Shame: A Novel

Taslima Nasrin has provided many factual accounts of desecration and destruction of Hindu temples and atrocities against the Hindu minority in her book. One reviewer likened the experience of Hindus in Bangladesh to Muslims in India. There is no comparison. That reviewer intimates the destruction of the Babri Masjid (itself built to desecrate a Hindu temple) outweighs the destruction of thousands of Hindu temples in South Asia following that event!! I have traveled in both India and Bangladesh, and Muslims in India have much greater freedom and security than Hindus in Bangladesh.


not extreme   January 17, 2002
Jones (Sydney)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful

In 1992, some Hindus in India destroyed the Babri mosque. In retaliation, violence against Hindus spread across Bangladesh. Thug violence is not uncommon in Bangladesh (particularly around election time), and Bangladesh is not a high-profile country, and so little comment was made about these events internationally.
Naslim - originally a muslim herself (although now she claims to be an athiest) - wrote Shame in protest. It took her 7 days, and it shows by being a raw, occasionally awkward book. It follows the activities of the hindu anti-hero Suranjan, and his family, during the period of violence. This is not a particularly extreme book. In no way does it suggest that hindus are good and muslims are bad. Instead, it explores the effect of violence and oppression on the psychology and relationships of people. It feels very real. It reminds me of David Grossman's writing on Israel: that the oppression contaminates both sides. Grossman describes the situation there as two apples pressed together and rot spreading on both.
Nasrin does not lie or exaggerate what happened in Bangladesh. True, she does not include the full politics of India, Pakistan, British rule, partition etc., but that's because this is a novel about a family in Bangladesh. Its scale is intimate.
While Nasrin's novel is not extreme, the reaction to it is. Islamic fundamentalists have offered a large cash reward to anybody who murders her. She now lives outside Bangladesh.
I like Nasrin. I like her honesty, intense intelligence and courage, all of which come through in this book. Elsewhere, she has made comments about abolishing Quranic law because of its discrimination of women. I like that too.
Bangladesh is a forgotten country. Inside it, controversial, informed voices (especially women's) are rarely heard. The country needs people like Nasrin. People should read books like hers, whether or not their views are the same. It's intelligent to do so.


persecution is such a guarded word   April 3, 2002
ganesh rao (not in the neigbourhood)
13 out of 16 found this review helpful

This book deals with genocide and not persecution. Genocide of a minority and eliminating thier existence completely.Just as the Nazis went about systematically eliminating jews , so have the govts and religious bigots gone about systematically eliminating hindus in both Pakistan and Bangladesh. These countries which had quite a significant hindu population at the beginning of the 19th century have next to none now because of well planned genocide , rape and systematic conversion. Taslima Nasrin is a Humanist. It doesnt matter if she will not be a literate giant. She will always be remembered in the hearts of those who have suffered at the hands of islamic fundamentalism.


essential reading.   June 23, 1999
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

The reader who wondered why Hindus didn't just convert to Islam or relocate to India obviously failed to understand the message of the book. The tearing apart of the ideals and optimism of a family very much in love with Bangladesh make this book essential reading for all readers remotely interested in the struggles of minority groups anywhere in the world.


A gripping, effectively written, novel.   May 27, 1999
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

This novel only became known in the West because of the fatwa on the author. Yet, because of this, all the attention has been on the author herself rather than the book. The few comments about the novel that have been published tend to be rather dismissive about it. People says its "hastily written" and "unimaginative". I bought the book just to see whether it was any good as a novel. I found that it certainly wasn't flawless. But I also found it was gripping. I kept turning the pages to see how the story would develop. The pages of documentary evidence did get in the way - but it was precisely because I wanted the story to progress that I found them intrusive. I suspect that some of the negative comment on the novel is simply because many people like their art to be refined and apolitical. "Shame" is, after all, realism: and although it is somewhat "unimaginative", that isn't necessarily an insuperable charge for a work of realism - which is more interested in such issues as truth and unflinching fidelity. In any case, there is an essential imaginativeness here - one to do with empathy - that, the book implies, is altogether lacking in a lot of other people. Indeed, the book shows that a little imagination can go a long way.