A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• General Zia ul Haq: Military dictator of Pakistan in the 1980s. Based on a real-life person, his literary persona is a deeply self-centred person and increasingly paranoid ruler.
• Ali Shigri: Our narrator, a Junior Under Officer, who has become entangled in events that far out-rank him.
• Baby O: Shigiri's roommate and friend, Baby O goes AWOL as the novel opens. Shigiri is motivated by locating his good friend. Obaid and Baby O are the same person.
• Loot Bannon: An American friend of Shigiri and Baby O.
• General Akhtar: DG ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) later promoted to Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. General Akhtar is an ambitious man who wants to rise out of the shadow of General Zia
• Major Kiyani: An operative of ISI working directly under General Akhtar.
• Blind Zainab: Imprisoned unjustly, Blind Zainab immense patience eventually runs out and she curses the General.
• Brigadier TM: Chief of Security of President Zia. A para-trooper.
• Arnold Raphel: American Ambassador in Pakistan.
• Allah: Not God (according to President Zia). The supreme power as per Islam.
• Tony Singh: Add a description of this character.
• Bill Casey
• Coogan: CIA man in Pakistan
• Bruce Lee
• Ceausescu
• Nancy
• Prince Naif: Saudi Prince
• Fayyaz
• Jonah
• Arnie: Arnold Raphel, U.S ambassador
• Lufkin
• Lata: Famous Indian singer
• Bhutto: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 then prime minister. executed in 1979.
• Ronald Reagan

Quotes edit see section history

• “The glass of milk was one of those domestic routines that had changed its meaning during the thirty four years of marriage. As a newly-wed captain his wife put it on his side table as an innocent domestic aphrodisiac. When, as a major, he experimented with whiskey to impress his superiors, it became a cure for this hangovers. Through his days as a colonel and brigadier it took care of his ulcers caused by promotion anxiety. Now it was a mere talisman. The First Lady recited some verses, blew on the milk and plonked it on his side table knowing fully well that he wouldn't drink it. "For your long life," she would say. "To foil the conspiracies of your enemies". He hadn't touched it for years but he didnt have the heart to tell her to stop.”

• “You might have seen me on TV after the crash. The clip is short and everything in it is sun-bleached and slightly faded. It was pulled after the first two bulletins because it seemed to be having an adverse impact on the morale of the country's armed forces. You cant see it in the clip but we are walking towards Pak One, which is parked behind the cameraman's back, in the middle of the runway. The aeroplane is still connected to an auxiliary fuel pump, and surrounded by a group of alert commandos in camouflaged uniforms. With its dull grey fuselage barely off the ground, the plane looks like a beached whale contemplating how to drag itself back to sea, its snout drooping with the enormity of the task ahead.”

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• As Obaid would have said, there is poetry in committing a crime after you have served your sentence.

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• General Akhtar remained a general until the time he died, and all God’s names were slowly deleted from the national memory, as if a wind had swept the land and blown them away.

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• “Life is in Allah’s hands,” TM said, sitting at the edge of the car seat, “but I pack my own parachute.”

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• His ability to carry himself with martial grace and his talent for sucking up to his superiors were so legendary that, according to a joke popular in the trenches, he could wipe out a whole enemy unit by kissing their asses.

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• Operation Fairplay, which removed Prime Minister Bhutto and installed the general as the head of the country,

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• He is innocent in a way that lonesome canaries are innocent, flitting from one branch to another, the tender flutter of their wings and a few millilitres of blood keeping them airborne against the gravity of this world that wants to pull everyone down to its rotting surface.

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• Because as a soldier, noise is the first thing you learn to defend yourself against, and as an officer, noise is the first weapon of attack you learn to use.

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• Schemes for part-time M.B.A.’s and a new life are trying hard to keep pace with missed promotions and pension plans.

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• As Obaid used to say, “God’s glory. God’s glory. For every monkey there is a houri.”

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• called phugoid.   Flying sluggishly, the crow surfs the hot air currents. Having eaten his own weight in mangoes, the crow can barely move his wings. His beak droops, his eyes half close, and his wings flap in slow motion. The crow is wondering why he has left his sanctuary in the mango orchard. He thinks of turning back and spending the rest of the day in the orchard. He tucks his right wing under his body and goes into a

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Islamabad
• Pakistan Air Force Academy
• Afghanistan
• Shigri Hill
• Cessna
• Mecca
• Washington
• Urdu
• Saudi Arabia
• Bahawalpur
• Texas
• Lahore
• India
• Khana Kaaba
• Corolla
• America

Organizations edit see section history

• ISI: Inter-Services Intelligence, the Pakistani Secret Service
• Pakistani Army: Obviously, the Pakistani Army

First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Mohammed Hanif (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Man Booker Prize (Finalist, 2008, longlist)
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (2009: South Asia and Europe)
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (2009: Overall)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 823.92

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Political
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history