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May 2, 2004
In brief
The Tony Blair New Labour Joke Book
Compiled by Lain Dale and John Simmons
Robinson Books. Available with Liberty Books (Pvt) Ltd, 3 Rafiq Plaza, M.R. Kayani Road, Saddar, Karachi. Tel: 021-5683026
Email: libooks@cyber.net.pk Website:
www.libertybooks.com
ISBN 1-86105-579-X
138pp. Rs400
More George W. Bushisms — More Verbal Contortions From America’s 43rd President
Edited by Jacob Weisberg
Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster. Available with Mr Books, 10-D Super Market, Islamabad
Tel: 051-2278843-5.
Email: mrbooks@isb.comsats.net.pk Website:
www.mrbooks.com.pk
ISBN 0-7434-6233-5
88pp. Rs495
THE Tony Blair New Labour Joke Book is a 138-page collection of rehashed old Internet jokes, with new names forced in. The jokes border on insulting, but one feels it couldn’t have been otherwise considering the extremely stiff and boring personalities involved. Still, one can find a gem here and there. For example, what are the two worst things about Robin Cook? Answer: His face (he’s two-faced, get it?). However, most of the jokes have to do with Tony Blair himself.
Many of the jokes involving Saddam and Clinton and other British Labour members have lost their relevance. And even if the subjects of these jokes are still around, we do not know them. This book is very clearly for the domestic British market and loses its bite outside its home country.
Contrasting this with another book, More George W. Bushisms, we have a really funny volume here. It is only 88 pages long and consists of our favorite foreign leader’s seemingly confused public utterings, which are popularly known as “Bushisms”. As we all know, President Bush has a knack for inventing words and phrases, on the fly, which make sense only to him. Yet the effect can be hilarious. For example, “We’re concerned about AIDS inside our White House — make no mistake about it” or how about “I want everybody to hear loud and clear that I’m going to be the president of everybody.”
With a foreword by Garry Trudeau, who we all know as the man who brings out the Doonesbury comic strip, the editor of this book, Mr Jacob Weisberg, has done an excellent job of collecting these Bushisms into one volume. Even though it is not a joke book, most people will find it funnier than one, for different reasons. —Shahzad Hasan
Bleachers
By John Grisham
Arrow Books. Available with Liberty Books (Pvt) Ltd, 3 Rafiq Plaza, M.R. Kayani Road, Saddar, Karachi
Tel: 021-5683026. Email: libooks@cyber.net.pk Website:
www.libertybooks.com
ISBN 0-09-946819-0
163pp. Rs295
JOHN Grisham has made a name in novels, the themes of which revolve around law, much like Michael Critchton has done with science fiction. However, in Bleachers Grisham has deviated from his well-trodden path. The book is a far cry from his previous bestsellers. Grisham transports us from musty courtrooms and subpoenas to a small town in the American south.
The story revolves around people associated with the game of football. Messina is a town much like any other where life is slow and simple. The joy, pride and passion for its eight thousand or so residents is football. They enjoy the weekly Friday night games at the local Messina High School.
The Spartans, as their team is called, has had 13 state titles, an undefeated streak of 84 games and many more impressive stats, which “anybody on the streets of Messina can recite”. This winning tradition is largely attributed to their former coach, Eddie Rake who is now near death.
The novel starts off with one of Messina’s legends returning to his hometown because his coach is dying. Neely Crenshaw is arguably the greatest quarterback the town has ever produced. A former all-American, Crenshaw is back after a hiatus of 15 years. Along with the other members of his champion team he too reminisces over the times spent with the coach. Most of the novel does in fact take place on the bleachers to what has become Rake Field with the ‘Rake boys’ each defining a different aspect of their coach. Through their memories we form an image of Eddie Rake.
Bleachers is a sensitive novel. There is none of the high paced drama and twists that one associates with Grisham’s works but one is drawn by the way he takes the readers through Messina’s football legacy without football being the principal topic. There are moments of intense pathos and flashbacks which painstakingly draw a picture of the ravages of time and memories that stay with us. The novel is a smooth, easy read, one that would be done right through the night, as I did.
Grisham shows flashes of his genius when describing the settings and his start when Crenshaw comes back with the great boles swaying their branches over his head sets the sombre tone for the rest of the book. There are few frills and trappings too. The book makes its way upwards not to a breathtaking climax but to a gentle knoll of grass in a cemetery where Eddie Rake is buried, next to a player he unintentionally hurt, and is paid respect by his star quarterback who finally resolves his feelings towards his coach and discovers that he has indeed exorcised his past. —Sibtain Naqvi
Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire: Flood in a Drought Region
Indus Resource Centre, 2-B, 2nd Floor, Plot 13-C, 37th Commercial Street, Tauheed Commercial,
DHA V, Karachi-75500
Tel: 021-5822239.
Email: Karachi@irc-pakistan.com
42pp. Price not listed
THE Indus Resource Centre (IRC) is a non-profit NGO working with marginalized communities in Dadu and Khairpur districts of Sindh since 1999. In the summer of 2003, heavy rains flooded some of the regions where the IRC has been operating. Having been in the grip of drought for eight years, Dadu felt the impact of the flood severely. The IRC spontaneously widened its mandate and transformed itself into a relief agency. This booklet is an account of the relief work undertaken. It is also an acknowledgment of the help received from generous donors — Rs1,640,060 in cash and much in kind.
While the documentation of the relief work should provide useful guidelines to other NGOs playing a similar role in times of natural disasters, this booklet has an additional utility. It gives graphically, in a nutshell, the geography of Dadu district, the living conditions of its population, their economic activity, and the problems faced by them.
With a population of 1.6 million, Dadu district is mainly agricultural with sugarcane, wheat, cotton and rice being the major crops cultivated. The poverty level is high and it is not easy for the farmers to improve their lot. Most of them are haris who live under an exploitative feudal system of sharecropping, which ensures that more than 50 per cent of the produce is taken away by the landlord. Since the farmers are growing cash crops, they are dependent on the market forces for their earnings. For irrigation they are at the mercy of the monsoon and the river Indus.
All these factors make it difficult for small farmers to empower themselves, stupendous efforts notwithstanding. The fisherfolks living on Manchur Lake fare no better. Pollution and the construction of embankments have affected the ecology of the lake and the fish stocks have been depleted.
The stories of the flood victims, recorded in the booklet, should give the readers a fair idea of what life holds for a poverty-stricken hari or fisherman in the interior of Sindh. Burdened with large families, ill-health, illiteracy and with no income-generating skills, the people of Dadu remain trapped in poverty.
It goes to the credit of the IRC that after listening carefully to the people, it has drawn up long term plans to help the people of Dadu to help themselves. These projects are directed towards water conservation and management, harvesting rain water, and reforestation. Trees facilitate rainfall and also contain the ravages of flood. There is also a need to provide facilities for skill acquisition, economic rehabilitation, health facilities, human rights awareness and education. But the IRC can undertake these projects only if it has the funds, though it has the required expertise and capacity. This booklet is designed to win the trust of generous donors. — ZM
A Plant Guide to Khirthar National Park and
Adjoining Areas
By Rubina Akhter
Premier-Kufpec Pakistan Exploration Limited, 5th floor, Evacuee Trust Complex, Sir Agha Khan Road, F-5/1, P.O. Box 2438, Islamabad. Tel: 051-2823814 Fax: 0092-51-2821785
Email: mail@premier-oil.com Website:
www.sindhwildlife.com.pk
216pp. Price not listed
ALTHOUGH Vicary had written about the Botany of Sindh (1847) and J.A. Murray published The Plants and Drugs of Sindh (1881), none had so far studied the flora of Khirthar National Park. The reason for it is that this mountain range was only recently declared a national park and included in the heritage list under the Ramsar convention. Rubina Akhter’s A Plant Guide to Khirthar National Park and Adjoining Areas is, therefore, the first complete field guide on this important range.
A recent survey of the Khirthar National Park has revealed new findings. The discoveries include one new Lepida Gathis species, one new species named Campylanthus Pungens, the Ruellia Jeddahica seen here for the first time and Pycnocycla Aucheriana, Pistacia Chinensis and Celtis Australis, which are all new to Sindh. This is a new record for Pakistan. The guidebook provides descriptions, locations, and photographs of these plants, all of which carry immense medicinal and scientific value. Other than this it highlights some 400 species of wild plants (the ones that have been recorded so far) along with their photographs.
The book is excellent for use in the field. Plant families have been grouped in three sections — seed producing plants (angiospermae), plants that produce unprotected seeds (gymnospermiceae) and plants without flowers, stamens and carpels that still flourish in natural conditions. Some 80 families and one Patridophyta group of four species have been discussed — an admirable attempt not documented so far with this much technical clarity. Apart from this, the book also describes the topography, wildlife sanctuary, protected area, categories for management purpose, etc.
The glossary and index, which have around 200 Sindhi and local names, are very helpful too as they make things easier for anyone working with a local guide. The book is a must for every library, botany student and field worker. — Dr A.A. Quraishy
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