I have a weakness for science made simple. For three years now I have been struggling through medical research and...
Published 20 Aug, 2017 07:52am
A sprawling novel that shows human suffering remains the same irrespective of time
Published 20 Aug, 2017 07:52am
How the human body changed from being a passive recipient of bullets into a deadly weapon in itself
Published 20 Aug, 2017 07:52am
Despite the love between them, lifelong companionship was not meant to be for ‘Ruttie’ and ‘J’
Updated 15 Aug, 2017 12:07pm
Bite-sized pieces of life experience, wisdom and nostalgia
Updated 15 Aug, 2017 11:54am
It is not possible to define the great and the sublime without the ordinary and the ridiculous
Updated 15 Aug, 2017 12:46pm
On Aug 14, 1947, the Pakistani nation was born out of boundless bloodshed. What followed — an unprecedented ...
Updated 15 Aug, 2017 12:39pm
A wealth of information about famous incidents and fascinating inhabitants of the Walled City
Updated 15 Aug, 2017 12:29pm
The Quran and Universe: Astronomy in the Light of Quran and Modern Science Ghulam HasanScientific interpretation of...
Updated 15 Aug, 2017 12:09pm
Understanding the city through the prism of ‘conflict in motion’
Updated 15 Aug, 2017 12:52pm
A longlist of 13 books — the Booker’s dozen — was recently announced by the Man Booker judging panel. The list...
Updated 07 Aug, 2017 02:52pm
“It has always almost been the case that the gift which has spoken so commandingly to my soul has been a printed...
Updated 07 Aug, 2017 02:53pm
A fascinating history of Urdu poetry written during the Progressive Writers’ Movement casts a wider historical net
Updated 07 Aug, 2017 02:49pm
An Indian expat’s debut short story collection shines a spotlight on the less glamorous side of Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Updated 20 Jul, 2018 12:42am
Haruki Murakami’s new short story collection delves into the darkness of the distanced soul
Updated 07 Aug, 2017 02:33pm
This book about card catalogues — The Card Catalogue: Books, Cards and Literary Treasures — written and ...
Updated 07 Aug, 2017 02:25pm
The history of drama in the subcontinent told through the stories of 10 stars of the stage
Updated 07 Aug, 2017 02:21pm
The grey, but welcoming café and bar at the Institute of Education in London was a regular haunt of Professor Amin...
Updated 01 Aug, 2017 12:55pm
Part 10 of the series exploring Pakistani Urdu writing over the past 70 years
Updated 01 Aug, 2017 12:52pm
A compact, multi-layered portrait of family conflict and the insecurities of bourgeois life
Updated 01 Aug, 2017 12:20pm
A former journalist pens a candid and brash autobiography
Updated 01 Aug, 2017 12:15pm
The phrase ‘pretty wrongs’ comes from the first line of William Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 41’, a line that...
Updated 01 Aug, 2017 12:05pm
A simple explanation of scientific principles reveals the fascinating workings behind the most banal of phenomena
Updated 31 Jul, 2017 05:11pm
Acclaimed scholar and storyteller Naiyer Masud passed away on July 24, 2017, at the age of 80
Updated 31 Jul, 2017 05:05pm
A comprehensive work on Sindh’s medieval history that demolishes commonly accepted notions
Updated 24 Jul, 2017 03:45pm
To mark the 200th death anniversary of one of the most celebrated writers of English literature, the Bank of England...
Published 23 Jul, 2017 07:29am
It was past midnight when, in a half-lit room of the Beach Luxury Hotel in Karachi, dampened by sea breeze and mist,...
Updated 24 Jul, 2017 04:20pm
From ancient, deep-frozen woolly mammoths to spiders aboard space stations, what animals can teach humans is astounding
Updated 24 Jul, 2017 04:16pm
A disturbing tale of love and revenge that highlights the apathy of a country towards its unwanted women
Updated 24 Jul, 2017 04:07pm
An examination of why post-Islamist movements are unable to transform into populist social movements
Updated 24 Jul, 2017 04:12pm
We tend to imagine readers, an increasingly uncommon breed, as silent and usually solitary beings, but they have not...
Updated 24 Jul, 2017 03:58pm
A song takes on a life of its own, and lays bare the history of cultural appropriation
Updated 24 Jul, 2017 03:54pm
It’s Business, It’s Personal: From Setting a Vision to Driving it Through Organisational Excellence
Saad...
Published 16 Jul, 2017 07:38am
I could feel the weight of betrayal and loss, remorse and sadness, after watching The Wind That Shakes the Barley,...
Published 16 Jul, 2017 07:38am
An eye-opening memoir of a woman who took on the patriarchy to secure the rights of her country’s people
Published 16 Jul, 2017 07:38am
A tale of loss, grief and eventual redemption told from the perspective of a dislocated child
Published 16 Jul, 2017 07:38am
Set against the backdrop of Lebanon’s civil war, a story of tragedy and self-loathing
Published 16 Jul, 2017 07:38am
Lately I’ve been watching the television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. It is one of the...
Updated 17 Jul, 2017 04:46pm
As incidents of violence in the name of religion grow in the West, an examination of what could be the root cause of it
Updated 17 Jul, 2017 04:30pm
Using distorted construction as the medium of choice, this debut novel deals with the whole spectrum of social malaise
Updated 12 Jul, 2017 02:17pm
When Faisal Buzdar first mentioned Ghachar Ghochar as a novel not to be missed, a couplet by Sufi Tabassum started...
Published 09 Jul, 2017 07:00am
A searching biography of the 13th century Sufi poet from a New York Times bestselling author
Published 09 Jul, 2017 07:00am
A biography of Atal Bihari Vajpayee also provides an overview of Indian politics
Published 09 Jul, 2017 07:00am
This follow-up to dating misadventures is half delightful
Published 09 Jul, 2017 07:00am
“I am a big fan of Hindu [sic].” — Donald J. Trump, Oct 15, 2016.“Nobody wanted peace more than Adolf...
Updated 12 Jul, 2017 02:30pm
Re-examining a divided world from the viewpoint of those who feel left, or pushed, behind
Published 09 Jul, 2017 07:00am
With his recent book Days Without End, Irish playwright, novelist and poet Sebastian Barry has become the first...
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
Self-love is a tricky issue, and the right amount of it has always depended on perspective. I have healthy...
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
An eminent historian recaps the history of three of the largest countries in the South Asian landmass, from the
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
Anis Shivani’s poetry is cerebral and obscure but always challenging
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
A proposal that was initially met with little enthusiasm, yet resulted in an institution now half a century old
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
Last month the critic Boyd Tonkin, whom I have often worked with for about 25 years, wrote to ask me if I’d like ...
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
A selection of short stories from an under-appreciated author captures moments in time to set the tone of things to come
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
As freedom of speech and other cyber rights become issues of growing concern, it is important to recognise that
Published 02 Jul, 2017 06:58am
As China makes greater inroads into Pakistan, it is useful to know of the history behind the two countries’ long
Published 25 Jun, 2017 11:31pm
Some months ago I wrote about Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s fascination with silence, discussing a ghazal from his...
Updated 29 Jun, 2017 01:32pm
Eighty years in the making, the biography of Joseph Stalin by his rival and contemporary Leon Trotsky is finally
Published 25 Jun, 2017 11:31pm
If what was reported in this newspaper a few weeks ago regarding Mohsin Hamid speaking at an event in Lahore is...
Published 25 Jun, 2017 11:31pm
Part nine of the series exploring Pakistani Urdu writing over the past 70 years
Published 25 Jun, 2017 11:31pm
Kitab, Kahaniyon, Kirdar
Manoj KumarA selection of the author’s newspaper columns and essays published over the...
Published 25 Jun, 2017 11:31pm
The story of a fictional comedian’s public breakdown has become one of the ‘best’ books of the year
Published 25 Jun, 2017 11:31pm
Besides Anne Carson’s other celebrated works, The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos is one of...
Published 18 Jun, 2017 07:23am
A faithful retelling of Norse mythology for the young adult audience
Published 18 Jun, 2017 07:23am
A pioneering method of assessment provides statistical evidence that a cricketer’s impact is more than his averages
Published 18 Jun, 2017 07:23am
An engaging portrait that attempts to explain the appeal and charisma of Benazir Bhutto
Published 18 Jun, 2017 07:23am
As fans of singer Ariana Grande happily exited the Manchester Arena on May 22, a lone assailant blew himself up,...
Published 18 Jun, 2017 07:23am
A debut novel that seemingly transposes current global events to a dystopian American future is much more than
Published 18 Jun, 2017 07:23am
An exploration of how ‘Jewish Christianity’ bypassed Roman Christianity to link with Islam
Published 18 Jun, 2017 07:23am
Viewing modern Hindi cinema from the perspective of its filmmakers
Published 11 Jun, 2017 07:03am
A collection of tales handed down from one generation to the next depicts the timelessness of the human experience
Published 11 Jun, 2017 07:03am
The earth is rotating through the hot season, and the month of Ramazan is upon us. One of the virtues of these 29 or...
Published 11 Jun, 2017 07:03am
Modern Punjabi storytelling that explores the loss of culture and the demise of the past
Updated 16 Jan, 2020 11:27am
A well-researched book on the father and son duo that helped cement Mughal rule in the subcontinent
Published 11 Jun, 2017 07:03am
In Dr Shahab Ahmed’s own words, the main difficulty in conceptualising Islam/Islamic lies in the prolific scale of...
Published 11 Jun, 2017 07:03am
Setting up a business is not easy, but the stories in this book can instil some hope in even the most disheartened
Published 11 Jun, 2017 07:03am
The events of 1971 that took place in the then eastern wing of the country find insufficient space in our literary...
Published 04 Jun, 2017 07:27am
A guide to understanding the Leave/Remain debate in all its glory, with all its gory details
Published 04 Jun, 2017 07:27am
Not quite ‘divergent’ for those who ‘hunger’ for less ‘pandemonium’ and more ‘brave new worlds’
Published 04 Jun, 2017 07:27am
Romeo and Juliet set in Lahore with an eye for detail marks a remarkable debut
Published 04 Jun, 2017 07:27am
A literary agent once said to me that a paragraph in People magazine with some trivial gossip about a writer sold...
Updated 04 Jun, 2017 11:03am
Greed, conquest, murder and torture — the ugly history behind a fabled jewel
Published 04 Jun, 2017 07:27am
As the fate of Fata continues to hang in the balance, this splendid work of research may help explain the causes of the
Updated 28 May, 2017 08:40am
Pen-sketches that provide context to a political debate that stands far from settled
Updated 28 May, 2017 08:40am
A devotee’s paean to the founder of Sikhism
Updated 28 May, 2017 07:10am
TV’s greatest show ever (nearly four years after the end of the series, I consider none of its recent competition...
Updated 28 May, 2017 07:10am
A collection of contemporary poems that succeed in getting their message across
Updated 28 May, 2017 07:10am
Part eight of the series exploring Pakistani Urdu writing over the past 70 years
Updated 28 May, 2017 07:10am
In our case where history is not taught in schools, it is through our great poets and fiction-writers that we become
Updated 28 May, 2017 07:10am
New research into the Pakistan-India river dispute appears to imply perpetual conflict
Updated 21 May, 2017 06:53am
Bilal Tanweer brings to a wider audience the oddballs of a little neighbourhood in Karachi
Updated 21 May, 2017 06:53am
A poignant piece of work that explores the horrors of immigrant lives
Updated 21 May, 2017 06:53am
Over the last five years, writing and information-communication technologies have been merging into a powerful tool for
Updated 21 May, 2017 06:53am
Tackling stereotypes and in the process, creating empathy
Updated 21 May, 2017 06:53am
A visitor from Singapore journeys across the country in search of lost Sikh heritage
Updated 21 May, 2017 06:53am
Demolishing the idea of the ‘magnanimity’ of the Raj
Updated 14 May, 2017 10:18am
English translations of short stories by a leading light of Urdu literature opens up her writing to the world
Updated 14 May, 2017 06:15am
In ‘Muhabbat ka Bulava’ a young man falls in love with his friend’s sister and when his loved one’s very rich father
Updated 14 May, 2017 10:18am
Post-9/11, the murmur of Muslim women’s voices grows louder
Updated 14 May, 2017 06:15am
A Pakistani biography of Einstein fails to justify itself
Updated 14 May, 2017 06:15am
