There are steps to become a famous novelist nowadays:
A: You have to write your debut novel on some lost/long forgotten dictator or politician or military activist.
B: Where you don’t only write about his decisions no matter wrong or right about the country but you also portrayed him as the most hideous person in the history and all his decisions were wrong. Although I always believed that the Satan should be the most beautiful person of any story because that is the only reason he can persuade people. Do you get persuaded by a person who is hideous and never have any attitude?
C: You also involved his whole family in it…specially his wife…living or dead…no matter you were preset that time or not… but you are required to mention his wife and the relationship between the two should be hilarious. Either the wife should be stupid or she acted stupidly in gathering and always made the main character’s position miserable.
B: Find an Indian Publisher.
C: Find someone who could promote your novel here which could be the long never forgotten enemy who never loose ways to settle their score with your novel’s main character.
Congratulations….you…a famous novelist.
I read so many books…some gave me real pleasure some were just to finish because once started it always seems to be the responsibility of a good reader to finish the book.
I tried so hard to complete “The Case of Exploding Mangoes” so many times.
May be I am not the political type of person or may be I don’t like the story plot. But one thing is sure that the way writer has displayed the character of our former president aka the DICTATOR (as so many people called him) Zia Ul Haq, it didn’t satisfy my greed.
I know that the novel would have so many true stories and may be the novelist has done so much hard work and have gathered so many evidence…even then…soon he started writing about Zia’s wife it gave me filthy feeling.
I mean he could have his story without involving Zia’s personal life. Why the writer has to ponder into Zia’s bedroom?
I don’t know about politics or its war at all…but even when you are in revenge you need to overlook enemy’s children and women. You can’t be hard on them.
More over he not only portrayed the Zia’s wife simply stupid to be the First Woman of any country he in some scene showed the hilarious relationship between Zia and his wife.
I know…I may be over reacting but when you are writing history novel you should be very carful because these novel could become the real history. Who knows one day people will turn to this novel to find out the history.
The way he dishonor every person related to Zia was not very acceptable and not very accommodated in the personal library of the people like me.
Today when I opened one of the leading Newspapers I saw M Hanif interview and one or two topic about his new book.
And today as on the 14 August when the Newspapers could have a long list of writers who wrote for common masses and the writers…whose patriotic writing have given new passion to the public…they have given space to M Hanif.
Who gained his fame…by dishonoring people (who were not very good with their decisions) and portraying their hilarious images to the common masses.
And that’s the way of life nowadays.
Salams,
ReplyDeleteI just finished this book recently, and I rather liked it. Not for historical accuracy or anything, I just took it for what it was as a work of fiction. Not believing a word of it to be true.
I have never really liked Zia ul-Haq, I disagree with a lot of what he did, and his way of going about it. But I never really thought about him as a human being, simply a remote historical figure. I think that by portraying him in such detail(completely fictional though it may be), and poking fun at him, the author has kind of made me think more about how he probably was a lot like regular people. He probably had his own personal problems, odd quirks, etc. After finishing the book, I felt kind of sorry for him, however horrible what he had done is to me, he is still only human.
Thinking I agree 100 percent and more on this.
ReplyDelete@Thinking: "I tried so hard to complete 'The Case of Exploding Mangoes' so many times. May be I am not the political type of person..."
ReplyDeleteIf you could not complete reading that book, then maybe you are a politically sound-minded person.
...I agree!
ReplyDeleteits sad thou..ignoring the main issues or relevant features and targeting the flaws!
I don’t know you are favoring Zia or cursing the writer but the novel is a best seller and earned world wide fame (the goal of a novelist), I mean we should not take it serious. I was obsessed with best seller "Kite Runner", I had it recently and wanted to read it but unfortunately I could not finish it due to the fiction it contains. You are 100% right in saying that if you want to be famous write these type of novels, I would add if you want to be famous world wide write rubbish things about the Muslims especially those related to Pakistan or Afghanistan, your book will surely be a best seller. Actually we prefer to read novels instead of reading a history book or politics this is why people write these types pf novels (I guess).
ReplyDeleteGeneral Zia was given an prophetic warning by the Fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from France, long before the plane blast.
ReplyDeleteThinking,
ReplyDeleteIf one is writing a book on some person, living or dead, it is his or her duty to ensure that only those facts which can stand scrutiny should be brought out. Gossip is strictly NO NO.
Take care
Dear All...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your time.
I am honored.
I have not read this novel, but now that I saw your post, I think, I would pick it up as soon as I can. The way you have described it seems a genuine opinion from you and I really respect that. Especially the point that you have made about ignoring the masses has touched my heart, both emotionally and logically.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!