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Instant City: Life And Death In Karachi (2011)

by Steve Inskeep(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1594203156 (ISBN13: 9781594203152)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Penguin Press HC, The

review 1: A fascinating look inside the "instant city" of Karachi, where we lived from 1958-1962, and which has grown from 400,000 in 1950 to 13 million in 2008. Like Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers, about Mumbai (another "instant city") the daunting view of the abusive socio-economic-political morass and its impact on ordinary people is frightening but real; add in the Shi'a vs. Sunni internecine religious wars that leave hundreds dead on the streets every year, and the instability of both the local and national governments, and its a pretty depressing picture. Inskeep is a brilliant reporter, and the writing is clear and compelling.
review 2: The author managed to weave together an astonishing number of subjects and keep them all discrete and interesti... moreng. The two main themes are the history of Pakistan & the Karachi area since partition, and the way cities are struggling to handle huge growth all over the world; along the way we get to hear from lots of normal people just out to do the best they can. I didn't know many details of Pakistan's history, and Inskeep told them in a fascinating, relatively understandable way. less

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