Kingdom’s End: Selected Stories

Manto, Saadat Hasan

A gem! I have used and abused the word before but never meant it until today. Manto is a classic and its infuriating that he is not recognized like Gogol or Oscar Wilde, not the kind of classic that one pretends to read but the classic that will live for ever by its own accord. I wish I could ride a review for each of the twenty eight pearls therein, but I fear I will run out of adjectives even before i begin. He is an amalgamation of Gogol, Camus, Nabokov and Wilde, only better than each, perhaps because as an Indian reader I can relate more to the underlying concepts and the backdrop of the partition, undeniable richer experience than to an alien. I firmly believe Hindustani is a superior language of expression in literature, and reading Manto in English is a crime I will have to live with. Khalid Hasan has done a good job, but one will only be satisfied to read Manto in the original. So that is on my queue by default. Stories like ‘Odour’ and ‘On the balcony’ are among the best descriptive short stories I have read. ‘The Return’ (originally “Khol Do”) is another tragedy that is so heartbreaking, it was quite embarrassing that such a short piece of literature can impact so deeply. What Khaled Hosseini managed in a full novel, Manto did in a three pages. Its been recommended that I carry on to Ismat Chugtai, and I will be a fool not to take this advice. Needless to say, 5 stars.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two

Tiffany, John

A poor effort at milking the Harry Potter fandom, this adaptation was worse than the most depraved fan fic this universe could have inspired. It entirely relies on the reader’s depth of knowledge of the characters from the actual series, dont add much color and rather dramatically changes the personalities of the characters themselves; more casual and contemporary than a reader might have expected. Stop milking a dead goat … Harry Potter is done and dusted, have some respect !

Typhoon

Conrad, Joseph

Joseph Conrad rules the sea as far as english literature is concerned. Typhoon is a story of a unremarkable captain of a ship that gets caught in a typhoon. A story on how ordinary men behave in the face of adversity. More importantly, how much havoc incapable men can cause in a position of power. The captain’s ineptitude during the catastrophy is appalling and down right scary. Conrad describes the sea like no other, now imagine a typhoon.</p>

We Should All Be Feminists

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi

Looks beyond the stereotypical view of Feminism with personal examples. Feminism isn’t about giving more power to Amazonian women, but sharing the ones the male take as their prerogative. With years on social conditioning we have come to terms with what we now consider “normal”. We desperately need a reset if we are going to get anywhere near a social utopia. We should all be Feminists indeed !