SIDWA'S BOOK, I CANT SEEM TO GET OVER IT, AND I READ IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.I HIGHLY RECCOEND READING OF THIS BOOK TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THE GRUSOME HORROR OF THE PARTION AND ALSO TO THOSE WHO HAVE AND LOST THIER KITH AND KIN AS IT WILL HELP THEM TO REALISE THAT THEY WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO SUFFERED THIS BREAKING UP OF THE EARTH.

THE PARTION OF INDIA WAS FATE AND IT HAD TO HAPPEN, AND SIDWA'S BOOK NOT ONLY HELPED ME AN KNOWLDGE OF THE EVENT, BUT IT WAS AS IF I WAS PRESENT IN THAT ERA AND RELIVING THE HORROR.

KUDOS TO BAPSI SIDWA,FOR DEMONSTARATING SUCH A GOOD FLAIR OF IMAGINATION AND WRITING.

Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel, Ice Candy Man, ... was a thoroughly enjoyable and excitable read.
The award-winning authoress was born in Lahore during the days reflected upon as undivided India. Her early childhood was spent seeing her country and countrymen divided right before her eyes and this is easily deciphered through her character’s narration in the novel. She has done an exceptional job of transporting her reader to that bloody era and forcing them to experience the betrayal, terror and separatism faced by a country of a billion plus citizens. The reason I decided to even pick up this book was all owing to the writer’s name because I had previously enjoyed her other novels; this recent read being no exception to my delight. Her previous existing novels, Crow Eaters, An American Brat, and The Bride all reflect Ms. Sidhwa’s strong sense of her Parsee culture and also consistent with this author’s style Ice Candy Man is filled with humorous anecdotes and lovable characters.

The story is set during the tumultuous period when India gained her independence
from the loathsome British Raj. The release of the subcontinent country from European rule
is overshadowed by the notorious year, 1947. The year names were replaced by religion.
The year friends became enemies. The year 11 million people lost their homes. The year
millions were raped, tortured, killed. The year known as Partition.

Bapsi Sidhwa tells the novel, somewhat autobiographical, through the thoughts of a
precocious and very mature Lenny Sethi. “Baby Lenny” begins her story living in an idyllic
bubble as a naïve four year old and concludes four years later completely stripped of her
childhood illusions and her bubble sufficiently deflated....

A wonderful book: an eye-opener for me. Having grown up in neighborhood teeming with Parsis, in an apartment building behind a Fire Temple, I could identify with the protagonist and her friends. The book is peopled by characters like Ayah, Ice-Candy Man and others who are so realistic. Godmother and Slavesister could have been some of my neighbors during my childhood.

The cozy feeling induced by the cast and the anecdotes is a cushion for the shock that one feels as the author describes in gory detail scenes from that awful event in the history of the Indian subcontinent, the Partition. Growing up in the 60s, I heard whispers about the horrors but had never come face to face with them until I read Sidhwa's novel. The book really shook me up.

Reading the book was an enriching experience; it is certainly one of the best books I have read recently.

A slow starter, but an excellent read. The main characters are a man, Qasim, who marries when he is 10 years old and a child, Zaitoon, who loses her parents when she is 5. Qasim becomes Zaitoon's father and we watch them become older in a newly-formed Pakistan. Zaitoon turns 16 and a marriage is arranged for her. It's a beautiful story that touches upon certain aspects of India that I've found are glossed over in other Indian novels: the underground and bad arranged marriages.

Through her characters in The Bride, Bapsi Sidhwa introduces and combines vastly different worlds seamlessly. The novel is infused with pathos through understated humour but overwhelming humanity. The result is that rarest of commodities, "a good read".

I read this book while living in Pakistan. As an american woman married to a Pakistani man and living in Islamabad's middle class, I could readily identify with many characters in this book. Most books written about this culture are usually judgemental or are from a western viewpoint and therefore erroneous.

The Bride begins at the time of The Partition, when India and Pakistan became two separate, independent countries following centuries of British rule. Because of unexpected events, an older unmarried Pathan man becomes the foster father of a Punjabi infant girl. He settles with the infant girl in Lahore (Punjab). As he gets older he fondly remembers his childhood in the NWFP. He sees the girl getting older and arranges a marriage for her with a Pathan family in NWFP. Against her will, she is married to a man she has never met and moves to a land she has never seen. She desperately wants to return to her kind foster father and escape the harsh and brutal living of the NWFP.

You will have to read this excellent book to find out how this story unfolds.

Punjabi and Pathan cultures are very disparate. The Punjab is a well-travelled, flat terrain farming province. The NWFP is mountainous and closed off to the outside world. The punjabi society is one of many cultures, ideas, religions and people. The NWFP society tends to be much more clannish, traditional, not accepting of change. Ms. Sidhwa does an excellent job of portraying both cultures and how they impact the life of this young girl. The conclusion of the novel is a realistic scenario, one that a young woman in today's Pakistan would face if in the same situation. Additionally, Ms. Sidhwa's portrayal of a young american woman is deadly accurate, and, in my opinion, a scathing commentary on the ignorance, self-centeredness and ethnocentrism of the first-world.

"The Crow Eaters" is a delightfully humorous and insightful book. Bapsi Sidhwa writes with a clarity and tone that are unparalleled in modern Indo-Pak fiction. One of the book's biggest pluses is the strength of its characters. The Junglewalla's saga--or rather, sagas--are ones that we can identify with. We laugh when the Junglewalla's laugh, and we cry when they cry. The believability of every single one of the characters, as well as their uniqueness, makes for a terrific character set.

If the book has one single biggest drawback, it is that the reader ideally is familiar with some basic Pakistani customs and words, because otherwise some of the meaning is lost on the reader. This, however, does not detract from one's overall enjoyment of the book. In all, Bapsi Sidhwa's "The Crow Eaters" manages to combine a sharp sense of humor with poignant insights onto life. I highly recommend "The Crow Eaters" to anyone with 3-4 hours that they can devote to reading a wonderfully unique and refreshing novel.

The Crow Eaters is an extraordinary tale of very ordinary people. A fast moving and engaging story is full of humour and life. Bapsi Sidhwa has a magical tendency of writing fiction and creating very emphatic characters. The Crow Eaters is the story of a Parsee family that moves to the bustling city of Lahore. Lahore is also called the "Paris of the East" and has always served as one of the most historical cities in South Asia. Founded by a Hindu god Ram and later becoming the central part of the great Moughal Empire and the seat of the governor in the British Raj, Lahore quickly absorbed the Junglewallas in its stride. The story take twists and turns and goes from one generation to the other. The descriptions are as solid as a rock and the pace and humour make a perfect combination to transform the story in a magical tale of love, relations and experiences of a parsee family in the British India. It's a must to read...

Bapsi Sidhwa remains the only Pakistani writer to attain International recognition. She is explorative and insightful. This is truly one of her best works.

Many books have been wriiten about the partition of India in 1947. But this is the first book,where the story is told from a young child's point of view. The books revolves around Lenny, a young Parsee girl, who turns eight years old in 1947. The religious strife in the country, make her realize the frailities and unpredictability of human nature. Like every book on Partition, this book too remains unbaised. It does not hold one person or community responsible. It is truly unfortunate, that some people feel that the author is racial and prejudice. It is amusing to see that people who write this, fail to see their own preduices. It is about time that people realize, We are all to be blamed. To say the 'Hindu-Sikhs are not to be blamed for the partition or vis-a vis is not only ignorance, but a way to justify actions. It is about time we realize that this event took place because the people of our country allowed themselves to be swayed by the people in power. Innocent people died because of their beliefs. We should learn from the mistakes of the past and make sure that it is not repeated in the present or near future. Instead of blaming each other, we should find a constructive way of living in harmony

There have already been many excellent customer reviews of this book, with which I wholeheartedly agree. The book starts out with a mundane, even boring upper-class existence seen through a child's eyes, and builds up to the violent wrenching apart of the country into India and Pakistan, when millions of Muslims and Hindus were displaced, butchered, slaughtered, tortured, including some of those closest to the main character, Lenny. What is interesting is this follows (in 1947) directly on the heels of the more well-known Holocaust in Europe, indicating that few lessons are learned even from recent history and man's unlimited inhumanity to man goes on. The author makes this point nicely and subtly at the very end by having a Jewish doctor, a refugee from Nazi Germany, move into the neighborhood after the Hindus and Sikhs have left or have been driven out. The author does not take sides in this novel. She points out that wrong behavior and the "eye for an eye" mentality on either side can escalate out of control, doing irreparable damage. This is a powerfully moving book and should be read just to learn that such things continue to happen and are not limited to one part of the globe.

I first read this book several years ago and was thrilled that it was finally made into a movie by Deepa Mehta. "Earth" is a great film but I don't think even it can do do justice to this amazing book. My mother's family is from Lahore and came to the Indian side of the border as refugees in 1947 so this book has a very personal meaning for me. It is a wonderful depiction of growing up as a child in Lahore and very authentic. I thought the love story between Ayah and Ice Candy Man was incredibly sad. Ultimately, she was unable to return his love and unable to forgive him for kidnapping her and forcing her to work as a dancing girl before marrying her. My grandparents told me that there were many such sad stories of women who were abducted and never seen by their families again. Unfortunately in times of conflict, it's always the women and children who suffer the most. To me, the most intruiging aspect of the book is that it is written from the girl child's viewpoint and Sidhwa really does try to capture the viewpoint of an 8-year old, although some of the observations were probably too mature for that age. What is amazing is how comic scenes are interspersed with scenes of horrifying brutality. I must disagree with some of the previous reviewers who felt the book was biased towards Pakistan - at no point does Sidhwa blame one community more than another, rather she feels that all communities were to blame for the atrocities that were committed all all sides during Partition to more or less the same extent. If you are interested in reading more fiction that is set against the backdrop of Partition, I would recommend Manohar Malgaonkar's "A Bend in the Ganges". Again, this is a story told from the feminine viewpoint, except that it is an adult woman, Sundari, who is at the center of the story. It may be hard to get hold of in the U.S. but it's well worth the effort!

The book starts out very well with vivid portrayals of the family life of the "old country," but as soon as the main character lands in the United States, everything becomes a dull stereotype. The story arc and character development stop dead in favor of a series of "lessons" that the protagonist learns about American culture. The style of the storytelling also changes from a natural flow to one of pure exposition. Feroza ceases to be a fully realized character and transforms instantly into a MacGuffin being led around from scene to scene. One gets the impression that Sidhwa was trying to portray "typical" Americans; however, much like Anurag Mathur ("The Inscrutable Americans") and Anita Desai ("Fasting, Feasting") she fails miserably in creating convincing American characters and is clearly out of her depth in her superficial attempts to recreate American speech and manners. The protagonist and her relatives also transform into stereotypes.

An overall enjoyable read, but I found it to be lackadaisical and undeveloped at times. The twist at the end did come to my surprise and I was impressed by it. The end certainly tied the whole theme of the novel tightly together; that is, a pampered young Pakistani woman maturing into a an independent Pakistani-American in the US, allowing her to choose the best of both worlds, the mother-land and the new-land. She also learns that she will fly only when her wings strengthen, as they do throughout the novel.

In response to the earlier review, Manek's character allowed a bird's eye view narrative of what may be in store for Feroza, perhaps a male's account of being a Pakistani immigrant. Also, with Pakistani culture, Feroza couldn't have been sent off alone to America by herself. Manek, her uncle was young enough to provide comic relief through their sarcastic banter, yet he also somewhat of an authority figure for her. Any other relation such as a cousin or family friend may have not provided both aspects of character.

Bapsi Sidhwa has now become one of the best writers in English language from Pakitsan. Her books have been loved in Great Britain and United States. "An American Brat" is just another one of her classics. Starting in Lahore: One of the most historic and beautiful cities of South Asia the book moves to United States. The story revolves around a Parsee religion girl and her life. The story highlights the political instability in Pakistan and takes place in the time when Bhutto govt. was overthrown by martial law that imposed Islam on every citizen. To avoid another religion's effects on the girl she was sent to America... and as its said "Someone somewhere is made for you," the girl finds her soulmate in America and gets married to a non-parsee boy and the news becomes a shock for the family in Pakistan because unlike America, religion is an issue in South Asia... The book is just stunning and i highly recomend you to read it... to see, how a simple girl moves to "gimme coke" from "May I have a Coca-Cola?"