Unshakable Optimist of the House of Bhutto

Michiko Kakutani’s review, “Unshakable Optimist of the House of Bhutto,” in the Tuesday Times spent much more time discussing Benazir Bhutto’s life than her recent book, Reconciliation. Although this tactic did allow for a very solid background in the history of Pakistan, which would be discussed in the book itself, I still did not really understand what the book was about by the time I had finished the review. Aside from brief quotes, which implied that the book was written about Pakistani and world politics, the review did a very poor job of informing the readers what the premise of the book was or even whether it was good.

Kakutani’s writing was engaging, beginning with a description of the violent deaths of Bhutto’s family members. His powerful word choice and selection of quotes made Bhutto’s death seem much more poignant. I liked Kakutani’s writing style, even though I never really understood what he was trying to get across through his piece. The article was very interesting, but it read much more as a review of Bhutto than of her book.