Meh. It is such a slog to get through. I have read 5,6 stories and apart from the circumcision one, none stood out in anyway. I know I haven't finished the whole thing but my issues so far are

1. The translation is so boring. It lacks depth and the sentence structure feels like a child wrote it. I am 100% see those sentences and idioms working and even conveying emotional depth in their native language (I got the native sayings without knowing kannada myself because we have similar sayings here) but in the translated version, they fall flat.
2. This book caters to probably every stereotype the west has about islam, south asian/desi men and muslim, south asian, desi men and their dyanmic with women. Not saying any of the plot lines are far fetched but unheard of but there are so many other stories too. Maybe it does get better afterwards and theres more diversity but 5,6 stories in, there hasn't been a single positive portrayal of any man lol. I think it panders a lot to a white audience.
3. The way the writing conflates islam with culture without offering any clarifications (except for that one scene in one story). As if we need more misrepresentation.

So underwhelming to read, lol. I was expecting more since it won the booker prize but now I think why it did.