Adil Najam
We at ATP like books. Over the last many months we have featured and discussed a number of books that relate to Pakistan in various ways.
I must confess that I had always hoped that we would talk more about books than we have. I hope we will be able to do so in the future. As a step towards that goal, we would like to invite our readers to share with us your suggestions of books on Pakistan that are worth reading.
This is not a popularity contest. We have no awards to give. We merely want to collate a list of books on Pakistan that people consider to be interesting reads. Specially those that you would consider recommending to others for whatever reason.
We have only two criteria:
- First, that the books you suggest must be about Pakistan, and significantly so. We, of course, realize that many Pakistanis read many books that are not about Pakistan, but the focus of this blog is not only on ‘All’ Things Pakistan, but also ‘Only’ things about Pakistan.
- Second, for the purpose of this first exercise please restrict your suggestions to books in the English language. This is a pragmatic, and not an ideological, criteria. The universe of books in Urdu is much larger – especially when one includes works of fiction and poetry – and hopefully we will have a separate exercise on those. For now, we wish to start small by focusing only on English language books.
The plan right now is to make this post and list a standing feature and to keep adding to it as readers share their suggestions and ideas. Hopefully this will be a useful service to those interested in Pakistan and Pakistaniat.
Taboo:The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area by Fouzia Saeed.
[Amazon Review]
Book Description
This book takes you on a journey of discovery into the famous red light district of Shahi Mohalla in Lahore. The author tells her story through the lives of the people linked to the Shahi Mohalla: the prostitutes with their pimps, managers and customers, as well as the musicians and others. Through their stories, the book also highlights the contributions that these people have made to the world of the performing arts. Pakistani society has created and reinforced many myths to explain why prostitution has nothing to do with ‘nice people’. These myths put all the blame on ‘immoral’ women who are responsible for tricking ‘honest’ men into sinful acts. Pakistani society has also strongly discouraged anyone from questioning these myths. By exposing the myths about prostitution, the book helps to eradicate a blind spot in our understanding of power relations experienced by all women throughout Pakistani society.
About the Author
Fouzia Saeed, with a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Minnesota, has spent the past twelve years in positions related to the task of engendering social change in Pakistan, with organizations like National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, Aga Khan Foundation, and UNDP, Pakistan. She was a founder of the first private organization in Pakistan providing direct services to women in psychological crises, especially those related to rape and domestic violence.
[/Amazon Review]
THE IDEA OF PAKISTAN
BY Stephen P. Cohen
Hardcover: 367 pages
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press (September 2004)
Language: English
A great book, which gives a thorough and up to date account of Pakistan.It identifies many of the root causes of the problems our country faces today.The central theme is contained in the title of the book: The Idea of Pakistan. He describes how the idea originated, how it developed and crystallised, and the challenges that Pakistan faces today.The book ends with a presentation on the various possible scenarios / paths that Pakistan could take.Some of which are pretty scary, and possibly signs of things to come.
[quote comment=”36569″]- Ayesha Jalal’s book providing an analytic thesis on Pakistan / forgot the name of the book[/quote]
The book you mention by Ayesha Jalal is called THE SOLE SPOKESMAN, its up there in the list of titles above.
“Nice effort. But your assumption seems to be that we Pakistanis actually READ books. I am not sure they do. Many, in fact, talk about books as if they know everything in it because they know a title and who wrote it!”
Now come on Samdani. Many of us actually do buy and read books. Some of us even write books. I wish more do so but that will come with education. Help our Young to be educated and encourage them to read. They will. Just like you and I do. I even know few Pakistani “medicine men” here in America who have read a book or two about Pakistan. Have hope.
I am a bit surprised trying to recall the good books that I have read about Pakistan. This is probably due to not giving much time to reading in the last few years.
However, the few books that I liked,
– Stanley Wolpert’s Jinnah of Pakistan
– Sadeeq Saliq’s “Mien ney Dhaka dubtey dekha” translated to english, I think or was it origionally written in english?
– Ayesha Jalal’s book providing an analytic thesis on Pakistan / forgot the name of the book
– A book on ISI operations in afghanistan and russia / Written by Brig Yousuf ?? / ex ISI. forgot the name of the book
– Journey through Pakistan – a collection of photography about the land and people of pakistan – author?
– Emma Duncan / Christina Lambs books on pakistani society – forgot the names of the books
It took me a bit of time out of high school to figure out all the rubish taught in school in the name of Pakistan history. Even after that, I find that there is so much nonsense written, specially in Urdu, about what Pakistan is / should be / would be – that atleast I lost interest reading such books.
I did buy Musharaf’s book with a lot of interest. It is sure interesting, but could have been more creidble if Musharaf had written himself & minus the glowing tributes / self righteous comments. By the middle of the book, it is suspiciously similar to Ayub’s Friends not masters!
Sorry for my limited contribution on this topic Adil.
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