Pieces of a Paki
You can read my pre reading impressions about the book here…the current post deals with my post reading impressions….
This book is very surreal, I think it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s set in the not so distant future, a future where Prince Charles has become king, America has suffered a civil war, where milk floats actually float and “Paki” has become the generic term for anyone who looks remotely foreign (“whether they were African, Asian, South American or Eastern European they were all a bunch of bloody pakis to the nincompoops”). We follow the narrator, Jonathan Hutton as he tells us how he had an upper class childhood, with a mother who didn’t really give a damn, a father who was always distant and an aunt who gives him a better home than he could have ever asked for as well as instilling a love of organic milk in her nephew.
Throughout his childhood he considers himself as a “yes child”, and he remains thus throughout boarding school and at the beginning of his working life at the suitcase department in Debenhams. Whilst working there he spends many a lunch hour admiring the sandwich shop girl from afar, but never plucks up the courage to speak to her. Then one day his life is totally changed as we learn the strange yet slightly disturbing way he becomes a crack addict. Over time he becomes so desperate for money and drugs he resorts to risky and painful methods to obtain his prize
After escaping his drug habit he goes to Morocco, where he makes his first real friend Raden, an Indonesian Muslim woman who can only speak a few words of English as well as learning he needs to get in contact with the head of food. On his return to England he hatches a plan involving a football game and a carton of organic milk, in order to gain the attention of the head of food. The result: he ends up being best friends with a famous Brazilian footballer who also shares a love for all things organic, seeing as he has no home he moves in with his best friend and all is well. Until he gets captured only to be taken to the head of food, whose located on the moon……Here the narrator learns some long kept secrets, involving organic food, his family and his own identity. On his return to planet earth Jonathan finally plucks up the courage to meet the sandwich shop girl, only for the novel to end in the most unusual way possible.
I love this book purely because of its oddness, and individuality. It also makes you think about the future, particularly about some of the things that are briefly mentioned such as: Brad Pitts leg explodes because of the plastic surgery he had, Brazil becomes the new Iraq, George Bush lives in Texas which is devoid of human rights. It’s little things which aren’t even major threads of the storyline, that hint at what could happen if the things carry on as they are. I can’t really pinpoint completely why I like it….. there’s just something about it………
6 comments:
sounds like someone was on crack whilst writing it! Very odd...your taste for all things unique might just have gone a little too far...come back to the light JTM...the light aka facebook ;)
im soooooooo impressed by how many posts u do!!! i can never find tym to sit down and type!!! lol
"Brad Pitts leg explodes because of the plastic surgery he had...It’s little things which aren’t even major threads of the storyline, that hint at what could happen if the things carry on as they are"
Oh that made me laugh! =D
Certainly sounds surreal...damn you Quebec DAMN YOU!!!
Ymiss:lol you remind me of my dad, he saw my sister reading it and was intrigued by the title, my sister proceeded to summarise the plot for him he said the author needed to get his head checked :)
Saiqa: lol i read this book like 4 weeks ago, since then i have read about 3 more, when i get lazy and don't blog for a while the articles build up, so at the moment i've got quite a few articles already typed which i shall put up. Also as i'm reading/ watching/making/cooking whatever i'm going to blog my opinion already forms in my mind so when it comes to typing i just type whats already in my head if you get me....
Mishy: lol glad to make you laugh it made me laugh when i read it, the moon bit is quite funny theres a certain bit that made me think of you lol (ymiss just doesn't appreciate good books!!)
you didn't update! you never listen to what I say
Ymiss you are such a tart.
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