This is a book review of a book I recently read and liked. The title of the book is “A Hundred Journeys ~ Stories of my fatherland”. It is written by Omar Zafarullah. I believe it is his first book. His style of writing is fresh. As he himself describes his book, it is a part memoir. The book takes you through the journey of Omar Zafarullah’s family. It is a journey which would seem to you as your own journey. Omar Zafarullah has written this book for his son. He has tried in this book to communicate his worldly wisdom and his own view of the world to his son. This is a narrative where a father has tried to communicate with his son through an unusual medium.
Although this book is written as a part memoir of the family, it also has a lot of incidents which are important to our national political history. The book takes us through the lanes of history, discussing one incident after another. It highlights how things have changed for good or for worse over time. The changes that Pakistan has faced have affected the whole nation. We as individuals have faced all those impacts. The simplicity in which Omar Zafarullah has described all these major incidents makes this book very enjoyable to read.
This book makes a very interesting read. It is partly informative, and partly it seems to be a part of fiction. The most intense part of this book is about Omar Zafarullah losing his father in a car accident. He has mentioned those 90 seconds where they faced and accident and within 90 seconds his father was no more. His question looms large, asking everyone what a young lad could learn from his father in those 90 seconds. Overall it is a very good read. Thumbs up!
