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Book Cover for: River of Fire, Qurratulain Hyder

River of Fire

Qurratulain Hyder

Paperback
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The most important novel of twentieth-century Urdu fiction, Qurratulain Hyder's River of Fire encompasses the fates of four recurring characters over two and a half millennia. These characters become crisscrossed and strangely inseparable over different eras, forming and reforming their relationships in romance and war, in possession and dispossession. River of Fire interweaves parables, legends, dreams, diaries, and letters, forming a rich tapestry of history and human emotions and redefining Indian identity. But above all, it's a unique pleasure to read Hyder's singular prose style: "Lyrical and witty, occasionally idiosyncratic, it is always alluring and allusive: Flora Annie Steel and E. M. Forster encounter classical Urdu poets; Eliot and Virginia Woolf meet Faiz Ahmed Faiz" (The Times Literary Supplement).

Book Details

  • Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
  • Publish Date: Mar 26th, 2019
  • Pages: 448
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.90in - 5.30in - 1.30in - 0.95lb
  • EAN: 9780811222198
  • Categories: • Literary• Magical Realism• Historical - General

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About the Author

Hyder, Qurratulain: - Qurratulain Hyder (1926-2007) is widely regarded as the grande dame of Urdu literature. To her fans and admirers she is popularly known as "Ainee Apa." The Prime Minister of India said at her funeral, "With her unfortunate passing, the country has lost a towering literary figure."

More books by Qurratulain Hyder

Book Cover for: Fireflies in the Mist, Qurratulain Hyder

What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Kamil Ahsan
Kamil Ahsan
@kamuleosaurus
5 years

Kamil Ahsan is a biologist, historian and writer.

I wrote an essay for @thenation about the enigma of Qurratulain Hyder, and the best book I have ever read from a subcontinental writer: her magnum opus River of Fire—its vital syncretism and searingly potent view of history and nationalism. https://t.co/V0RA57KhqB

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Mentioner image for: Usman T. Malik
Usman T. Malik
@usmantm
2 years

Author MIDNIGHT DOORWAYS Writer I Runner I Rheumatologist queries @rhaliterary

Age 13–I attempted to read Qurratulain Hyder’s (AAG KA DARYA)/ RIVER OF FIRE but couldn’t vanquish it— theme didn interest me and the excess of sanskrit verbiage was daunting. Now 28 yrs I lve picked it up again to see what I can do with it. Here’s to finishing it this time

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Mentioner image for: Daisy Rockwell ڈیزی راکویل डेज़ी राक्वैल
Daisy Rockwell ڈیزی راکویل डेज़ी राक्वैल
@shreedaisy
1 year

Painter; literary type; Hindi and Urdu translator; escaped academic. @shreedaisy on Instagram; @shreedaisy@zirk.us on mast o dawn.

@Ralph_Hubbell @kalyanasc Yes, River of Fire by Qurratulain Hyder and The Weary Generations by Abdullah Hussain. And Rabindranath Tagore translated his own work, such as Gitanjali, which does not read very well at all.

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Critics’ reviews

Praise for this book

River of Fire gushes across more than 2,000 years of subcontinental history, carving narrative mountains and valleys for us to hike across. It floods us with details: names, philosophies, politics, religion, the history of Urdu literature. Each time the water recedes, Hyder's characters are left parched with nostalgia, to be quenched only when the river is next in spate. It takes inventive writing to evoke such a seasonal narrative.-- "NYT" (4/8/2019 12:00:00 AM)
Qurratulain Hyder is a wonderful writer. She pairs enormous erudition with a careful eye to detail. Hers is one of the most important Indian voices of the twentieth century.--Amitav Ghosh (4/8/2019 12:00:00 AM)
A sprawling, postmodern epic, a radical history of the subcontinent which draws on two millennia of history in a vivid demonstration that Euro-American civilization doesn't have a monopoly on progress or cosmopolitanism, a towering fictional achievement which summons up a country in flux and casts a steely eye over the myths of colonialism. Hyder successfully weaves this fictional universe together with a cast of characters that's not only diverse but also most intriguing.-- "The Guardian"

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