Book Review: Go Set A Watchman

There have been a few books written which have captured the minds and imaginations of people all over the world through gripping storytelling and gone on to become classics. One such book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which was written in 1960 and is still popular all over the world. A classic in a true sense, To Kill A Mockingbird shows the racism and lack of a just system prevalent back in 1930s when the author was only 10 years old. Such was the success of the book that it went on to become a motion picture and won 3 Oscars in the process.

The author of one of the greatest books ever written is back with her recent book, Go Set A Watchman. Released in July 2015, the story is sort of a prequel to Kill A Mockingbird. It was written before the classic novel but was never released. The book shows several characters of To Kill A Mockingbird at an earlier time. While marketed as a sequel to the book, Go Set A Watchman is set at least 20 years back in time than the original work.

Set in the backdrop of the civil war, the story explores the events in the life of a young woman, Jean Louis-Finch, who return home to her ailing father. Her father has raised her well but at times of moral crisis, like racism in those days, even the rational minds lose their focus. When she debates with her father about issues bothering her, especially women’s rights and racism, she is surprised to find her father supporting the other side. She also discovers some shocking things about her family and community. 

For anyone looking to get a deeper look into the classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, this book is a great way to understand the dynamics of the society at that time. Go Set A Watchman gives you a deeper understandings of the issues faced by the characters in To Kill A Mockingbird and the role society plays in determining the decisions of individuals.

For all the fans of To Kill A Mockingbird as well as followers of great American literature, Go Set A Watchman is a must read book. It is a book you must have in your library. Just a few months into its launch and it has become a best seller in USA. It is also the most preordered book on Amazon. In Pakistan, you can buy the latest work of Harper Lee from all leading bookstores as well as online marketplaces like Kaymu.

Paper is Permanent, Digital is Temporary

You are sitting at a café and having a nice cup of coffee. You have your kindle

on your lap trying to finish the first chapter of a book by your favorite author that you waited six months for. You look at the screen trying to read the last bit but something keeps you from getting into your reading zone. Exasperated, you lift your face and look to your side and see a book shelf with a number of books of on it. They catch your attention, you get up to see what is there. You spot a book by the same author and take it to your table and open the first page. The next thing you know two hours have passed and you have read half of the book and you don’t want to put it down. It is late so you leave the book and go to the nearest bookstore and get the paperback version of it. Then you realize that the paperback took you to your reading zone. That is the beauty of a physical book!

There has been a huge ongoing debate since the invention of the E-reader about the difference between the paperback and the digital book. Many people have chosen their sides but many are confused. A study from Scholastic revealed that the percentage of children who have read an e-book has almost doubled since 2010 to almost half of all kids aged 9 to 17, while the number who want to continue to read books in print instead of electronically declined from 66% to 58%. This points to the decline of the paperback but that is not always the case.(http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/kfrr) Although the digital book is in fashion but it is just temporary as nothing can beat the traditional feel of holding and reading a book in your hand. Many different online portals such as Kaymu have a wide range of books available that avid book readers can choose from and enjoy!

Why the physical book is better than the online one?

1. They give the experience!

Paperbacks give you the real feel of reading a book. You can hold it in your hand and flip the pages with your own will. You can even earmark the pages the way you want and feel them with your own hands which enhances the tactile feeling. When you read a paperback you can get really engrossed in it and get the sense of the characters and the situations in it. You can keep the classical value that it provides and gain a wholesome experience.

  

2. You can collect them!

Printed books are collectible and they last with you through the ages. Every copy that a person owns has its own level of uniqueness. Some of the books in people’s collections are so rare that there are no other copies. Another additional factor is that you can loan your book to a friend but you would never lend your e-reader, it is an obvious fact.

3. You can save and spend elsewhere!

Printed books always cost a fraction of what the e-books cost; and paperbacks are even cheaper than the hardcovers. Also you don’t have to charge a printed book as compared to an e-reader. You can take it anywhere you want and use it anyway you want to. 

Nothing can beat the physical beauty that is present in a book or the feeling that it gives the reader. That will always remain eternal. It might seem old fashioned to read a paperback but it gives the overall satisfaction of actually reading something worthwhile. 

2+2=5 ?

When the protagonist of the classic Orwell novel 1984 is asked during torture whether 2+2 equals 5, he wonders if the state makes it true and everybody is made to believe it, does that make 2+2=5 true?

Used in a novel published in 1949, Orwell’s allegory for totalitarianism, revisionism and the sheep like behavior of gullible citizens still rings true. 

Pakistan too suffers from this 2+2=5 syndrome. Does our educational system produce a crop of students who are able to think out of the box, challenge existing notions and have the courage to bring change? Is creativity encouraged or discouraged. Sadly the answer to these questions is no. Our educational system does not produce such a crop of students and yes, creativity is discouraged. Barring the institutions that are located in our apparently progressive and elite urban bubbles, curiosity and questioning is discouraged, though putting the blame solely on the educational system would be unfair. 

Take a look at our culture, after all every institution that exists in this country is derived from our culture. Does our culture promote values of free speech, encourage curiosity and applaud change?

Years ago when studying biology in my 9^th class, our teacher skipped the chapter on evolution because it was un-Islamic.  In my 2^nd year, my physics teacher spent two class sessions explaining to us in no less detail about the physical and mathematical proofs of Shab e Mairaj. No questions were asked, nor were we expected to ask. Who would have dared to ask? 

Including religious content in school textbooks and especially scientific textbooks discourages the student’s ability to think and reason with an open mind. Recently, Maulana Sherani, chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology called for ‘introducing a uniform system of education throughout the country, integrating religious teachings with the contemporary, mainstream education’. In other words, he envisions a madrassafied educational system of Pakistan while remaining completely oblivious to the rising sectarian tensions, religious extremism and economic strife. But Maulana sahib is a product of this system, what else he could have said?

Putting aside educational institutions, would questioning our values be allowed in our culture? The images of Salman Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti and Sabeen Mehmud pop up as a warning. Question and you will share the same fate. Many pens stop. Many cerebral cogs cease to work. The murderer of Sabeen Mehmud was an IBA graduate, but more so he was the product of this culturally constrained educational machinery. When confronted with facts which threaten to bring down everything you have been taught to believe is true, turning to violence is only but natural. What sort of educated aalim was Aamir Liaquat Husain when he spewed vicious comments on the Ahmadi minority on live television? Weren’t those who introduced Blasphemy law and laying foundations of hatred towards no Muslims, products of this system?

Extremism is a product of this system and it exists on both ends of our country’s religious spectrum. Moderation is but a wispy figment of our imagination. 

Look at the scenario unfolding on Pakistani social media. The people either out rightly accept a news or out rightly reject it. Everything is seen in a George Bush-esque black and white perspective. The amount of vitriol that is spewed out, the amount of hate that is generated, the number of unfounded accusations passionately advocated, give us an insight into the mind of an educated and tech savvy Pakistani- the so called future. The exploits of Imran Khan’s social media supporters have been discussed by every respected journalist. Say anything about PTI and you would be harassed by trolls who will insist on you to take your words back. Scratch that, you will find many extremist organizations like ASWJ running their social media accounts with ease and spreading their toxic ideology to the gullible and mostly young social media users. Don’t forget the Rawalpindi sponsored ghairat brigade as well. Criticize the ‘boys’ and you will face an onslaught of jingoist zombies who will make you cringe with their indoctrinated wisdom.

 Moderation has become but a wispy figment of our imagination. The age old machinery continues to churn out more obsolete products.

The practice of revisionism and adding religious hues to textbooks that started in Bhutto’s time, intensified in Zia’s era and given an added momentum in Musharraf’s years has put Pakistan on a path which only leads to religious fascism. 

No matter how much funds are reserved for educational growth, it still won’t matter if the children are taught to believe in the superiority of their own faith, suspect minorities and present faith inspired counter arguments. Our textbooks glorify the battles between Muslims and Hindus. The Hindus are introduced as uncultured folk who are shown the light of culture by the Muslim invaders. And they always end up deceiving Muslims. Imagine being a Hindu child in a Pakistani classroom. In our secondary level social studies textbooks, Muslims of Pakistan are always told to be related to Arabs, Turks and Persians. No link to South Asia is ever mentioned. One religion is taught to be made up of a Master Race and other minority religions are taught to consist of second class citizens. What sort of adults will our children become after being fed with such drivel? Outside of academic institutions, people around these children continue to inculcate them with ideas of segregation, intolerance and being subservient to the existing moth eaten culture which has brought Pakistan to this state where governance without patronage of criminal activities is impossible and where vote is still given on caste, creed and connections not on the manifesto and resume.

For these moth eaten societal structures to change we have to ask ourselves the ultimate questions

If your religion says that 2+2=5, would you accept it?
If your culture says that 2+2=5, would you accept it?

Dear ET, Try keeping it confidential !

Media in Pakistan has played a great role in bringing out issues that otherwise would have remained hidden to the public eye. Many a poor and disadvantaged have found donors to help them out just because of reports published and broadcasted by our media. 

 

That being said, an important consideration that is often overlooked is, confidentiality.

Should I put this person’s name in my report who is suffering from illness which might cause him embarrassment in his public life? Should I identify this person in my article which might make him vulnerable to slurs? These are the questions which any responsible journalist must ask before publishing reports on issues relating to gender, sexuality, health and abuse. In Pakistan specifically, it is essential for a journalist to guard a victim/patient/gender’s identity due to the fact that we as a society still live in the seventh century when it comes to recognizing LGBT rights, stigmatizing rape victims and gossiping about a person’s illness. Can a person with a sexual disease ever come out without being judged and comments passed on him/her because of imagined sexual indulgences? Can a rape victim come out in the open without being told that the DNA evidence in her/his case is unacceptable according to Council of Islamic Ideology? In a country where 60% of the people surveyed, would not like to be friends with a transgender, a journalist must make his/her top priority not to reveal names when doing reports on these kind of stories. The 5-year old girl raped in Lahore should never have been named in the first place, but ratings and sensationalism continue to have a vice like grip on our media. 

 

Recently I came across a story published on ET regarding a girl in Abbottabad diagnosed with “ambiguous genitalia”- a birth defect which effects sexual growth in a person. Although it is not a disease but due to the birth defect it is hard to ascertain the sex of a person based on outside appearance of genitalia.  The girl’s father is poor and cannot afford to pay for the surgery (costing RS.200, 000) and five medical tests (costing Rs. 35,000) that would be required to fully transform her into a girl. 

 

It would be a good thing if, due to the report, that girl’s father gets the donations so that the she can receive proper medical attention. That’s the good part. But, what about the behavior of the society after her identity has been revealed? Who can guarantee that she wouldn’t be a victim to slurs because of her medical condition? Wouldn’t this report make her vulnerable to ridicule by her class mates? Neighbors? Did the reporter who filed the story think about the impact of this story?

Industrialist and social activist Majyd Aziz remarked:

 

“Pragmatic way would have been to identify the kid with an initial, request well known person to spearhead collections. People tend to remember negative aspects. Moreover, child would be ridiculed by class-fellows. Family may be mocked too”.

 

Writer and poet Sarah B Gillani called this “absolutely wrong”. 

 

Hence I call upon the concerned editorial staff at ET to remove the child’s name from the story and kindly enable the practice of protecting the confidentiality of such cases in the future. While let us all hope that in the future that no Pakistani is judged based on gender, sexual orientation and religious beliefs.

How A Terrorist Is Made- A Comic

The Syrian Bear Trap Part 2.

“He has proven instead only his contempt for the United Nations and for all his pledges. By breaking every pledge, by his deceptions and by his cruelties….”

You might be thinking that this is an excerpt from an Obama press conference citing the reasons for a strike against Bashar al Assad’s Syria. Yet, these words were spoken by George W Bush at the United Nations on 13 September 2002, and the above quote ends with…,

“Saddam Hussein has made the case against himself.”

Some things never change.
With the UN weapons inspectors pulling out of Syria with the “possible” evidence of chemical attacks, it seems that the US is hell bent on attacking Syria and “punishing the country for using chemical weapons”. It must be noted that the weapons inspectors would only have evidence concerning the occurrence of chemical attack and not who did it. This leaves the field open for the US to assert its “moral authority” to attack Syria based on its own “reliable” intelligence. The possible US attack on Syria would again throw the region into geopolitical turmoil the likes of which can only be matched by the Iraq invasion disaster.
But the US is not alone. France –fresh and confident from its adventures in Mali and Libya- is ready to assist the US in “punishing” Syria for using chemical weapons. The UK’s parliament has thankfully voted against any intervention.
The American public, in a latest poll, has voted against any intervention in Syria. 53% say that they are against US military intervention in Syria, though it must be acknowledged that the numbers were higher in the previous week (60%).  Even the officers in the US military have doubts regarding the wisdom of attacking Syria when they are already coping with the economic and military battering that the US has received from both Iraq and Afghanistan. The Iranian and Hezbollah threat is always present. Thus, the case against any intervention in Syria is strong.
So why is the American administration hell-bent on engaging in another military adventure which nearly everyone thinks will probably end like another Afghanistan?
The answer can be sought in the preparations that the jihadis in Syria are making for the coming American strike. Many jihadist organisations are shifting bases, evacuating headquarters, moving equipment and even finding safe hiding places in the mountainous terrains. They think that the coming US attack would also be aimed at jihadist organisations that control vast swathes of land in the northern and eastern provinces of Syria. In a statement, the jihadi outfit Fatehul Islam has said that,

“For every US missile that hits a regime target, another will strike a jihadi base.”

The bread and butter of any standard jihadi outfit depends on how well it fights and speaks against US hegemony. This might be a heaven sent opportunity for the jihadis to entangle the US in another war.
It must be asked that who will benefit if the US destroys President Assad’s military strike capability.
The only winner in that case would be Jabahat-al-Nusra and other jihadi outfits who have travelled all across the world to take part in the war. Indeed, it is now becoming increasingly evident that if President Assad falls and when the Syrian civil war is over and done with, Jabahat al Nusra would eventually fall out with Free Syria Army (FSA) (endorsed by the US and NATO and is the official rebel army in Syria) and with seasoned fighters coming from Iraq and other neighbouring battlefields, it would eventually succeed in stopping the FSA from gaining further power and quite possibly open the way for bringing the Syrian war into Iraq against the Shiite government over there, led by Nouri Al Maliki. The Syrian war would spill all over the middle-east and the chemical weapons that Assad allegedly possesses might fall into very wrong hands.
This might be reason as to why the US wants to have a presence in Syria; to stop the jihadists from gaining any further control and chemical attacks were only an excuse. Other than that, we only have the “USA has a moral duty” explanations, and no one in the post-World War II history has ever bought that.
The US might find itself caught in a bear trap that it laid for the Soviets.

This blog of mine was  published on Express Tribune on August 31, 2013. http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/18694/the-us-war-on-afghanistan-is-over-syria-is-the-new-project/

The Cuckoo's Calling : Book Review

The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith was doing an OK business (1500 copies sold since April) until it was leaked that the crime novel was actually written by none other than JK. Rowling herself !

The leak propelled the novel to number 1 and reprints were ordered. Her fans (including me) went into ecstasy found only in the seventh heaven and did all that we could to get our hands on The Cuckoo’s Calling.

As it turned out, the book didn’t disappoint at all. Although JK Rowling has expressed her anger because she didn’t want her false-identity as RobertGalbraith to be leaked to the media. According to her she enjoyed the liberating experience of writing under a pseudonym without any hype and expectations.

The Cuckoo’s Calling is crime-detective novel featuring Cormoran Strike as a private detective who has been hired to investigate the apparent suicide of super model Lula Landry. Together with his newly hired secretary Robin, Cormoran has to navigate through the dazzling world of fashion, paparazzi and waddle across the murky marshes of destitution, drugs, alcoholism, and racism. This is a novel that brings surprises at every turning, but not without some diligent detective work by Cormoran Strike, which to some readers might get a bit tedious to read.

The chemistry between Cormoran and Robin develops wonderfully but leaves a lot to be desired. Good news is that Robert Galbraith (JKR) already has completed the second book, in what appears to be a series.

Essentially, the book is a continuation of JK Rowling’s crusade against media hacks, paparazzi, and the snobbish elites of the society. Exploitation of individuals who are misunderstood by the society is a major theme in the novel. For example, Evan Duffield who is Lula Landry’s boyfriend is believed by nearly all characters in the novel to be a spoilt, drug addled human being but later he is revealed to be complex character who is as much susceptible to human fallibilities as any other person and who is misunderstood by majority of the people around him.

One thing that is becoming the hallmark of her novels is her embracing of the populist theme. That is something to which the reader from the lower classes of the society can easily relate to, no matter which country he/she may belong to. The depiction of the mutual disgust which both the rich and the poor have for each other is well written. The novel’s strongest moments in my view come when detective Cormoran Strike interacts with an impecunious mother who has to give up her child for adoption in a rich family so that the child can have a better future. JK Rowling it seems has a well-entrenched revulsion against the apathetic hereditary rich and those who get rich on the corpses of others. This loathing has been there in all the seven Harry Potter novels (Malfoys) and TheCasual Vacancy (the Mollisons) and now has spilled into her 9^th novel has well. 

But aside from politics and directing the odium against the useless waste of human intelligence which we normally call celebrity journalism, JK Rowling’s novel is a fantastic read. Despite the information overload in some parts of the novel, the plot development is well paced and you feel that the curtain on the villain will be lifted at the very end of the novel in a dramatic fashion and all mysteries will be resolved.

Though there is nothing spectacular about the novel, as the crime genre has been well trodden before, the book will find its way to your bookshelf but probably not on your favorite books list.