The Mirage of Power: An Inquiry into the Bhutto Years

By Dr Mubashir Hasan

Published in 2000

Not much to say about this one. As one of the leaders of the PPP and a member of Zulfi's cabinet one would think he'd have a lot of insight into those years but really it was almost entirely devoid of anything that could remotely resemble an inquiry. It was a cross between a poorly written biography and a half-hearted scholarly rebuttal of charges against his failings as the finance minister.

There are some interesting insights into the transformation in Bhutto's character over his term in power but by and large Hasan steers clear of the bigger picture. Instead he studiously chronicles his own experience in office, refusing to comment on the PPP government as a whole, its failings, the difficulties it faced, the mistakes it made. In fact he even avoids a serious defense of PPP's nationalisation policy, which he oversaw. He does not discuss its logic in much depth, assess his success, explain his shortcomings or question the policy. Overall, it's a dull plodding read meant mostly for unfortunate historians who will have to pore over these unreadable pages scouring for some scrap of real information that might just have slipped through Hasan's recollections.

Wolf Hall

By Hilary Mantel

Very enjoyable. A page turner in the most unexpected way. It wasn't that the plot was supremely gripping but just that Cromwell is such a great character and you get so taken by his charm and become so invested in his rise. When it ended I found myself wishing there were a few hundred more pages to read, which for a book that's already around 700 pages is quite a feat.

The Childrens Book

By AS Byatt

Published in 2009

Quite charming. If you're up to the task of reading some 700 pages of a somewhat slow-paced but nonetheless interesting novel, then please try it. She has a way with the characters. The fact that she can write about nearly 30 different characters and their unfolding lives in one novel is a great feat. The fact that their lives are a bit like soaps (unexpected parentage, unwanted pregnancies, rebellious daughters and such) but thankfully without the melodramatic style.

Death Sentence by Maurice Blanchot

French writer, theorist and philosopher extraordinaire, Blanchot is a modernist writer dreaming up post-modernism as he goes along. He was a close friend of Derrida and a great supporter of his work. Many of Derrida's chief concerns regarding Deconstruction filter in Blanchot's work. Death Sentence (l'Arret de Mort) reads more like an essay than a work of fiction. There is no real plot, merely a first person narrative which is written in the form of a confession. Something horrible has happened, something terrible which needs to be told. The protagonist confides in the reader and hopes he can tell the truth, for the truth is all that really matters to him. That is the beginning and the end of all meaning. The book is exceptionally short and requires several readings in order to understand its complexity. The story revolves around the women in the narrators' life, all of whom are strange, unusual creatures, existing and non-existing at the same time. The first half is chiefly concerned with illness. A woman the protagonist knows is dying of a mysterious disease. The second half follows another close relationship he develops with a woman he meets.
Once you're done with this book, everything you read after appears stale and vapid.

At the picture show

Written by Kathryn Fuller

Published in 1996

An eminently interesting book exploring how the moviegoing culture took root in small town America. I suppose it isn't the kind of book that would interest everyone but I really enjoyed reading it.

String too short to be saved

Written by Donald Hall

Published in 1992

A book I would never pick up if it weren't required reading for a course. It is a quick read. A collection of autobiographical stories about rural life in 1940s New England. The prose is not exceptional, nor are the stories. Its main value is as a snapshot of an era, which is exactly how it was used in the course.

Alongshore

Written by John Stilgoe

Published in 1996.

The book is about an eclectic bunch of things all related to the liminal American landscape between land and sea.