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(; ''River of Fire'') is a landmark historical Urdu-language novel written by
Qurratulain Hyder Qurratulain Hyder (20 January 1927 – 21 August 2007) was an Indian Urdu novelist and short story writer, academic, and journalist. One of the most outstanding and influential literary names in Urdu literature, she is best known for her m ...
providing context to the partition of the Indian subcontinent into two nation-states. It has been described as "one of the Indian Subcontinent's best known novels". The novel timelines spanned more than two thousand years, starting from the time of Chandargupta Maurya in the fourth century BC to the post-Independence period in India and Pakistan. It was published in
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
in 1959 and translated by the author into English in 1998 as ''River of Fire''. In 2019, it was reprinted by
New Directions Publishing New Directions Publishing Corp. is an independent book publishing company that was founded in 1936 by James Laughlin (1914–1997) and incorporated in 1964. Its offices are located at 80 Eighth Avenue in New York City. History New Directions ...
.


Background and plot summary

Set across "four Indian epochs (the classical, the medieval, the colonial, and the modern post-national)", Hyder traces the fates of four souls through time: Gautam, Champa, Kamal, and Cyril. "Gautam (appearing first as a student of mysticism at the Forest University of Shravasti in the fourth century B.C.E.) and Champa (throughout embodying the enigmatic experience of Indian women) begin and end the novel; Muslim Kamal appears mid-way through, as the Muslims did, and loses himself in the Indian landscape; and Cyril, the Englishman, appears later still." Their stories crisscross "over different eras, forming and reforming their relationships in romance and war, in possession and dispossession."


Major themes

Together the characters reflect the oneness of human nature amidst the nationalist and religious upheavals of Indian history, Hyder argues for a culture that is inclusive. Shortly before Partition, Kamal wonders: "The Indo-Muslim life-style is made up of the Persian-Turki-Mughal and regional Rajput Hindu cultures. So, what is this Indianness which the Muslim League has started questioning? Could there be an alternate India? Why?" "For postcolonial scholars, Hyder's history has long been a purposeful rebuke to the purist Hindutva and Islamist ideologue."


Style

Pankaj Mishra Pankaj Mishra (born 9 February 1969) is an Indian essayist, novelist, and socialist. His non-fiction works include ''Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond'', along with ''From the Ruins of Empire: The I ...
in ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...
'' wrote: "(''River of Fire'') has a magisterial ambition and technical resourcefulness rarely seen before in Urdu fiction. (...) Hyder employs diverse genres – letters, chronicles, parables, journals – to present her melancholy vision of the corrosions of time."
Aamer Hussein Aamer Hussein (born 8 April 1955, Karachi) is a Pakistani criticBiography
Aamer Hussein official website. 2 ...
described the style thus: "Lyrical and witty, occasionally idiosyncratic, it is always alluring and allusive:
Flora Annie Steel Flora Annie Steel (2 April 1847 – 12 April 1929) was a writer who lived in British India for 22 years. She was noted especially for books set in the Indian subcontinent or connected with it. Her novel '' On the Face of the Waters'' (1896) desc ...
and
E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author. He is best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910) and '' A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous shor ...
encounter classical Urdu poets;
Eliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...
and
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...
meet
Faiz Ahmed Faiz Chaudhry Faiz Ahmad Faiz (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984) was a Pakistani poet and author of Punjabi and Urdu literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated, popular, and influential Urdu writers of his time, and his works and ideas r ...
".


Reception

Aamer Hussein Aamer Hussein (born 8 April 1955, Karachi) is a Pakistani criticBiography
Aamer Hussein official website. 2 ...
in ''
The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'' wrote that ''River of Fire'' is to Urdu fiction what ''
One Hundred Years of Solitude ''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' (, ) is a 1967 in literature, 1967 novel by Colombian people, Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that tells the Family saga, multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio ...
'' is to Hispanic literature. In 2009 ''
Wasafiri ''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari ...
'' magazine placed the novel on its list of 25 Most Influential Books published in the previous quarter-century. In a review for a 2019 reprint by
New Directions Publishing New Directions Publishing Corp. is an independent book publishing company that was founded in 1936 by James Laughlin (1914–1997) and incorporated in 1964. Its offices are located at 80 Eighth Avenue in New York City. History New Directions ...
, Aditi Sriram wrote in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that the novel "is as relevant in 2019 as it was when she first wrote it in 1959." Kamil Ahsan in ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' wrote:


See also

*
Artistic depictions of the partition of India The Partition of India and the associated bloody riots inspired many creative minds in the republics of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to create literary/cinematic depictions of this event. While some creations depicted the massacres during t ...


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


2019 reprint of River of Fire
by New Direction Publications

by The Complete
Book Marks Reviews
Indian historical novels Urdu-language novels 1959 Indian novels Novels about the partition of India