The Writers’ Pick
Rukhsana Ahmed
Nadeem Aslam’s haunting, prescient novel The Wasted Vigil captures the tragedy of Afghanistan and foretells that of Pakistan, offering rare insights into the psyche of suicide bombers. Brimming with unforgettable images: books staked into a ceiling, a recumbent Buddha, a skein of brightly coloured thread rolling innocently down flights of stairs to connect two lovers, his story is both layered and timely.
Tariq Ali’s The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power projects and consolidates the nightmare scenario for Pakistan in a finely balanced narrative that spares neither the American invaders nor the Pakistani elite and establishment, both political and military. Yet, he manages to retain his warmth and sympathy for her people and their plight.
Anita Mason’s The Right Hand of the Sun draws you in slowly but surely into the world of the Aztec empire, a million miles away in time and space, which she makes real with great vividness and intensity. Her formidable talent as a novelist is matched by the breadth of her empathy and her intellect. A rich tapestry of themes subtly enriches her narrative: language/translation, culture/history, power and colonisation, treachery/loyalty, belonging and un-belonging.
The Rapids of a Great River: The Penguin Book of Tamil Poetry (translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom and others) is a tribute to the richness of the Tamil literary heritage as much as it is to the skills of the translators and editors. Romance, heroism, politics, war, love, domesticity and devotion, all filter through with remarkable grace and elegance revealing none of the residual creakiness of a translation.
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