…for those long winter nights when you can’t go to sleep and you feel like picking up a book just to pass the time. Ramzaan is nearly around the corner, and if you are like me and wake up for sehri and can’t go back to sleep at all, then a good way to pass the time is to pick up a book. Sounds dorky but you have to try it - some of these books are absolutely fantastic; (anything by Rohinton Mistry, Arundhati Roy, Jeremy Seabrook, N. Chomsky, E. Said, are all truly good selections (IMHO)). If anyone has any of their favourites, i would REALLY be interested to check them out; please post them up! Muchas gracias in advance.
God of small things - Arundhati Roy
A fine balance - Rohinton Mistry
The education of Little Tree - Forrest Carter
Give me my father’s body - Kenn Harper
Children of other worlds - Jeremy Seabrook
Markings - Dag Hammarskjöld
This side of peace - Hanan Ashrawi
Fateful triangle: the United States, Israel & the Palestinians - Noam Chomsky
Drinking the sea at Gaza: days and nights in a land under siege - Amira Hass
A dry white season - Andre Brink
Long walk to freedom - Nelson Mandela
Dancing skeletons: life and death in West Africa - Katherine A. Dettwyler
Roots - Alex Haley
Daughters of another path - Carol Anway
Islam, a short history - Karen Armstrong
Covering Islam - Edward Said
Living Islam: from Samarkand to Stornoway - Akbar S. Ahmed.
Orientalism - Edward Said
Culture & Imperialism - Edward Said
Manufacturing consent - Noam Chomsky
Friends, not masters - Ayub Khan
India: from midnight to the millennium - Shashi Tharoor
Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic identity: the search for Saladin - Akbar S. Ahmed
Wasn’t ‘A fine balance’ absolutely fantastic? :
I loved it!
Have u read ‘A suitable boy’ by Vikrem Seth?
It’s a loong read but in my opinion worth it :k:
Can u tell me some more abt ‘God of small things’?
Wow! Nadia! That's a good list of reading material!!!!!
I'd recommend Tariq Ali, Kamila Shamsie, Bapsi Sidhwa, Mohsin Hamid as well for some good books on South Asian related stuff, the ultimate on Islam and Islamic Empires would be Philip K Hitti's History of the Arabs. Other good Islamic books are those written by Mubarak Ali.
Nadia, thanks for the list, will look into checking out some of them.
Zakk, I have "History of the Arabs", its very thorough, and a great read.
One in particular that my friend told me about and I thorougly enjoyed and will be reading again is: "Muhammad in the Quran" by Ali Musa Raza. I didnt agree with everything written, but it just really makes you understand/look at things in a whole new light. The best part is its easy to read. It was printed in Pakistan. smile
I think MR Akbar S AHmed (director of the filim Jinnah) is a bit biased in his views about ISlam , his abridgment about islam is according to the perspectives of his sect in the book "The living islam"....
You guys are all just awesome. Thanks for all the comments.
ShiNoO, ‘A fine balance’ was fantastic. It went above and beyond my expectations. i almost literally did not put the book down, took it everywhere with me. It was wonderful. And Seth’s ‘A suitable boy’ was awesome as well. i forgot to put that in the list. Right from the first few lines, Seth had me hooked - remember the beginning, it was Lata’s mother telling Lata that she, too, would have to marry someone of her choosing? i knew the book had me hooked already right there:D But gosh it was long. ShiNoO, if you liked the above two, then you will love ‘God of small things’. It’s similar to ‘A fine balance’ because it, too, is set in India and caste is sort of at the center of the plot. It’s about the story of two children and personal events in their lives. The really interesting aspect, though, is that after a few chapters you realize that there’s not just one story going on; she’s woven an intricate web of stories all around her characters - it’s about families and the strong (but sometimes broken) bonds between them, but it’s also about caste, life in a small rural Indian town, bigotry on an individual and political level. You just have to read it! If you liked those Seth’s and Mistry’s novels, i know you’ll love this one.
Zakk muchas gracias, you just gave me my next month’s reading list. Thank you!!! Didn’t Bapsi Sidhwa write “Cracking India”? Thanks, those books all sound really interesting.
Munni, i’ll try to find “Muhammad in the Quran” by Ali Musa Raza. For someone like me who is trying to learn more about Islam, it sounds informative. Just out of curiosity, what in its contents did you not agree with?
PKC, to be honest i am not very certain what Akbar Ahmed is like personality-wise. (i’m not even certain what his sect is?). What i do like about him, though, is that he is one of the active Muslim voices we have; he made that 6-part series (was it with the BBC?), “Living Islam”, that i thought did an excellent job in portraying many facets of Muslims, as well as Islamic principles. i really respect him for genuinely tackling the stereotypes of Islam - whatever his personal religious beliefs may be. As long as he portraying an accurate, unbiased image of Islam through his works and writings and is doing so honestly, then he has my respect. What is your opinion?
Nadia jee aap ghalat samjheein… I wasnt commenting on Akbar s ahmeds beliefs , I have the documentary the living islam and I just thought that it was sidetracked from the actual foccus of islam …
As far as I am concerned all sects of islam are equal muslims.
PS: by the way I am related to Akbar S ahmed and would never comment on his beliefs.
ohhhh acha. Aap nai theek kaha - main ghalat samjhee. i’m sorry, i apologize.
If you do not mind my asking, PKC, do you have any very favoured books you have read and would recommend to others? (They don’t have to be regarding any particular topic, not politics, not religion; the more diverse on the topics the better).
Munni: I to this day remember how upset I was when reading the fall of Granada from Philip Hitti's book. The line that the Sultans Mother said to him when he looked back the city he had lost because of his greed for the "throne"as he cried his Mother said to him "It is good that you cry like a woman for what you keep like a man"...the site where he cried is called by the SPanish"The Last sigh of the Moor".
Another book I'd recommend is Sherbaz Mazari's a journey to disillusionment. It's autobiographical so it's not totally unbiased. But it's probably the best read on the ups and downs Pakistan has faced since Independance.
PKC:Akbar Ahmed is to my knowledge a Sunni..if I remember right, the screenplay for his movie was written by an Indian so I think you can expect a bit of bias;)
Nadia: I haven't read many of Bapsi's books..I believe she wrote American brat as well. Have you read Tehmina Durani's book on Edhi?
Proceeds from the book go to the Edhi foundation which is a good incentive.
Mashallah! You all guys are like so cool and intellectual. I wish I could read books but even the rhyme "baba black sheep" goes way above my head. Please continue to post your readings and intelligent analyses. I will learn them by heart and brag to others without reading the books myself. Thank you.
Thank you!!!
As soon as my exams end I’ll make sure I’ll get that book :)…
OOh I was soo looking for a good book to read but I knew if I got one now my exams would go
I don’t read very often (cuz I don’t have the time) but I really love to chew a book I take it with me everywhere I go, read a few pages then put it away
I often forget the title of the book but I never forget the names of the main characters … Lata, Dina Dalal etc.
i wanna read "family matters"...his latest book...good reviews bout it as well...and as alwayz, it was shortlisted for the governor generals award...and was runners up i believe...
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Roman: *
Mashallah! You all guys are like so cool and intellectual. I wish I could read books but even the rhyme "baba black sheep" goes way above my head. Please continue to post your readings and intelligent analyses. I will learn them by heart and brag to others without reading the books myself. Thank you.
[/QUOTE]
roman is BA BA the black sheep that gave u wool for the "razai" u made or did it come from unauthenticated sources.....
i read A suitabl boy a few months ago & it is a really good book:k: although it get a bit boring sometimes but it was worth the long read definitely:k:
i read The great Gatsby last week & that was quite a good book too,very interesting
Nadia…The God of Small Things was simply superb,once i took the book up i could not ut it down.good book:k:
im going to start reading Vanity Fair today, the rst page was quite interesting so took it up.
if you're into less contemporary stuff..heres my five all-time favourites. (from what i remember at this point)
Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky
Fathers and Sons - Turgenev
Dombey and Son - Dickens
1984 - Orwell (just in case..)
the brothers karamazov - dostovesky
You guys are all just awesome. 
i forgot to put that in the list. Right from the first few lines, Seth had me hooked - remember the beginning, it was Lata’s mother telling Lata that she, too, would have to marry someone of her choosing? i knew the book had me hooked already right there:D But gosh it was long. ShiNoO, if you liked the above two, then you will love ‘God of small things’. It’s similar to ‘A fine balance’ because it, too, is set in India and caste is sort of at the center of the plot. It’s about the story of two children and personal events in their lives. The really interesting aspect, though, is that after a few chapters you realize that there’s not just one story going on; she’s woven an intricate web of stories all around her characters - it’s about families and the strong (but sometimes broken) bonds between them, but it’s also about caste, life in a small rural Indian town, bigotry on an individual and political level. You just have to read it! If you liked those Seth’s and Mistry’s novels, i know you’ll love this one. 
I take it with me everywhere I go, read a few pages then put it away 