Ali calls such leaders "bearded lunatics" in his latest book, The Duel (2009), which examines US-Pakistan relations.
We can admire the prescience of these writers; we can also despair over what lies ahead for Pakistan, and what shape the country might take.
This tragic phase has coincided with an incredible flowering of literary talent. With the state withdrawing from exercising even a semblance of authority, several authors of Pakistani origin or heritage have seized the space, writing seminal works that provide clarity in our absurd times. Maybe exceptional strife spurs imagination--think of Samizdat writers during the Cold War--although responding to the crisis is not the overt intention of any of Pakistan's fine novelists.
It is not fair to any of these fine novels to pretend that they speak with one voice--it would be just as absurd to claim that Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth and Kiran Desai speak with the same voice--but there is one discernible pattern. And that is Pakistan's relationship with the West and, in particular, the US.
The latest most acclaimed book by a Pakistani author is In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (2009) by Daniyal Mueenuddin.
http://newageislam.com/pakistani-writers---a-new-east-west-symphony/islam-and-the-media/d/1808
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5:35 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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