Pretty Cosmetic

A beautiful young thing in Pakistan sinks her well-groomed talons into the issue of honour killings

Maha Khan Phillips Beautiful from this Angle follows the well-trodden path of upper-middle-class authors from Pakistan exploring complex relationships of feudal,cocaine-snorting free spirits carrying the woes of the world on their Armani-clad shoulders. We glimpsed some of this angst-ridden world earlier,albeit very sensitively etched out,in books such as Mohsin Hamids Moth Smoke. Author Kamila Shamsie too has brought a youthful,fresh and frank voice to social and political issues concerning Pakistans feudal and middle classes. About a decade back,this was new and considered revolutionary writing. Indeed,given Pakistans increasing Talibanisation and on-and-off military rule,this genre of books had an edgy danger. It was courageous,and even shocking.

Other writers,such as Moni Mohsin,used wicked wit in books like The Diary of a Social Butterfly and gave us a delightful insight into the low shenanigans of a very hypocritical elite in Pakistan. In her new book,Phillips has brought in elements already covered by all these authors,and tried to blend them with a dark humour.

Phillips has kept the writing style light and conversational,so the book should be an easy read. However,she does not completely succeed in her attempt. The effort to serve up a cocktail of fundoos and feudalism,as the blurb puts it,becomes a bit laboured,and while it is a good idea to get a Barbie-type protagonist to sink her well-groomed talons into the serious matter of honour killings it is about time the airheads discovered human rights,correct?,Phillips may need to work harder on her characters and the plot. The language too,with everyone addressing each other as babe,is a little cliched.

Phillips has an interesting premise: a frivolous pretty young thing,Amynah,stumbles upon the issue of honour killing and gets involved in a slightly cynical venture to create a film for the international media on the problem,exploiting every possible commercial angle which will grab global eyeballs. A personal tragedy changes her and the film becomes much more meaningful indeed a personal journey of discovery. This could have been an interesting story,but it falters,as it becomes a rather self-absorbed portrayal of Amynah and less and less about the social malaise it tries to grapple with. The top-down approach and the sometimes obvious feudal bias which the novel itself tries to mock,and rile against deprives the book of any lasting impact.

One outstanding feature of the book is Amynah,the central character,who tries to unravel the world of politics and social injustice and is shown warts and all,but she gets overwhelmed by the superficial world she inhabits. Or,perhaps,that is exactly what the author intended to do.