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Scenes from Early Life Philip Hensher 9780007433704 Books

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Scenes from Early Life Philip Hensher 9780007433704 Books

Saadi is called Churchill by his grandfather for his pensive nudging into everyone's business. He is a young boy in a sprawling family in Bangladesh. There is in fact much drama and carrying on amongst the uncles and aunts and sisters and brothers. And on the weekends, everyone descends on his grandfather en masse. And Saadi and his friends see Roots and run off for weeks playing slave trader and slave auction. There is a little boy whose family cooperated with the Pakistanis and so is forbidden to play with the gang.

In these tales of the world of a child, the era after the Partition is brought to life with its politics and tension. The charm is the history lesson taught us by Saadi's young eyes and the stories he learns of his family"s struggles reaching Bangledesh. The richness of his cultural background is revealed enmeshed with American TV and popular songs. The streets are redolent with sweet sellers and small traders, although street food is not trusted by his parents.

It is a charming book without a smidge self consciousness, and regaling the reader with culture of his world with the dash of young child to the observations.


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Scenes from Early Life Philip Hensher 9780007433704 Books Reviews

Late in "Scenes from Early Life," a character declares "It is quite an ordinary story, but the implications are tremendous." This summarizes Philip Hensher's memoir-like novel perfectly. While the individual chapters describe conventional life and seemingly mundane events as understood by a young boy, the setting of the novel is what makes it extraordinary. The start of the Bangladesh Liberation War drives much of the action and makes for often devastating circumstances. The narrator Saadi, whose well-to-do family lovingly calls "Churchill," depicts day-to-day life during the political turmoil of 1971 Pakistan.

Hensher is perhaps most well-known for his epic books predominantly set in modern England, such as his 2008 Man Booker-nominated novel "The Northern Clemency." However, in "Scenes from Early Life," Hensher assuredly assumes the voice of his real-life husband, Zaved Mahmood, to retell the events that Mahmood remembers from his childhood in Pakistan and the often exciting experiences that his family recalls when they gather.

Our narrator Saadi is born months before the Bangladesh Liberation War so the politics of East and West Pakistan are ever-present. It was during this period that the British separated Pakistan from India in an attempt to resolve a political issue but which unintentionally created a disastrous geographical problem. Saadi explains

>> Pakistan was to be for the Muslims, and India for the rest. Pakistan was a
>> single nation, but anyone could see that it was split in two. To the left
>> was West Pakistan, where they ruled, and spoke Urdu, and wrote in an
>> alphabet that flowed like water under wind. To the right was East
>> Pakistan, where the Bengalis live. They spoke Bengali, which chatters
>> like a falling xylophone.... The two new countries -- India and
>> Pakistan, East and West -- they looked on the map like a broad-
>> shouldered ape with two coconuts, one on its right shoulder, one under
>> its left armpit.

Saadi comes from a large family that gathers at his grandfather's house on weekends and in times of crisis. His paternal grandfather has two wives, which remains largely un-commented on by the narrator. His maternal grandmother has six sisters and two brothers who live together at the beginning of the novel. With the addition of other aunts, uncles, and cousins, it is often hard to keep track of every character--though, within each chapter, the characters and their motivations are clear.

A number of the chapters explore the lives of servants and non-family members. In one section, Saadi touchingly describes how his family gained a new servant when her marriage fell apart because her father couldn't supply a large-enough dowry for her selected husband. In another, Saadi shares the story of two musicians, Altaf and Amit, who move in together after a casual meeting, become popular teachers and performers, and, after being separated by the war, reunite. Though Saadi does not recognize it, these two performers may be the only gay characters he comes across in his chaotic childhood.

The story of Altaf and Amit highlights a narrative device that Hensher successfully adopts to advance his storytelling the young narrator doesn't always completely understand what's going on around him. Like the story of the two musicians, Saadi also describes several feuds that keep some members of the family apart for years but that are later resolved with minor contrivance. He doesn't grasp the underlying conditions that create such family squabbles or the problems that result from them. Similarly, he is oblivious to the politics and serious danger that the full-blown war brings to his housebound family. Hensher uses this narrative ploy to exploit Saadi's naïve voice and bring complexity to the novel.

The misleading chapter titles add an amusing note to Heshner's episodic narrative. "How I Was Allowed to Eat as Much as I Liked" actually describes how the family hid from invading soldiers. "How Amit Went to Calcutta" illustrates how the ruling government monitored a school for political correctness, forcing out a popular teacher. Because the latter story takes place before Saadi is born, it is also an example of how the narrator propagates tales, getting the physical elements generally right but missing some of the significance of the events.

"Scenes from Early Life" offers a huge tapestry of elements the busy capital of Dacca, the political situation under which the Bengalis live, the repeated coming and going of relatives and friends, and the struggles between cultures that never should have been at war. Heshner adopts the voice of the young Saadi so well that readers may forget that this is a novel rather than a memoir. It is with great skill that Hensher cannily invokes this young voice to weave a tale that simultaneously contains a grand historical sweep and a grounded domesticity.
Quite a good read but it did feel like there was something missing in comparison to all the other Indian family life books that I enjoy so much. Maybe it felt too much like a family tale being told second-hand although maybe I just think that because I know the writer wrote the tale of his partner's family life. There was a little lack of warmth in the observations for my liking.
An interesting view of the birth of the nation of Bengladesh. I did have some difficulty keeping track of the characters because I'm not that familiar with how Bengalis refer to each other. It is explained, but I couldn't quite keep it in my head. There is an additional explanation at the end of the book, which might be good to refer to while reading. Reading the kindle version I wasn't really aware it was there until I finished the book.

Although the author is a man telling the story of his husband's family, there is no gay content here. Nothing about growing up with homosexual feelings. It's still a good book, but I'd be interested in this aspect of the story too.
Saadi is called Churchill by his grandfather for his pensive nudging into everyone's business. He is a young boy in a sprawling family in Bangladesh. There is in fact much drama and carrying on amongst the uncles and aunts and sisters and brothers. And on the weekends, everyone descends on his grandfather en masse. And Saadi and his friends see Roots and run off for weeks playing slave trader and slave auction. There is a little boy whose family cooperated with the Pakistanis and so is forbidden to play with the gang.

In these tales of the world of a child, the era after the Partition is brought to life with its politics and tension. The charm is the history lesson taught us by Saadi's young eyes and the stories he learns of his family"s struggles reaching Bangledesh. The richness of his cultural background is revealed enmeshed with American TV and popular songs. The streets are redolent with sweet sellers and small traders, although street food is not trusted by his parents.

It is a charming book without a smidge self consciousness, and regaling the reader with culture of his world with the dash of young child to the observations.