DAWN - Books and Authors; March 16, 2008

March 16, 2008

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Down memory lane Right off the bat, I should admit that I generally detest chick-lit. The 20-something heroines, the wealthy love interests, the contrived searches for the perfect relationship and the trite endings — I hate all of it. I used to think that the instant I picked up one of ‘those’ novels my brain would turn to mush.....		Women of the Fatimid era On the sunny day of January 23, 1958 a large crowd gathered in a colourful assembly in the National Stadium of Karachi. To the sound of music played by the tuxedoed musicians of the Prince Aly Khan Orchestra, women in gleaming and flowing attire, men wearing elaborate headgear and playful children awaited in trepidation on the stands....

The life of a Sufi Bihar today is a state in India sandwiched between Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. In ancient times, long before the Christian era, it was known as Magadh and was the seat of the Mauriya Empire. Pataliputra, present Patna, was its capital and it boasted a sprawling residential university, known as Nalanda....		Living by the sword A continuation of sorts to Sign of the Cross and Kuzneski’s debut novel The Plantation, this thriller reunites the delightful Jonathon Payne and D.J. Jones, a pair of former counterinsurgery team leaders who are considered ‘the best of the best’ in high-danger missions....

Identity crisis and beyond The demarcation of borders in the subcontinent led to the division of souls from bodies. While the states moved on towards new identities, individuals couldn’t measure up. Driven out of their homelands, they were dispossessed and could only unite with their loved ones in their memories, far away in the land of their origin.....		Clamouring for life Nectar in the Sieve is a novel that simply enthrals the reader. One does not want to skip a single line and is seized with a nostalgic sadness when the book ends, as getting out of its magic spell is the last thing one wants. The novel is an eloquent testimony to Kamala Markandaya’s mastery over all the intricate technicalities of storytelling....

Nourishment for the soul Kumar Prasad Mukherji — novelist, sportswriter, and musicologist — lived a full life with an eclectic musical soundtrack ever present in the background. His special love (with perhaps only cricket to compete) was the gharana. He devoted himself to its study, performance, and preservation.....		Why I still read Anne of Green Gables Imust have read the Anne of Green Gables series four or five times at least, and the first book probably twice as many times since I first picked it up as a child. The only one in this eight-book series I have not read cover to cover, though many times in parts, is Anne of Windy Poplars.....

The Tribute The book under review is a compilation of tributes and acknowledgements written by Shaikh Aziz, a senior journalist, published in Dawn and The Star over the last decade. ‘Our artists, writers, authors, poets and people who dedicated their lives for the promotion of various forms of creative and performing arts,....		Behind closed doors A number of us owe Dan Brown credit for piquing our interest a significant notch in so-called ‘cult religions’. After all, if it weren’t for the Da Vinci Code, who ever would have come across terms such as ‘Freemasonry’, or even struggle — if only a tad bit — to learn more about them?......

The story of man ‘Man is a riddle, an enigma inside a mystery’. Jamiluddin Aali’s Insaan is more of a riddle and an enigma; less of a mystery, more of a mistake. In the words of Sir W.S. Gilbert’s: ‘Man is ribald, man’s a rake, man’s Nature’s sole mistake’. Whence, where, why.....		Enlightening the masses The book is a collection of 29 articles and includes critical essays as well as reviews. All the articles have already been published in various magazines, both in Pakistan and India and the author has provided a list which specifically lays out their titles and the names of the magazines in which they were published....

A question of language Government College University Urdu Conference, held last week, provided much food for thought to the intellectuals and writers in Lahore. Most prominent among the participants were some distinguished scholars from India including Dr Gopi Chand Narang, Jamia Milliya Islamia’s vice-chancellor, Prof Mushirul Hasan and Rakhshinda Jalil, an emerging English writer......