February 10, 2008
Welcome to a generous selection of articles from DAWN's Weekly Books & Authors.
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Imagining Pakistan from across the border
 As we approached the celebrated city of Jaipur by road, I watched the ridged sky turn a remarkable mango-orange before it turned black, periodically illuminated by the palaces of its erstwhile maharajas. What better setting for a literary festival, I thought to myself, than the crumbling residence of a former Rajasthani maharaja? I gazed at Jaipur in the darkness,....
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Desires within
 ‘We have art,’ Nietzshe said, ‘so that we shall not be destroyed by the truth.’ The raw truth of an incident never ends, and the story of Coop and the terrain of my sister’s life are endless to me. They are the sudden possibility every time I pick up the phone when it rings some late hour after midnight, and I wait for his voice, or the deep breath before Claire will announce herself....
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End of the road?
 The book is based mostly on filmed interviews for the BBC TV series Elusive Peace covering negotiations, parleys, and summit conferences during the tenure of two Israeli prime ministers -- Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. The participants included leaders from the American, Israeli and Palestinian sides....
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Material girl
 The central theme of Dollar Bahu is a situation faced by many lower- to middleclass families of underdeveloped nations. Financial difficulties and the charm of America, the ‘land of opportunities,’ give birth to a desperate want in people to move to the West and earn dollars....
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The best medicine
 There are many corporate management books out there giving advice on how to run companies, manage people and lead others. The essential areas they focus on include the importance of quality, flexibility and timeliness at the workplace. While these are critical to a successful work environment,...
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A call for universal healthcare
 Some books, like people, are meant to be forgotten. It’s not because they’re unreadable or intolerable, but it’s just that they lack the quality of being memorable. Many a times we come across certain individuals in our lives that at first glance seem alright. The cover looks flashy. The title is catchy. The reviews are good....
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Preserving cultural assets
 The protection of historic architecture and architectural monuments in the urban areas of Pakistan has been grossly neglected. Consequently, historical buildings and humbler dwellings of artistic merit in urban centres and small towns are failing apart or being rebuilt haphazardly. The latter is caused mainly by lack of training in conservation...
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Tribute to a legend
 This book on Begum Akhtar’s life was an unlikely discovery. Being a firm believer in the adage that ‘life is stranger than fiction’ I was scanning the shelves of the Biography section at a renowned bookstore in Islamabad. This slim volume drew my attention because of its unlikely title and I purchased the book out of curiosity, both for the author — Shanti Hiranand...
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The warrior-king
 Khushwant Singh is a gifted writer and has many a masterpiece to his credit. He is among the few writers of the subcontinent who have excelled in all fields of literature. His legendary book on Maharajah Ranjit Singh was and still is a unique piece of work, and has recently been translated into Urdu by Muhammad Ahsan Butt,...
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Literary notes: Moving on
 It is always a pleasant surprise to discover that a friend, known to us for long, is a gifted poet. It is only now, after his retirement from Radio Pakistan, that his true identity, concealed till now under the fine swathe of radio production has been revealed...
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