The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family

Last updated

"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" is a short science fiction story by Pakistani author Usman T. Malik. Inspired by Sufi poetry and music, Malik attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop for aspiring sci-fi and fantasy writers. [1] Motivated by his success with the workshop, Malik began writing and ultimately led the first speculative writing workshop in Lahore, Pakistan. "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" is a story about family relationships, the rough lifestyle in Pakistan, and is published worldwide. [2]

Contents

Plot

"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" includes two main characters: Tara and her younger brother Sohail. The story begins with Sohail mourning over the loss of his love, Gulminay. Too distraught, Sohail leaves Tara behind with their Mother, referred to as "Ma'' and goes to the Mountains. Months later, Ma dies due to sickness and old age. Left all alone, Tara decides to go to the City to live with her mother's cousin Wasif. Looking back on her life, Tara goes through the painful memories of being taken out of school at thirteen and being a widow at sixteen. After returning to school for two years, Tara enrolls in the BS program at Punjab University. Soon, the City suffers from extreme flooding, with devastating damages. Wasif and Tara volunteer to restore the community. When witnessing multiple dead bodies, and helping injured people, Tara remembers her brother. Due to rampant terrorist attacks in Pakistan and struggles in the City, Tara leaves and heads for the Mountains. After weeks of travel, she is finally reunited with Sohail. Even though both brother and sister went through multiple tragedies, once reconnected find peace. [1] [3]

Analysis

This story takes place in Pakistan, but does not specify where. The characters often mention places vaguely using phrases such as, "the City", or "the Mountains". The main character Tara also enrolls in Punjab University located in Lahore, Pakistan. Details in the story describing terrorist attacks and suicide bombings, suggest the story takes place during a violent time period in Pakistan. [3]

Malik shows how this story is similar to Pakistan; the story is built on the debris of suicide bombers, drone strikes, floods, and many other miseries of present-day Pakistan. Both Tara and Sohail facing the tragedies that happened to them like Gulminay's death, although gory, are easy for readers to picture. [4]

Awards and nominations [5]

PlaceYear And AwardCategory
112015 LocusBest Short Story
Nomination2015 NebulaShort Story

Publication history [5]

TitleDateAuthorPublisher/Publisher Series
Qualia NousAug 2014ed. Michael BaileyWritten Backwards
The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume NineMay 2015ed. Jonathan StrahanSolarius
The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume NineMay 2015ed. Jonathan StrahanSolarius
Nebula Awards Showcase 2016 May 2016ed. Mercedes Lackey Pyr

Critical reception

Controversy exists over the genre of the story. Some readers would consider it science fiction because of references to chemistry and monsters throughout the story. Other readers believe that while there is a scientific factor, the story commentates on the terrorist attacks in Pakistan, possibly signifying a warning. [6] Regardless of the genre specification, the story appropriately depicts the terrors that occur in Pakistan, and what life can be like for some of the people who live there. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bram Stoker</span> Irish novelist and short story writer (1847–1912)

Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish author who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned.

<i>Angry Candy</i> Book by Harlan Ellison

Angry Candy is a 1988 collection of short stories by American writer Harlan Ellison, loosely organized around the theme of death. The title comes the last line of the poem "the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls" by E. E. Cummings, "...the/ moon rattles like a fragment of angry candy."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Straub</span> American novelist and poet (1943–2022)

Peter Francis Straub was an American novelist and poet. He wrote numerous horror and supernatural fiction novels, including Julia and Ghost Story, as well as The Talisman, which he co-wrote with Stephen King. Straub received such literary honors as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award. Per his New York Times obituary, he "brought a poet's sensibility to stories about ghosts, demons and other things that go bump in the night."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Datlow</span> American editor and anthologist (born 1949)

Ellen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe R. Lansdale</span> American novelist, martial arts instructor

Joe Richard Lansdale is an American writer and martial arts instructor. A prose writer in a variety of genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense, he has also written comic books and screenplays. Several of his novels have been adapted for film and television. He is the winner of the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and eleven Bram Stoker Awards.

Tim Pratt is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and poet. He won a Hugo Award in 2007 for his short story "Impossible Dreams". He has written over 20 books, including the Marla Mason series and several Pathfinder Tales novels. His writing has earned him nominations for Nebula, Mythopoeic, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker awards and has been published in numerous markets, including Asimov's Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, and Strange Horizons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UIT University</span> University in Karachi, Pakistan

UIT University is a not-for profit institute. UIT university's campus is located at the intersection of University Road and Abul Hasan Isphahani Road, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, Pakistan.

Britz is a two-part television drama film written and directed by Peter Kosminsky and first screened by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in October and November 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul G. Tremblay</span> American author and editor

Paul Gaetan Tremblay is an American author and editor of horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction. His most widely known novels include A Head Full of Ghosts, The Cabin at the End of the World, and Survivor Song. He has won multiple Bram Stoker Awards and is a juror for the Shirley Jackson Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henne Jewelers</span>

Henne Jewelers is a family owned jewelry store located in the Shadyside (Pittsburgh) neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The store was founded in 1887 by Rudolf Joseph Henne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alma Katsu</span> American writer

Alma Katsu is an American writer of adult fiction. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, and have been published in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Spain and Italy.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a Mexican Canadian novelist, short story writer, editor, and publisher.

Usman T. Malik is a Pakistani speculative fiction author. His short fiction has been published in magazines and books such as The Apex Book of World SF, Nightmare, Strange Horizons, Black Static, and in a number of "year's best" anthologies. He is the first Pakistani to win the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction (2014) and has won the British Fantasy Award (2016). He has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award (2016), nominated again for the Stoker Award (2018), has twice been a finalist for the Nebula Award, and has been nominated for multiple Locus Awards.

The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species is a short story by Ken Liu that compares and contrasts five fictional alien species' unique styles of reading and writing.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2016</i>

Nebula Awards Showcase 2016 is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short works edited by Mercedes Lackey. It was first published in trade paperback by Pyr in May 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usman Khan (terrorist)</span> Pakistani-British Terrorist

Usman Khan, also known as Abu Saif, was a Pakistani-British terrorist who was convicted of plotting a terrorist attack in 2012. He was shot dead by City of London Police after being restrained by members of the public whilst committing a knife attack near London Bridge on 29 November 2019, where he killed two people and injured three others.

Dale Frederick Bailey is an American author of speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy and horror, active in the field since 1993. He writes as Dale Bailey.

<i>The End of the End of Everything: Stories</i>

The End of the End of Everything: Stories is a collection of horror and dark fantasy short stories by American writer Dale Bailey. It was first published by Arche Press in paperback and ebook in April 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Vibbert</span> American science fiction author (born 1974)

Marie Lilian Vibbert is a science fiction author.

References

  1. 1 2 Usman T. Malik. WordPress, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. http://www.usmanmalik.org/?p=177 .
  2. ↑ "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family." ARY News. Entertainment Desk, 12 May 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. http://arynews.tv/en/tag/the-vaporization-enthalpy-of-a-peculiar-pakistani-family/ .
  3. 1 2 "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family." Medium. N.p., 22 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. https://medium.com/@usmantm/the-vaporization-enthalpy-of-a-peculiar-pakistani-family-6362b08bbf2a .
  4. ↑ Barnitz, L. A. "Nebula Nominee Review: "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik: "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" De Usman T. Malik." Wordpress.com. N.p., 11 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. https://labarnitz.wordpress.com/2015/04/11/nebula-nominee-review-the-vaporization-enthalpy-of-a-peculiar-pakistani-family-by-usman-t-malik/ .
  5. 1 2 "Title: The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family." Title: The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1826830 .
  6. ↑ "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25334991-the-vaporization-enthalpy-of-a-peculiar-pakistani-family .
  7. ↑ Entertainment Desk. "First Pakistani to Win Bram Stoker Award." The Express Tribune. N.p., 12 May 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. http://tribune.com.pk/story/885030/usman-t-malik-becomes-first-pakistani-to-win-bram-stoker-award-for-short-fiction/ .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.