Partitions, by Amit Majmudar (lives in Columbus)

This is a very powerful book, contained in only 208 pages. Much of it reads like poetry, with words and phrases that can melt your heart. It is a story both horrible and beautiful about the days in 1947 when Pakistan broke away from India, against the fervent wishes of Gandhi, who very much wanted India to be a union of a variety of religions, living together in peace. Instead, partition occurs and the Muslims living in the east try to move to Pakistan in the west, while the Hindus and Sikhs who live in the west try to move to India in the east. This countercurrent of long-time enemies leads to numerous bloody clashes and unbelievable cruelty.

The story is told by the spirit of a physician, a Hindu who has died recently from a serious illness but who can still observe what is going on in the physical world. It is his telling of the story that makes it possible for the reader to feel that he/she is actually witnessing the events being described. He follows the fate of several different individuals and groups, including his own wife and twin sons who, early in the book, are separated as they try to board a train in the west heading for Delhi. Although the narrator's family are Hindus and are potential victims of Muslim vengeance, he details numerous instances in which it is the Hindus who are committing heinous crimes.

The hero of the book is an elderly Muslim pediatrician who provides medical assistance to whomever he meets, from whichever faith, as he limps toward Pakistan. As I was approaching the end of the book, my emotions were so powerful that I could barely continue reading ... love and compassion trumping cruelty and hatred.

This is just a wonderful piece of writing which I can recommend without any caveats.

Reviewed by Cal

The Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Hellenga

I really loved this book, even the second time I read it. It's beautifully written and has something for everyone ... tragedy, foreign travel, terrorism, religion, love, sex, forgiveness, eating, humor, music. It's a work of fiction about an English professor at a small college in northern Illinois whose oldest daughter is killed in an event that is actually historical -- the bombing of the Bologna train station. It goes on to show how the different members of the family ... father, mother, and two younger sisters ... adjust to this tragic event. If you've never read anything by Robert Hellenga, you might be surprised at what he's accomplished here.

Reviewed by Cal