارئ
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Insta: metaqtr #تقييمات_الميم
October 22, 2021
رواية جميلة ودافئة، تنقلت فيها بسلاسة عبر ثقافات مختلفة، ديانات ومعتقدات متباينة ومشاعر كثيرة، أحسست فيها ببرودة الشتاء وسخونة الحر، استنشقت روائح التوابل الهندية، فطائر كشمير وخبز التنور. رغم أحداثها وقصصها التي كانت تدور حول قضايا اجتماعية وسياسية حساسة وصعبة.
وصف الكاتب لمشاعر البطل الذي يعيش بالبلاط العسكري أو حوله ونظرته الناقمة للمدنيين المدللين برأيه، كانت مختلفة ولذيذة رغم النقم والكره، ولعلها تركتني أشعر وأفكر بأحوال الكثير في هذه الدنيا.
المترجم سعد جواد عوض، أحسن الترجمة، للحد الذي أحسست ان الكاتب كتبها باللغة العربية، بارك الله بجهوده ونفع الله به.
وصف الكاتب لمشاعر البطل الذي يعيش بالبلاط العسكري أو حوله ونظرته الناقمة للمدنيين المدللين برأيه، كانت مختلفة ولذيذة رغم النقم والكره، ولعلها تركتني أشعر وأفكر بأحوال الكثير في هذه الدنيا.
المترجم سعد جواد عوض، أحسن الترجمة، للحد الذي أحسست ان الكاتب كتبها باللغة العربية، بارك الله بجهوده ونفع الله به.
August 15, 2020
This award winning debut novel takes many unexpected turns as it weaves a complex story of history, war, love and death. The story blends a historical and fictional account of the Indian and Pakistani territorial dispute over Kashmir. It balances the imagery of the beauty and ruins of Kashmir with the desolate, icy living conditions on the Siachen Glacier at 21,000 feet above sea level.
I found the narrative layers more like that of a glacier than an onion, and the flashback style difficult to grasp the full depth. I received this book through Goodreads First Reads. On my inital reading I found it to be very confusing, and on my second to be quite brilliant.
Traveling by train from Delhi, Kirpal Singh, also known as Kip, is returning to beautiful, war torn Kashmir after a 14 year absence. He is prepared to deliver the perfect wedding banquet for the General’s daughter; in return he hopes to receive hospital care for his brain tumor. After overhearing a child’s innocent question about death, Kip asks himself the question, ‘Why did I allow my life to take a wrong turn?’
On the trip, he ponders about his life. At the age of 19, he is a new army recruit and an apprentice to Chef Kishen in General Sahib Kumar’s kitchen. Besides teaching both native and international cuisine, the Chef gives him a taste for German music and women. Kip has many misguided attempts at setting up an intimate female encounter. These show the depth of his naivete as well as the complexity of a region divided by Muslim, Sikh and Hindu beliefs. An enemy woman, challenges Kip’s views about the line drawn between his county and Pakistan.
‘The greatest gift he gave me was not food. Chef gave me a tongue.’ In his many languages, Hindi, Punjabi, English and Kashmiri, Kip, uses the power of the spoken word. More importantly I found, is what was left unsaid and it is this detail that comes back again and again. One can’t help believe the story would have changed many times over had the words only been said. I think a hidden gem of this story is how it makes one think about the power of words, spoken and unspoken.
I found the narrative layers more like that of a glacier than an onion, and the flashback style difficult to grasp the full depth. I received this book through Goodreads First Reads. On my inital reading I found it to be very confusing, and on my second to be quite brilliant.
Traveling by train from Delhi, Kirpal Singh, also known as Kip, is returning to beautiful, war torn Kashmir after a 14 year absence. He is prepared to deliver the perfect wedding banquet for the General’s daughter; in return he hopes to receive hospital care for his brain tumor. After overhearing a child’s innocent question about death, Kip asks himself the question, ‘Why did I allow my life to take a wrong turn?’
On the trip, he ponders about his life. At the age of 19, he is a new army recruit and an apprentice to Chef Kishen in General Sahib Kumar’s kitchen. Besides teaching both native and international cuisine, the Chef gives him a taste for German music and women. Kip has many misguided attempts at setting up an intimate female encounter. These show the depth of his naivete as well as the complexity of a region divided by Muslim, Sikh and Hindu beliefs. An enemy woman, challenges Kip’s views about the line drawn between his county and Pakistan.
‘The greatest gift he gave me was not food. Chef gave me a tongue.’ In his many languages, Hindi, Punjabi, English and Kashmiri, Kip, uses the power of the spoken word. More importantly I found, is what was left unsaid and it is this detail that comes back again and again. One can’t help believe the story would have changed many times over had the words only been said. I think a hidden gem of this story is how it makes one think about the power of words, spoken and unspoken.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2010
Jaspreet Singh's "Chef: A Novel" is haunting, lyrical and beautiful to read. It is the story of a man on his way back to Kashmir to be the chef for his old general's daughter's wedding. But. The main character, Kip, first travels to Kashmir after his father's death on the strange battlefield of Siachen Glacier. He travels to Kashmir, this beautiful place filled with sadness, to find out more regarding this resting place of his fathers and to apprentice with General Kumar's chef, Chef Kishen. He not only learns how to cook from Chef Kishen, but about the strange relationships between the feuding countries of Pakistan and India as well as the underlying hostilities of the two countries Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, etc. inhabitants. He learns that this beautiful place is scarred, sad and devastating.
When he returns to Kashmir fourteen years after leaving, he has just learned he has cancer. Again he escapes to Kashmir under the ruse of working for the general's daughter's wedding. What he really wants is answers to the questions left unanswered when he left Kashmir quickly fourteen years before. Will he find the answers he needs? Will he be able to reconcile his past before dying? Can he ever truly understand the destruction and devastation these warring factions have done to the land and themselves?
Being unfamiliar with Indian cooking I was slowed down when reading the various culinary descriptions, which I found distracting to the flow and imagery of the book. My lack of understanding caused a block in perception which left the detailed food scenes less then spectacular. That being said, this book was beautifully written and I am glad I had the opportunity to read it as a first read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Indian-Pakistan conflict, coming-of-age books or really anyone who is looking for a wonderful read.
When he returns to Kashmir fourteen years after leaving, he has just learned he has cancer. Again he escapes to Kashmir under the ruse of working for the general's daughter's wedding. What he really wants is answers to the questions left unanswered when he left Kashmir quickly fourteen years before. Will he find the answers he needs? Will he be able to reconcile his past before dying? Can he ever truly understand the destruction and devastation these warring factions have done to the land and themselves?
Being unfamiliar with Indian cooking I was slowed down when reading the various culinary descriptions, which I found distracting to the flow and imagery of the book. My lack of understanding caused a block in perception which left the detailed food scenes less then spectacular. That being said, this book was beautifully written and I am glad I had the opportunity to read it as a first read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Indian-Pakistan conflict, coming-of-age books or really anyone who is looking for a wonderful read.
March 18, 2010
[I received this Advanced Reading Copy from Bloomsbury via Goodreads First-Reads program.:]
Award-winning Indian-Canadian author Jaspreet Singh has written an intensely compelling story of Kip, a Sikh, who becomes an apprentice chef to military chef, Kishen, a mentor obsessed with food and women in the Kashmir area, site of the border wars between Pakistan and India. Full of the delight of good cooking and food, Kip must also deal with unpleasant things: unstable governments, military might, prison, and human rights issues. Told in flashbacks as Kip returns to Kashmir 14 years later when asked to be the Chef for his former General's daughter's wedding, traveling on the same train he had traveled previously, Kip reflects on his former mentor and how his life and feelings about India/Pakistan have changed in the intervening years.
The border wars and human rights issues reminded me of Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes, while the hospital scenes reminded me of Pat Barker's Life Class, and the military instability made me think of Russell Banks'The Darling: A Novel.
Award-winning Indian-Canadian author Jaspreet Singh has written an intensely compelling story of Kip, a Sikh, who becomes an apprentice chef to military chef, Kishen, a mentor obsessed with food and women in the Kashmir area, site of the border wars between Pakistan and India. Full of the delight of good cooking and food, Kip must also deal with unpleasant things: unstable governments, military might, prison, and human rights issues. Told in flashbacks as Kip returns to Kashmir 14 years later when asked to be the Chef for his former General's daughter's wedding, traveling on the same train he had traveled previously, Kip reflects on his former mentor and how his life and feelings about India/Pakistan have changed in the intervening years.
The border wars and human rights issues reminded me of Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes, while the hospital scenes reminded me of Pat Barker's Life Class, and the military instability made me think of Russell Banks'The Darling: A Novel.
April 5, 2011
Is there anything more insufferable than someone else's nostalgia? Yes: someone else's fictional nostalgia, occasionally exacerbated by outbreaks of self-pity and blunt, ineffectual criticism of government hypocrisy. I enjoyed imagining the food they ate, and I would very much like to try rogan josh in both Kashmiri and Hindu styles, but I think the only reason I ended up finishing this was because it always seemed like it was almost done. Not recommended.
This book further illuminated the fact that I don't think I've ever truly enjoyed a book by a non-American, non-Irish/British author. Can someone recommend a book that will rectify this situation? My sister suggested the Russians and possibly Orhan Pamuk, and we both agree that Junot Díaz counts as an American, even if he might not want to. Murakami, Rushdie, Coetzee, Steig Larson (hah!), and Nadine Gordimer have already been rejected (the list goes on). I like Borges but I don't love him. Help.
This book further illuminated the fact that I don't think I've ever truly enjoyed a book by a non-American, non-Irish/British author. Can someone recommend a book that will rectify this situation? My sister suggested the Russians and possibly Orhan Pamuk, and we both agree that Junot Díaz counts as an American, even if he might not want to. Murakami, Rushdie, Coetzee, Steig Larson (hah!), and Nadine Gordimer have already been rejected (the list goes on). I like Borges but I don't love him. Help.
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December 22, 2024رواية لذيذة، تفوح برائحة التوابل من كزبرة وكمون وخلافها، تجري في مطبخ الجيش الهندي في كشمير، خلال فترات النزاع بين الهند وباكستان، يتطرق المؤلف للتنوعات الدينية في الهند وهي عجيبة، فهناك الإسلام والهندوسية والسيخ كذلك، الفاصل بين موقع القاعدة العسكرية الهندية وباكستان حد جغرافي وهو النهر، يتتلمذ الشاب على يد شيف محترف، ثم يتدرج في السلم حتى يصبح الشيف الرئيسي، ولديه علاقات طيبة مع رئيسه الجنرال ومع بقية الضباط، يقرر معلمه السابق الموت أو الانتحار وهو يزعم أن البلد سوف تسمع صوته، لكنه يموت دون أن تحدث وفاته او انتحاره المأساوي أي أثر، ولا خبر عابر في الصحف، بينما توقع وقوف الحرب أو حدوث مراجعات بشأنها!
حدث آخر يشغل الضابط وهو القبض على فتاة كشميرية بتهمة الإرهاب، بينما تقول روايتها بأنها رمت نفسها في النهر للانتحار بسبب ضغوطات زوجها وحماتها عليها، يتعاطف معها الشيف ويقع في حبها، وعلى مايبدو أنه حب من طرف واحد.
تمر السنوات بعد تقاعد أو استقالة الشيف ثم يعود لإحياء عرس بنت الجنرال التي كبرت أثناء عمله والمدهش أن عريسها باكستاني، من
كشمير، أي من الطرف الآخر للقاعدة العسكرية التي نشأت فيها، ويدير والدها مع غيره من القادة لسنوات الحرب ضدهم، ليأتي الحب ويقول كلمته أمام الرصاصة، النص مناهض للحرب العبثية بتفاصيل جميلة، ونهاية ممتازة.
حدث آخر يشغل الضابط وهو القبض على فتاة كشميرية بتهمة الإرهاب، بينما تقول روايتها بأنها رمت نفسها في النهر للانتحار بسبب ضغوطات زوجها وحماتها عليها، يتعاطف معها الشيف ويقع في حبها، وعلى مايبدو أنه حب من طرف واحد.
تمر السنوات بعد تقاعد أو استقالة الشيف ثم يعود لإحياء عرس بنت الجنرال التي كبرت أثناء عمله والمدهش أن عريسها باكستاني، من
كشمير، أي من الطرف الآخر للقاعدة العسكرية التي نشأت فيها، ويدير والدها مع غيره من القادة لسنوات الحرب ضدهم، ليأتي الحب ويقول كلمته أمام الرصاصة، النص مناهض للحرب العبثية بتفاصيل جميلة، ونهاية ممتازة.
April 27, 2010
Singh's award-winning novel is a poem of a book reminiscent of Ondaatje'sThe English Patient. Set in Kashmir, on the border between India and Pakistan, Chef tells the story in retrospect of a young man's enlistment into the Indian Army and his training and early career as chef to one of the army's generals. Exploring several themes simultaneously - the nature of love, the Kashmiri conflict, racism, the relationship between fathers and children - Singh keeps the reader's head spinning with rich layers of description and seemingly innocuous plot developments.
Much like Ondaatje's work, Chef seems simple but then bursts into a complex narrative that lingers like the aftertaste of a particularly good curry. While not as food-centered as several other recent books, Kip's focus on cooking and food gives an interesting nuance to his tale. In the end, the reader is not entirely sure whose story this is: Kip's, his mentor Chef Kishen's, or the conflict itself.
Much like Ondaatje's work, Chef seems simple but then bursts into a complex narrative that lingers like the aftertaste of a particularly good curry. While not as food-centered as several other recent books, Kip's focus on cooking and food gives an interesting nuance to his tale. In the end, the reader is not entirely sure whose story this is: Kip's, his mentor Chef Kishen's, or the conflict itself.
March 15, 2010
This is a really good book. The themes and plot are very well done and utterly believable, the plot twists taking you by surprise as you slowly work your way through the pivotal moments of the protagonist's life. While I'm not a fan of the style of writing (which isn't to say it's bad, just entirely unprosaic, which works really, really well for the story,) I was impressed with the way Mr Singh refused to give clean endings or answers to certain subjects, leaving them up to the reader, almost, to make her own conjectures. Through the poetry of his writing, the messiness of life becomes very clear. If I were more a fan of this almost disjointed style, I would probably give it five stars: as it is, I didn't feel emotionally connected to the characters, which is my main problem with such a clinical, if beautiful, approach. Definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in modern India.
I received this book gratis in Goodreads' FirstReads program.
I received this book gratis in Goodreads' FirstReads program.
January 4, 2019
كتاب لطيف جدًا جدًا، تدور أحداث الرواية حول الصراع الهندي-الباكستاني على كشمير (اللي بالمناسبة معلوماتي عنه محدودة جدًا)
الحقيقة الرواية ما فيها حدث معينة بل أحداث صغيرة كثيرة من ذاكرة الشيف كب وهي ما تتعمق بالحديث عن الصراع نفسه بل تتحدث عن تأثير الصراع على الناس وأحوالهم النفسية والاجتماعية في ذاك الوقت
جدًا سعيدة أني قريت هذا الكتاب اللطيف الآن لأني لو قريته قبل كم سنة يمكن ما أحبه لأن مفهومي حول الرواية كان ضيق جدًا ويقتضي وجود نقطة تحول كبيرة أو حدث معين (حبكة) يعني مثل كتب الأطفال حدث واحد مهم والباقي جانبي هههه مع أني ما سبق وقرأت كتاب بهالطريقة لكن متأكدة أني ما كنت راح اتقبله لو كنت قرأته قبل سنوات من الآن
استمتعت كثير بقرآته واستمتعت بمتعة قرآته أيضًا
من سنين ما احس أني سويت شيء حسسني بأني تغيرت بأي شكل من الأشكال... شعور منعش
ومعلومة أخيرة *شخصيًا* وجدت ترجمة الرواية سيئة...
الحقيقة الرواية ما فيها حدث معينة بل أحداث صغيرة كثيرة من ذاكرة الشيف كب وهي ما تتعمق بالحديث عن الصراع نفسه بل تتحدث عن تأثير الصراع على الناس وأحوالهم النفسية والاجتماعية في ذاك الوقت
جدًا سعيدة أني قريت هذا الكتاب اللطيف الآن لأني لو قريته قبل كم سنة يمكن ما أحبه لأن مفهومي حول الرواية كان ضيق جدًا ويقتضي وجود نقطة تحول كبيرة أو حدث معين (حبكة) يعني مثل كتب الأطفال حدث واحد مهم والباقي جانبي هههه مع أني ما سبق وقرأت كتاب بهالطريقة لكن متأكدة أني ما كنت راح اتقبله لو كنت قرأته قبل سنوات من الآن
استمتعت كثير بقرآته واستمتعت بمتعة قرآته أيضًا
من سنين ما احس أني سويت شيء حسسني بأني تغيرت بأي شكل من الأشكال... شعور منعش
ومعلومة أخيرة *شخصيًا* وجدت ترجمة الرواية سيئة...
March 20, 2010
I really enjoyed this book. Whenever an author is able to transport me somewhere and feel like I'm really there I feel they have done a good job writing. When Kip was on the train and describing it I could hear the old thing clacking away down the tracks. When he was talking about the icefield and how cold and awful it was I just felt so sad for the men there. I like that the book was believable. Nothing far out there. The only thing I would have liked was a little bit of explanation of all the foods he talked about and made. Obviously they are so different than what we eat and so many names I didn't understand. I have already recommended this book to a few friends. Thanks goodreads for picking me as a winner. I really enjoyed it!
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