An American Brat

Rating:
Summary: Overall enjoyable, but lackadaisical at times
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: An American Brat - Fast Moving and Gripping, Worth Applaud!
Review: 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?"

Rating:
Summary: An American Brat - Fast Moving and Gripping, Worth Applaud!
Review: 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?"

Rating:
Summary: Starts strong but then dies flat
Review: 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.