Nächster Stop: Pakistan

Die Short-Stories von Updike haben mit wieder sehr gut gefallen, aber das ist ja nichts Neues. Viele der Geschichten haben sich um Kindheitserinnerungen gedreht, um Klassentreffen und natürlich um seine üblichen Themen wie Liebschaften, Affairen, Scheidungen und Kinder. Am Besten hat mir allerdings die Geschichte aus den verschiedenen Blickwinkeln über den 11.09.2001 gefallen.

Von der amerikanischen Ostküste reise ich morgen Früh weiter nach Pakistan:

Uzma Aslam KHAN

Trespassing

Dia Mansoor lives a luxurious life in Pakistan. Without silk her family would be poor, but without silk her father would still be alive. Riffat, her mother, has plunged herself into the business to try and forget that she never loved her husband, but Dia cannot forget her father. His death at the hands of terrorists haunted her teenage years and has made her wary of love. She cannot understand why her best friend, Nini, should be so keen to have a marriage arranged for her. Daanish is studying journalism in America, a country on the verge of war against Iraq. Although he always believed America was a land of freedom, of free opinions and free speech, he is finding to his cost that that freedom is not absolute. The colour of his skin, his religion and his homeland mean that his presence is regarded with caution, verging on outright hostility, and even his tutors treat him warily. Daanish returns to Karachi on the death of his father, only to discover that his mother is arranging an engagement for him to Nini. Then he meets Dia and they fall in love. Their secret meetings escalate into a passionate love affair, the ramifications of which will resonate through the rest of their lives and open the doors to all the secrets their families have tried so hard to hide. This novel is as finely woven as the silken cloths at its heart. Each delicate strand is represented by one character, one voice, each with their own part of the story to tell. Only when all the voices - strands - come together can the reader see the true pattern. This is an inspiring story about the search for personal freedom and the boundaries society build around us.