The Shadow of the Crescent Moon,Fatima Bhuttos first novel, about one tense morning in the life of three Pakistani brothers and two of the women they love, is set in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan. This land is also home to a three-dimensional chessboard of seemingly endless war American drones killing the Taliban; Sunni Muslims bombing Shia Muslims; and an underground, generations-old fight for independence from the central government.Its important to note that Bhutto isnt your average debut novelist. Shes the granddaughter of the former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged in 1979 on murder charges by Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, the military despot who was the architect of Pakistans shift toward fundamentalist Islam. Shes the niece of the assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who she believes is morally responsible for the 1996 murder of her father, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, the partner with his brother, Shahnawaz, in an armed movement to overthrow General Zia. (Shahnawaz was found dead in a Cannes hotel room in 1985; an autopsy revealed that he had been poisoned.) This Borgia-like family history was detailed in Bhuttos 2010 memoir, Songs of Blood and Sword.

Its no wonder she has consistently denied any interest in going into politics. Still, at age 32, Bhutto is more of a celebrity than most first-time fiction writers. Born in Kabul, raised in Damascus, educated in New York and London, she now lives in Karachi. She has over 850,000 followers on Twitter, where her page begins with a quote from Vladimir Nabokov that reads, My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music.Her novel addresses all of the above, and serves as a showcase for their far-reaching consequences. The stupidity is demonstrated by radicalized Sunni Muslims, culminating in a dramatic scene involving one of the brothers near the novels end. Oppression and crime are on view in the treatment of the impoverished people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas by the Pakistani military. There is cruelty in the killing of children whether by American drones or by local militants, who bomb a government hospital. As for the soft music, that comes from a character named Mina, the wife of one of the brothers, often singing sweetly at the funerals shes taken to crashing, to the distress of her husband.

If some of this sounds a bit obvious, it is and it can undermine the books more subtle strengths. Theres a brilliant set of flashbacks on the experiences of one of the brothers at a college in New Jersey. And there are fascinating details, like the gradations of hajj travel packages offered by the rundown travel agency one of the brothers visits. Even the passages describing funerals have vivid moments. In one, women are pouring tea from family samovars and serving cold almond sherbet as they pass messages under saucers and in the folds of two-ply napkins. In another funeral scene, a man and a woman are standing in suds up to their ankles, engaged in washing the joints of a dead child.Anyone curious about this remote frontier region can experience its touch and feel, even its taste, through Bhuttos portraits of its daily life the battered yellow Mehran taxis; the Chitrali pakol hats; the medicines that are older than most of the doctors at the hospital where one brother works; the feral cats searching the buildings corridors for discarded placentas, which they eat out of half-open medical waste bins. And if the internecine politics of the tribal region seem incomprehensible, Bhuttos novel offers a series of lucid encapsulations told from the perspective of one of Pakistans most knowledgeable insiders.In his lectures to students, Nabokov insisted that novels contain story, lesson and magic, and that the great writer isnt just a yarn-spinning entertainer or a moral educator but an enchanter. We read the enchanters work for that telltale tingle in the spine, that shiver of artistic satisfaction. This may be too much to expect from a first-time novelist, even one as intelligent and worldly as Bhutto.At times in The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, its hard not to notice that shes still learning the difficult art of story-making. Too often, she tries to build momentum through portentous foreshadowing and cryptic dialogue. She frequently withholds information from the reader to heighten the mystery, a technique that works best when applied sparingly. The innate tension and forward motion that come from setting a novel on a single morning a fine premise is squandered by a few too many flashbacks.The moral power of the novel is also undermined by Bhuttos undiluted condemnation of Pakistans military and intelligence forces. One character from that world, Colonel Tarik, is little more than a caricature. Its understandable, of course, that Bhutto would demonize those who mercilessly executed her grandfather and hunted down her father and uncle, but in a novel this doesnt yield nuanced characterization or enlightened empathy.Nonetheless, its clear that there is an ambitious literary mind at work in The Shadow of the Crescent Moon. This is no cookie-cutter thriller by a spoiled jet setter. Her talent is evident, even exciting. If she has the requisite single-mindedness, she could well turn out to be one of Nabokovs enchanters.

Red = mistakesYellow = correctionsWhat is a Taliban?A Taliban usually is is usually a person that fights against the ONU, because he does not agree with their policies; he frequently is call him called terrorist.It is a too simple definition , but unfortunately i cannot say it better because you said told me that i had do it with my own words.

What is a sinonym of underground?Resistance

In line 10: What does the pronoun she make reference to?It makes reference to Fatima Butto.

What is the main writing topic of the author?

The sorrowful peoples life in her county, their country, a life under the ignorance (the ignorance of whom) and in the middle of a bloody war.

What does the author write to students about?Nabokov talks them about as should be a great writer. He is describing to students how a novel is not only entertainment, but that it is also full ofstorys, morals and magic. (paragraph 7)

What does her novel talk about?Her novel talks about the life of three Pakistani brothers and two of the women they love, is set in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan. (what is set?) Dont forget to use subjects and direct objects??It is set in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

How does she describe the funerals?She describes the funerals in a vivid way.

If I graded you this task, Your grade would hardly Be 3.5 :D