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The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn
2015 Nebula Award Nominees
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"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" by Usman T. Malik
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I didn't read this when it first appeared because I was completely mystified by Malik's 2014 nebula-nominated short story with the long title, The Vaporization Enthalpy....
Much to my relief, the story had a straightforward narration (not entirely linear or reliably narrated, but comprehensible to my ancient, ossified mind.) The hero lives in Florida, then his grandpa used to tell him stories of a mysterious Pauper Princess and her protector Jinn who lived in a eucalyptus tree. After grandpa dies and he reads his Journal, he becomes obsessed with the story, sufficiently to ditch his girlfriend and fly off to Pakistan to check out the old homestead.
Near the end, the story kind of gets weird as we stare into the soul of the universe, sort of the verbal equivalent of the last ten minutes of the movie 2001. Unlike the movie, the story pulls itself back together for something approximating an ending, if a little laden with metaphysics. It's engaging enough as a sort of family history mystery story.
***
Much to my relief, the story had a straightforward narration (not entirely linear or reliably narrated, but comprehensible to my ancient, ossified mind.) The hero lives in Florida, then his grandpa used to tell him stories of a mysterious Pauper Princess and her protector Jinn who lived in a eucalyptus tree. After grandpa dies and he reads his Journal, he becomes obsessed with the story, sufficiently to ditch his girlfriend and fly off to Pakistan to check out the old homestead.
Near the end, the story kind of gets weird as we stare into the soul of the universe, sort of the verbal equivalent of the last ten minutes of the movie 2001. Unlike the movie, the story pulls itself back together for something approximating an ending, if a little laden with metaphysics. It's engaging enough as a sort of family history mystery story.
***
★★★★★First thing I feared was a retake of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper transferred Malik's typical Pakistan setting. Boy, was I relieved that it took a completely different route: It is a complete action-free metaphysical discussion of prescience, immortality, history and mythology, truth and lies, family relationships between grandfather and grandson, two love stories, and between East and West with special considerations of Islamic theology. Now, if you think of Jinns as those Disney lamp-bound ghosts, then you'll find a very interesting different version in this great novella. I loved the characters, the images, the mysticism.
The eponymous pauper prince is Salman Ali Zaidi, a son of Pakistani immagrants who works as a college professor. He hears his Grandfather's tale of poor Mughal princess Zeenat Begum operating a tea stall in Lahore, and a Eucalyptus tree inhabitated by a Jinn near her shop. Grandfather dies in 2013, and Salman has to discover his mysterious roots in Lahore.
Andreas wrote: "★★★★★
First thing I feared was a retake of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper transferred Malik's typical Pakistan setting. Boy, was I relieved that it took a completely different route: ..."
Well, we have that in common, we were both relieved it wasn't what we expected!
You like the mystic mumbo-jumbo more than I do. :)
First thing I feared was a retake of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper transferred Malik's typical Pakistan setting. Boy, was I relieved that it took a completely different route: ..."
Well, we have that in common, we were both relieved it wasn't what we expected!
You like the mystic mumbo-jumbo more than I do. :)
G33z3r wrote: "Andreas wrote: "You like the mystic mumbo-jumbo more than I do."Yessir, I'm guilty :)
This novella is available to read on-line @Tor.com.
This story is part of the 2015 Nebula Award nominees short story discussion.